All language subtitles for Unearthed.2016.S09E01.Lost.City.of.Persia.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-HiNGS_track3_[eng]

Narrator: the ancient city
Of persepolis,

Capital to the mighty
Persian empire.

This was once the greatest
And richest city on earth.

Narrator:
A mysterious metropolis

Built by the most powerful
Kings of the ancient world.

They were so powerful,
They had no real rival.

Narrator:
How do the persians rule over

A vast empire from
This glorious capital?

It's a lesson on how
To build an empire.

Narrator: today, investigators
Have unique access to this

Ancient site in the mountains
Of iran.

They forensically
Hunt for clues

To find out what makes persia

The first imperial powerhouse
In the world.

It is a really exciting
Discovery for us.

Narrator: to unlock the secrets
Of ancient persia,

We resurrect the empire's
Mighty capital, persepolis.

We unearth the kings'
Luxurious palaces

And reveal
Their groundbreaking

Engineering inventions

To discover how the persians

Rise to dominate
The ancient world.

**

Persepolis,
Iran,

400 miles south of the modern
Day capital, tehran.

It is a huge stone city
Cut into the mountains,

Constructed
At the same time as

The greatest buildings of
Ancient greece.

Today, this
Vast archaeological

Site remains wrapped
In mystery.

Now our cameras
Have been granted unique

Access to follow investigators
On the front line

As they venture inside
This mighty ancient capital.

Narrator:
In the sixth century b.C.,

Persepolis is the heart of

A mighty empire that controls
Almost half of

Earth's population.

Its spectacular ruins
Hold the key to

The rise of
The first world empire,

Persia.

To build persepolis,

The persians carve a huge
Terrace into

A mountain and create
A platform the size

Of six modern city blocks.

They surround it
With tall masonry walls,

And at the entrance,
They build a 55-foot-tall gate

To impress
And welcome foreign rulers.

Inside, they create
A sprawling complex of splendid

Palaces and vast,
Magnificent halls.

Persepolis is the jewel
In persia's crown.

What can it reveal about
The scale of this mighty empire?

Ali asadi has special access
To investigate

The ancient site.

He believes the remains of
These grand buildings

Hold clues to the territories
Under persian rule.

Ali examines the architecture
Of the ancient city

And finds important evidence.

Narrator: hidden among
The ruins of the site,

Ali examines clues of even
More distant nations --

Lotus flowers.

These are ancient
Greek symbols.

Could greece

And egypt,
Two enormous powerhouses

In the ancient world,
Be under persian rule?

Ali hunts for more clues.

In the center of the city,

He studies a huge stone relief
On a palace staircase.

Narrator: the frieze shows
The individual nations

That make up
The persian empire.

Carved on the wall,
Ali finds conclusive proof.

Narrator:
Ali discovers that egypt,

The cradle of ancient culture
And independent for most of

Its history,

Is now part of
This mighty new empire.

Incredibly, it also
Incorporates some

Greek city states.

But the persians
Don't stop here.

The long procession depicts
Many other peoples.

The incredible detail
On the relief

Helps ali identify
Who everyone is.

Narrator: this vast scene
Reveals the expanse

Of the persian empire.

It spreads from eastern europe
To the indus river,

From the sahara desert
To the western edge of

The himalayas.

In total,
The wall displays 23 nations

That cover an astonishing
2.1 million square miles.

Who is the ruler
Of this enormous empire

At its peak?

Ali follows
The frieze to track

Down the person
Who receives the gifts.

He arrives at a depiction of
A larger than life figure.

Narrator: darius the great rules
The mighty persian empire

From 522 b.C.,
During its golden age.

The image of the king
Reveals where he receives

His many guests,

Inside a majestic royal palace
Of gigantic proportions.

The apadana palace is
An ancient architectural

Wonder and the most important
Building in persepolis.

On the palace staircases,
Inscriptions greet visitors

In many languages,

Referring to the persian ruler
As the king of kings.

