Bettany Hughes

World-class historian Bettany Hughes journeys across modern-day Türkiye to uncover the origins of civilisation itself. With exclusive access to newly discovered sites and artifacts - including the world’s first square room, the oldest known swords, and the first life-sized human sculptures - she explores the birth of agriculture, religion, trade, urban life, myths, and empire. From Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe to Ephesus, Cappadocia, Istanbul, and the snowy Caucasus mountains, this cinematic journey reveals how ancient Anatolia became a crossroads of human history - and helped shape the world we know today.

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A two-part special that re-tells the staggering expansion, domination, and ultimate collapse of one of history’s greatest and most cautionary civilizations. Rome is a young and aggressive republic fighting for survival in the dog-eat-dog world of the Ancient Mediterranean but driven by an ambitious leadership with plans to expand. Waging war on its neighbors brings vast wealth, power, and land without limits. Under its emperors, the Roman Empire dominates the Western world, before an intricate web of events, absolute unchecked power, and new fearsome invaders bring it crashing down after a thousand years of gore and glory. Utilizes dramatic live action sequences, archive, and special effects to bring to life the crucial players in Rome’s history. Featuring commentary with leading experts and world-renowned scholars.

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Renowned historian and Wanderlust contributing editor Bettany Hughes is back on our screens with Seven Wonders of The Ancient World – and the series will make use of augmented reality (AR), allowing viewers to explore the lost sites.

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Bettany Hughes is on a mission to understand the secret behind the success of the Nabataeans. The glorious tombs of their cities, like Hegra in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, are proof of a rich kingdom.

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The professor, seasoned adventurer, author and historian - alongside local experts and academics - guides viewers through her curated selection of the treasures of India.

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A forensic dig into history's most enduring mysteries. In Voices of the Dead, Professor Bettany Hughes leads a forensic investigation into some of the most enduring mysteries of the ancient world and brings viewers face-to-face with the extraordinary people of the past she unearths along the way.

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Bettany Hughes follows in the footsteps of 18th century aristocrats going on a Grand Tour as she travels through France and Italy to see how travel, the arts and culture and the finest foods can enrich and inspire our lives.

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What can the ancient world's vision of the planet, such as the legend of powerful Greek Goddess Gaia, teach us? Acclaimed historian Bettany Hughes explores our relationship with Mother Earth in this fascinating documentary on BBC Select. Now, more than ever, our use and misuse of the planet is under scrutiny. Can the past hold the answers to how we can possibly have a future on the Earth?

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Bettany Hughes take viewers on armchair travels to explore household-name treasures and new finds from across the world.

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Bettany Hughes discovers Malta. Documentary by BBC World News

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Professor Bettany Hughes takes viewers on a journey of discovery as she investigates 10 of the greatest and most intriguing Egyptian mummies - and the secrets that lie beneath the bandages. Having remained in their tombs for thousands of years, wrapped, embalmed and buried with treasure, each mummy tells the story of the criminals, priests, children and pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

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With cutting-edge VR, fascinating interviews, and access to the very latest discoveries, join Professor Bettany Hughes in her ultimate countdown of history’s most famous city's treasures.

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Historian Bettany Hughes has embarked on an epic, personal journey. Inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, she will sail the unpredictable Mediterranean seas, tracing Odysseus's long journey home. Her mission: to experience what the Greek hero experienced and to uncover truths behind the myths and legends, all while enjoying the delights of ancient Greece today. Follow her 1,700-mile adventure as it takes her to over a dozen islands and 22 historic sites and puts her through two hair-raising storms and even an earthquake.

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Unearthing the glittering, golden treasures of the pharaohs.

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Experts uncover long-lost secrets and discover new evidence in the infamous story of Pompeii offering new stories of what happened in those fateful final hours. (This appears to be a a standalone, truncated, single movie adaptation of the three-part TV Series Pompeii's Final Hours: New Evidence (2018) [tmdbid= 86218].

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Professor Bettany Hughes travels from the Mouth of the Nile in the north of Egypt, to the shores of Lake Nasser in the far south in search of her Top 10. Along the way she will check in on the Great Sphinx, the original location of the Rosetta Stone, the Valley of the Kings, and the Great Pyramid at Giza.

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The historian explores the land that inspired her passion for the past by embarking upon a 900-mile journey along the river Nile and examining how it shaped ancient Egypt.

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Bettany Hughes investigates the enduring relationship between warfare and worship, by following the trail of Mars, from Rome and Carthage to the present day.

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Exploring life in Pompeii during the final days of the doomed city.

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Professor Bettany Hughes investigates the story of Bacchus, god of wine, revelry, theatre and excess, travelling to Georgia, Jordan, Greece and Britain to discover his origins and his presence in the modern world, and explore how 'losing oneself' plays a vital role in the development of civilisation. Bettany begins in Georgia where she discovers evidence of the world's oldest wine production, and the role it may have played in building communities. In Athens she reveals Bacchus's pivotal role in a society where his ecstatic worship was embraced by all classes, and most importantly women. On Cyprus she uncovers startling parallels between Bacchus and Christ. Finally, Bettany follows the god's modern embrace in Nietzsche's philosophy, experimental theatre and the hedonistic hippie movement to conclude that, while this god of ecstasy is worthy of contemporary reconsideration, it is vital to heed the warning of the ancients - "MEDEN AGAN" - nothing in excess.