Behind 40-foot doors,
Thin columns hold up

A wooden ceiling

To create a magnificent hall

Covering more than
35,000 square feet.

Here, the king welcomes guests
And their generous gifts.

What does this huge palace

Reveal about the powerful
Persian rule?

Ali is convinced
The inscription on

The great staircase holds
Important evidence.

Narrator:
The inscription reveals how

Darius rules his world empire.

Once he conquers a nation,
He keeps the local kings

In power.

Darius the great is tolerant
As long as he is obeyed.

Does he ever have to fight off
A rebellion against him?

A few miles away,
A team of archaeologists

Uncovers
An intriguing structure,

Which could provide clues.

They recover hundreds of
Glazed bricks

From the dig site.

These amazing finds reveal
What the building really is --

An ishtar gate,

A replica of the dazzling gate
In the famous city of babylon.

The gate is a symbol of

An astonishing victory
For the persian king.

The babylonian kingdom is
One of the first

To fall to the hands of
The persians.

Their mighty capital,

Babylon, becomes an important
Center of persian rule.

At the entrance to the great
City stands the ishtar gate,

An architectural wonder,
Shimmering blue.

But there are
Fundamental differences

Between the two gates.

The ishtar gate in babylon is
Gigantic and flanked by

Defensive walls.

Said to be over
300 feet high,

They guard the ancient city.

The replica ishtar gate
In persepolis stands

Alone in the middle of
The landscape,

Two miles away from
The persian capital.

This brand-new
Discovery reveals

That persepolis has
No fortifications.

Narrator:
None of the many nations in

The empire dared challenge of
The persian rule.

But new evidence exposes
The cost of

This complete obedience.

How do the persians build
Their enormous empire?

Can new discoveries reveal
The secret of their success?

Narrator:
2,500 years ago,

The persian kings build
Persepolis in modern day iran.

It is the richest city in

The world and capital to
An enormous empire.

How did the persians dominate
Most of the known

Ancient world?

Inside persepolis,

Archaeologists unearth
A mysterious building,

An extraordinary ancient
Mega structure.

In persia's golden age,

This is the second largest
Building in persepolis,

Called the throne hall.

Inside it, precisely
100 columns rise up to

Create a space the size of
An aircraft hangar.

This second palace is
The domain of

The empire's foundation,
Its army.

There is room for 5,000
Soldiers, only a tiny fraction

Of the persian army,

Which, according to legend,
Numbers a million men.

How do they conquer the world?

Sophy downes hunts for clues
In sardis

In modern-day turkey.

Despite being over 1,500 miles
Away from persepolis,

This ancient capital city
Is one of

The first to fall
To the persians.

It expanded their empire to

The west towards its farthest
Western reach.

Narrator: sophy investigates
How sardis is conquered.

She examines
A section of the site,

A massive trench
20 feet deep.

In the courtyard of
This house,

The body of an old man
Was found.

He was a civilian, so this
Suggests that it wasn't just

The soldiers that died in
The sack,

But many civilians,
As well.

Narrator: analysis of
The mutilated bones reveals

Lethal wounds
All over the body.

He is only one of
Many victims of the attack.

Alongside is more
Shocking evidence --

136 arrowheads.

Sophy examines images
Of the discovery.

The quantity of arrowheads
Found here shows the intensity

Of the fighting
In this part of the city.

Narrator: these many
Archaeological traces reveal

The ferocity
Of a persian conquest.

But sophy thinks
There's more to the story.

She wants to find out what

Happens to sardis after
The persian victory.

Downes: there are numerous
Burn marks across the city,

Which suggests that it was

Pretty comprehensively burnt
To the ground.

Narrator: the city's
Fortification wall,

Made of mud brick,

Is reduced to a melted
And vitrified mass.

It is evidence of
The intensity of the fire

That devours sardis.

The archaeological evidence
Suggests that it may

Have bean more brutal
Than we thought.

Narrator:
Sardis becomes a persian city.

The fall of
This powerful capital

Shocks the ancient world.

The persian army gains
A fierce reputation

And forces the many nations of
The empire into submission.

How do the persians become
Such remarkable warriors?

Ali examines
An intriguing carving on

The northern entrance
To the palace.

Narrator: as he looks up close,

Ali finds imagery of
The army all around persepolis.

Among them, persia's most
Infamous brigade.

Narrator: the images reveal
That the persian army

Is divided into
Specialist forces.

Ali believes this is crucial
To their success.

In battle, the soldiers
Follow a strategy

That weakens the enemy
Until complete surrender.

The persian archers
Start off the attack.

They hide behind
A shield wall and shoot

100,000 arrows per minute
To decimate the enemy.

Then comes the notorious
Persian cavalry.

They harass the enemy
With hit-and-run attacks,

Shooting arrows
And throwing spears.

And finally, persia's elite
Infantry, the immortals.

They are the most
Feared fighters.

In their tight formation,

Fallen soldiers are
Replaced immediately,

Making it seem like
They are impossible to kill.

With this elite army,
The persians create

The biggest empire
The world has ever seen.

But even with this mighty
Military force,

How quickly can the king
Strike back

If there is trouble far from
His base in persepolis?

What can new evidence
Unearthed in the far corners

Of the empire reveal about
The king's new tactic?

Narrator: carved into the
Mountains of southern iran,

Archaeologists rediscover
The lost city of persepolis.

Clues inside it unlock

The mystery of the gigantic
Persian empire.

Downes: the inscriptions at
Persepolis talk about how

The empire extends from
The shores of one sea

To the shores of another sea,

From one desert to
Another desert.

Narrator: how did the persians
Rule such an enormous

Expanse of land?

The answer could lie with
A huge engineering structure,

Built by persia's most
Powerful king, darius I.

Ancient writers say
That king darius

Builds a vast road across
His empire.

It is surfaced with
Packed gravel

And is over 20 feet wide
In some places.

It's called the royal road,

The first highway
In the world.

Alongside it,
Darius builds way stations,

Stopping points in the long,
Arduous journey.

Comfortable living quarters
Surround an open

Courtyard where travelers
From all cultures meet.

Is darius's royal road really
As impressive as legends say?

Ali asadi is on
A mission to find out.

He travels north of persepolis

Towards pasagardae,
Another persian capital.

Ancient texts describe a huge
Road between these two cities.

Here, he finds an opening
Through the mountains.

Narrator: this mountain stands
Directly between

The two ancient
Persian capitals.

Ali believes the only way
To connect

The cities is to cut
Through it.

Narrator: the ancient persians
Carve a 30-foot valley through

Solid rock.

This rare find here
Supports the legend.

Nothing seems to stand in

The way of darius's
Ambitious building project.

But can he really
Extend the royal road

To all corners of
The huge empire?

Burcin adisonmez investigates

In amasya
In northern turkey.

Here, he and his team make
A remarkable discovery.

Narrator:
Local rulers used nearby

Materials to build the road,

But burcin suspects it could

Be part of the persian
Road network.

He examines the site

And identifies
A strange structure.

Zoroastrianism is
The ancient religion of

The persians.

For burcin,
This is conclusive proof.

Narrator: this incredible find
Is evidence that

Darius's road network

Spreads all the way
To northern turkey,

1,200 miles away from
The city of persepolis.

Narrator:
How fast can imperial couriers

Travel on the royal road?

Ancient greek accounts provide
Tantalizing clues.

Downes: herodotus tells us that
The persians had a system for

Sending messages along
The royal road,

Which could travel about
2,000 miles in nine days.

Narrator: a messenger on
Horseback would normally take

Two months for a journey of
This length.

Sophy wants to find out if
The persians

Can do it in nine days.

She thinks the way stations

Darius builds could hold
The answer.

She marks out the places where
Archaeologists find remains.

Here we have
Three way stations that

Have actually been found
In the archaeology,

And they're in a line,
And they're about

15 miles apart from each other.