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Join us as we tell the tales of history's most iconic female fighters, from the legendary Amazons of Central Asia to the gladiators of the Roman Empire to the all-female fighting force of West Africa.

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In 1914, the suffragette Mary Richardson attacked the Rokeby Venus at the National Gallery in London. But why did this painting fire such outrage? Professor Bettany Hughes embarks on a voyage of discovery to reveal the truth behind the Venus depicted in the painting, proving that this mythological figure is so much more than just an excuse for sensual nudity and chocolate-box romance. Because Venus Uncovered is the remarkable story of one of antiquity's most potent forces. And more than that - hers is the story of human desire, and how desire transforms who we are and how we behave.

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Bettany Hughes relives eight pivotal days that defined the Roman Empire and made it the world's first superpower.

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National Geographic's landmark event series, The Greeks, brings together historians, archaeologists, actors, athletes, scientists and artists to launch a groundbreaking exploration into the ancient Greeks' journey - not just to better understand their past, but to discover how their legacy illuminates our present, and will shape our future. The story of the Greeks is the story of us.

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Historian Bettany Hughes retraces the lives of three great thinkers whose ideas shaped the modern world - Karl Marx, Frederick Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud.

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Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy - Buddha, Socrates and Confucius.

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Secrets From The Sky takes a look at some of the country’s most historic landmarks and glorious landscapes from a bird’s eye view in the sky.

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Recent findings in the Middle East have radically changed our understanding of the birth of mankind and the spread of civilization across the globe. Join us on a 12,000-year journey uncovering how this region became a vital link between continents and lead the world's religious, scientific, and cultural enlightenment. On-location excavations and expert testimonies bring to life this epic journey of discovery from the East to the West.

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Ancient Impossible, the new H2 series, picks up where HISTORY’s long running Ancient Discoveries left off. In this next generation of storytelling, Ancient Impossible reveals how many of today’s technological achievements were actually developed centuries ago. Colossal monuments, impossible feats of engineering and technologies so precise they defy reinvention–the ancient world was far more advanced than we ever imagined. We’ll travel through history to reveal a radically different picture of the past, with innovations so far ahead of their time, they’re still in use today. New science uncovers a lost world more like our own than we ever suspected, and reveals how modern technology has its blueprint in the ancient world.

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The history of still life painting with oil paints

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There are five episodes each detailing 10 homes in Britain that are of historic note for a variety of reasons.

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David Suchet, TV's Poirot, has spent more of his life acting out the plots and dramas created by Agatha Christie than anyone else in the world. Suchet is embarking on a journey to learn more about the woman who created Poirot and whose books remain outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. Suchet's journey takes him to the places Christie lived, the landscapes that inspired her and to meetings with people who knew the woman behind the fame and those inspired by her extraordinary legacy. He explores the close links between Christie's extraordinary life and her work and discovers what it was about the woman from a small seaside town that allowed her to become the best-selling murder mystery writer in history.

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Bettany Hughes sets out on an epic journey across continents and back in time to trace the hidden and often controversial history of women in religion

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This six-part series tells the story of the birth and flourishing of civilisation in the Middle East and its huge influence on the West. From the foundation of science, monotheism, commerce, justice, civil rights and artistic expression - look Eastward. The series contends that history that starts from an ancient Greek perspective distorts the true path of civilisation. For crucial phases in world history, the political, economic and cultural centre was the Middle East.

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In this fascinating documentary, historian Bettany Hughes travels to the seven wonders of the Buddhist world.Her journey begins at the Mahabodhi Temple in India, where Buddhism was born; here Hughes examines the foundations of the belief system - the three jewels.At Nepal's Boudhanath Stupa, she looks deeper into the concept of dharma - the teaching of Buddha, and at the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka, Bettany explores karma, the idea that our intentional acts will be mirrored in the future.At Wat Pho Temple in Thailand, Hughes explores samsara, the endless cycle of birth and death that Buddhists seek to end by achieving enlightenment, before travelling to Angkor Wat in Cambodia to learn more about the practice of meditation.In Hong Kong, Hughes visits the Giant Buddha and looks more closely at Zen, before arriving at the final wonder, the Hsi Lai temple in Los Angeles, to discover more about the ultimate goal for all Buddhists - nirvana.

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Follow the close analysis of an ancient fight master's manuscript depicting combat techniques and devices used over 500 years ago.

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Bettany Hughes is on a mission to understand the secret behind the success of the Nabataeans. The glorious tombs of their cities, like Hegra in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, are proof of a rich kingdom.

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A forensic dig into history's most enduring mysteries. In Voices of the Dead, Professor Bettany Hughes leads a forensic investigation into some of the most enduring mysteries of the ancient world and brings viewers face-to-face with the extraordinary people of the past she unearths along the way.

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Bettany Hughes follows in the footsteps of 18th century aristocrats going on a Grand Tour as she travels through France and Italy to see how travel, the arts and culture and the finest foods can enrich and inspire our lives.

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Bettany Hughes take viewers on armchair travels to explore household-name treasures and new finds from across the world.

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Professor Bettany Hughes takes viewers on a journey of discovery as she investigates 10 of the greatest and most intriguing Egyptian mummies - and the secrets that lie beneath the bandages. Having remained in their tombs for thousands of years, wrapped, embalmed and buried with treasure, each mummy tells the story of the criminals, priests, children and pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

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