Narrator: if the persians
Position rested horses and men

At each station,

The couriers can work
As a relay.

Each courier can travel
The distance between

Two way stations at full speed

And pass on the message
To the next horseman.

Over a day, the message would
Cover an astonishing 180 miles.

That means that you could
Cover a distance

Of 2,000 miles in about
12 to 14 days.

So herodotus is maybe
Slightly exaggerating,

But he's actually
Pretty accurate.

Narrator:
Darius's massive

Communication network is
The fastest

In the ancient world.

It's so efficient that
It's still remembered today.

Herodotus also says that
Neither snow nor rain nor

Heat nor gloom of night could
Stop the couriers,

And this is still
The motto of

The u.S. Postal service today.

Narrator: if anything happens in
The extreme corners of

The persian empire,

The king can find out about
It in under two weeks.

He can respond swiftly
To any challenge

To his rule and restore
Control almost immediately.

Downes: 12 to 14 days
May sound pretty slow to us,

But actually, it's not until
The 18th century that anybody

Can send messages faster
Than that.

Narrator: darius's road network
Stretches from

The indus valley all the way
To the mediterranean,

Spanning a staggering
1,500 miles.

He uses it to quickly
Send messengers as well

As his army to every
Corner of his empire.

He also builds the first suez
Canal, linking the red sea to

The nile,

Giving him easy access
To all of egypt.

It is monumental, wide enough
For two of his warships

To pass each other,

Giving the persians commercial
And military control of

The region.

Darius's communication network
Is crucial

To controlling
The vast empire.

It ensures
His presence everywhere,

But the persians also use their
Engineering skills at home.

How do cutting-edge
Innovations allow

The king to control
Nature itself

And create a green paradise in
The middle of the desert?

Narrator:
Persepolis, in modern-day iran.

In the sixth century b.C.,

This is
An architectural masterpiece

And capital to the mighty
Persian empire,

But it's built in a brutal,

Arid landscape
Halfway up a mountain.

Why do the persians choose

To build their glorious
Capital here?

2,500 years ago,
Exotic plants

Populate the city's
Lavish gardens,

Called pardis, the origin
Of the word paradise.

But these green spaces extend
Beyond the city walls.

Further down the mountain,
The persians plant olive

And walnut trees,
Brought in

From the distant corners
Of the empire.

Beyond, settlements and lush
Farmlands stretch

As far as the eye can see.

Against all odds, the persians
Appear to conquer nature.

How do they do it?

Narrator: unlike egypt,
Which has the mighty nile,

Persia has very few natural
Sources of water.

But it does have mountains.

Persepolis is built at
The feet of

The zagros mountain range.

Ali investigates the rocky
Surface of the slope.

Narrator: rain water seeps into
The porous stone of

The mountain and comes out

In springs that
Flow across the slope.

Narrator: but to harness
This valuable source of water,

The persians must come up with
An ingenious plan.

Inside the city,

Ali discovers
An astonishing infrastructure...

...A winding network
Of tunnels.

Narrator: the tunnels
Crisscross the terrace

For over two miles.

They are a remarkable feat
Of ancient

Engineering as high as
20 feet in places.

Narrator: some are carved
Straight into the stone

Of the mountain slope,

But ali discovers that
Other sections

Are entirely built up
By ancient workers.

Narrator:
Water from the mountain springs

Travels down
Towards persepolis.

The tunnels collect
And store it to

Be used by
The city's inhabitants.

But how do the persians
Spread water across

The vast landscape to create
Their green paradise?

To find out,
Ali heads to pasagardae,

25 miles north
Of persepolis.

This is the first
Persian capital

Built a few
Generations earlier.

Narrator: at the ancient site,
Ali examines

An intriguing set of
Limestone channels.

The channels have
Small basins every 50 feet

And carry water to all corners
Of the city.

The same infrastructure
Is used in persepolis,

But on a much larger scale.

New geophysical surveys unveil
A series of canals designed

To funnel water from
The mountains

To the persian capital.

Some of them are over
12 miles long.

Near the ruins of persepolis,

Traces of lines crisscross
The landscape.

These are the remnants of

A huge irrigation network
Across the plains.

The persian king darius builds
A city that defies nature.

It stands in the middle of
A mountainous

Desert but is as verdant
As a savannah.

This triumph over nature is

A mark of power more potent
Than ramparts.

Narrator: but the ingenuity of
The persian king

Does not end here.

King darius wants to
Constantly remind

The world of his
Overarching power.

What can hidden treasure
In his vast

Palace reveal about his mighty
Propaganda machine?

Narrator: in southern iran

Lie the remains of
The city of persepolis.

It is a marvel of
Ancient engineering

And symbolizes the incredible
Power of king darius the great.

Downes: the closer
You get to the king,

To his private palaces,

The more aware you're made of
How powerful the king is.

Narrator:
How does he spread his message

Of supreme power
Across the empire?

Inside his magnificent palace,

Archaeologists make
An intriguing discovery.

In one corner of
The apadana palace,

Investigators unearth
A treasure hoard,

Stone boxes

Containing tablets made
From solid silver and gold.

They carry darius's name
And tell

Of the scale of
His great empire.

Beneath them,
More treasure,

Gold coins stamped with
A lion and a bull.

The insignia of lydia,
A rival kingdom.

They are some of the first
Coins ever created.

How does darius use
This enemy

Invention to control
His vast empire?

Sophy downes believes
Clues may lie

In the ancient lydian city of
Sardis in modern-day turkey,

The lydians were famous for
Their wealth, and they got

Their wealth from the gold

That washed down
In the river just behind us.

Narrator:
On the edge of the city,

Sophy finds traces
Of ancient gold-working.

What you can see
Here is a burn level.

So this seems to be a furnace,

Which was used
To refine the gold.

Narrator:
Here in sardis,

The lydian people develop

An invention that
Revolutionizes the world.

The lydians were the first
To introduce coinage,

And they would've made it
From the metal

That they would find
Right here.

Narrator: when the persians
Conquer this rich land,

They also capture
An established minting machine

And start minting coins of
Their own.

The coins that
The persians produced

Are these little tiny
Coins here.

These are made
Out of pure gold.

They're called darics.

These were minted for
The first time under

King darius.

The image on them on the front
Is of the king.

The king is an archer,

And he's running forwards
Across the coin,

So very energetically
Attacking the world

Through his coinage.

Narrator:
Darius chooses military

Imagery for his royal
Gold coin.

Sophy believes this decision
Is clever politics.

Downes: these were used to pay
The mercenaries in his army.

Having an image
Of darius on the coin

Creates a direct connection
Between the soldiers and darius.

Soldiers know
That this is who is

Paying them and who is
Giving them orders.

Narrator: darius uses
The coins as propaganda,

Ensuring his army's loyalty.

The military imagery also
Keeps the empire

Afraid and obedient,

But his successors
Go even further.

Sophy investigates another
Coin called a tirat.

They're called tirat, because
On the front of the coin,

There's the head of a figure
Wearing a tiara,

Which is a band of cloth,
Which the persian soldiers wore

Around their heads in battle.

So again,
This is a military image.

It's generally thought this is
The head of the persian king.

Narrator: this coin is used
Beyond the borders

Of the empire into greece,

But greek coins usually depict
Gods rather than kings.

Downes: so on this coin,
The head of the persian king

Is occupying the same space

That on some greek coins
Is occupied by the head of

A deity -- it's possible
That there's some kind of

Equivalence intended.

Narrator: the king of kings
Places himself in the position

Of a god and pushes this image
Into the hands

Of his distant neighbors.

Why does he want the greeks

In particular to receive
This message?

The persians have
A pretty fraught

Relationship with
The greek city-states.

Narrator: the persians
Constantly attempt to seize

Control of greece,

But they never manage to
Conquer it.

The conflict begins
When the persians

Attack the greek-inhabited
Region of ionia

In present-day turkey.

The greek city-states rally
And start a revolt that

Culminates in the burning
Of sardis,

Persia's capital
In the region.

The persians retaliate
By invading greece

And, after a 20-year struggle,

Finally take athens
And burn it to the ground.

But within days, the greeks
Trounced the persian fleet in

The nearby
Straits of salamis,

Marking a turning point in
The decades-long war.

The greek city-states are
Persia's greatest enemy,

So the persian kings
Use coinage to

Show them their extraordinary
Reach and power.

Does this enduring rivalry
Lead to

Disastrous consequences
For persepolis?

Is a revenge attack enough to

Bring down the world's
Greatest empire?

From the mighty capital
Of persepolis,

The persian kings rule
Over most of

The known ancient world.

Their power over
The empire is absolute,

So they don't even fortify
This magnificent city.

But that leaves it exposed.

What happens to persepolis?

Ali investigates the remains
Of the great city.

Narrator: ali finds the same
Discolorations across the city.

This is shocking evidence that

Persepolis suffers
A devastating fire.

Narrator: persepolis,
The once mighty

And untouchable city,
Is attacked.

The persians fail
In defending their capital,

And the city is burned
To the ground.

Who leads
This audacious assault?

Sophy downes believes a clue
Lies on behistun mountain,

450 miles from persepolis.

Here, 330 feet
Off the ground,

Darius the great carves a huge
Inscription in three languages.

Over 1,000 lines of text
Describe how he conquers

The world.

It commemorates
His seizure of power.

It tells us about how
He came to be king.

Narrator: next to darius's
Testament of power,

There is a surprising
Piece of evidence.

We have a relief of heracles --
He's reclining.

We can tell it's heracles,

Because there's
An inscription behind it.

Narrator:
Heracles is a son of zeus,

The greatest of the greek gods.

This statue,
Placed on the same level

As darius's inscription,

Reveals the identity of
The formidable conqueror that

Triumphs over the persians.

This is from the kingdom
That existed

After alexander had passed
Through the region.

Narrator:
It is alexander the great,

The mighty greek king,

Who topples the magnificent
Persian capital.

How does he manage
To reach it?

His own kingdom is almost
2,000 miles away.

Downes: alexander makes
His way to persepolis

Using partly the royal roads
That darius had set up.

Narrator:
In the fourth century b.C.,

Alexander marches across
The ancient world.

He takes anatolia, egypt,
And mesopotamia and soon sets

His eyes on the heart of
The persian empire,

Persepolis.

He uses darius's royal road to

March his vast army across
The desert

And attacks the great city.

Persepolis falls in only
A few days -- alexander burns it

To the ground as payback for
The persians' burning of athens.

Sophy believes
The destruction of the once

Mighty city is more
Than just revenge.

It makes obvious
Strategic sense

To burn persepolis.

It's the heart of
The persian world.

It's an obvious rallying point
For any rebellion and dissent.

Narrator:
The persian empire that rules

Over most of
The known world for

Over 200 years is incorporated
Into alexander the great's

New imperial powerhouse.

But alexander follows in
The steps of

The astounding achievements
Of the ancient persians.

Alexander is only able
To achieve his very

Brief empire because he's
Taken over the persian empire.

This whole idea of
Creating empires on such

A large scale does get back
Really to the persians.

Narrator: the persians create
The blueprint

For empires for centuries
To come,

Laying down the groundwork for
The greeks and romans.

The story of their rise
And fall is unearthed here

In this glorious capital in
The mountains, persepolis.

The persians conquer most
Of the known ancient world

And rule it from persepolis,

A majestic city
Richer than any other.

The persian leader
Becomes king of kings.

He rules over 23 nations
Across two million square miles

And creates a lush paradise
In the desert,

Leaving behind a legacy of how
To rule the ancient world.

**

**

**

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