0:00:40 > 0:00:44No-one knows why 15,000 years ago
0:00:44 > 0:00:48human beings painted the walls of caves in Spain and France
0:00:48 > 0:00:50with designs like these.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Whatever reason they had to crawl into the inky blackness,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57lit only by tiny, flickering lamps,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00it surely could not have been just a trivial one.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Almost all the animals represented are those that were hunted for food.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06So an obvious explanation is
0:01:06 > 0:01:10that painting was part of magic designed to bring success in hunting
0:01:10 > 0:01:14or to maintain the fertility of the herds.
0:01:14 > 0:01:15One thing is certain -
0:01:15 > 0:01:18the animal that dominates this cave in Lascaux
0:01:18 > 0:01:22is not the reindeer or the ibex or even the horse,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25but the great wild boar.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28In life, it stood over six feet at the shoulder
0:01:28 > 0:01:31and weighed about a ton.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33But these astonishing images
0:01:33 > 0:01:35are even bigger than life-size.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Confronted by them, it's difficult not to believe
0:01:39 > 0:01:41that the artist regarded this animal
0:01:41 > 0:01:46with deep, almost religious awe. It must have been
0:01:46 > 0:01:49the most formidable and dangerous animal in the forest,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53the very embodiment of fertility and strength.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23These bulls, running wild in the Camargue in southern France,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25are descended from domesticated stock,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28but they give some idea of the formidable character
0:02:28 > 0:02:30of their truly wild ancestors,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34which were even bigger and surely just as aggressive.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38MEN SHOUTING AND WHOOPING
0:02:42 > 0:02:44COWBELLS CLANKING
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Around 10,000 years ago, somehow or another,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03men managed to tame the bull.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05The process started, doubtless,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07by rearing the calves of cows killed in the hunt,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11but even so, controlling animals of such strength and ferocity
0:03:11 > 0:03:15and keeping them penned in an enclosure in order not to lose them
0:03:15 > 0:03:17must have been very difficult and hazardous
0:03:17 > 0:03:20for people who had not yet tamed horses to help them do so.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26In the forest-covered mountains,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29they also found another animal they could tame.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31A wild sheep.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35This is the mouflon, probably the best living approximation
0:03:35 > 0:03:37that we have to that wild ancestor,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39which today lives in the remoter parts
0:03:39 > 0:03:41of the islands of Corsica and Sardinia.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49It's a very shy creature with extremely acute eyesight,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51so it's very difficult to approach.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12In spite of its timidity,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15it may have been relatively simple to tame.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17For one thing, it's a mountain animal,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20adapted to picking its way through difficult country,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23so it's built for agility rather than speed.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Once caught, therefore, it's relatively easy to control.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Easier than, say, an antelope.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Furthermore, pasture in this kind of country
0:04:31 > 0:04:33is scattered and difficult to find,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36so the animals do not have small, permanent territories
0:04:36 > 0:04:41which they mark and defend, but wander about over a wide range.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44In consequence, they were ready to accept being moved
0:04:44 > 0:04:47if their human owners wanted to drive them to new pastures.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53And they have one further characteristic
0:04:53 > 0:04:56that must have helped early man to control them.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00The females and their young live together in a small permanent herd.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02The male is a solitary animal,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05and only visits the herd during the breeding season,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09when he leads or drives them and defends them against other rivals.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Men simply took over his position of authority,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25and by 8,000 years ago,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27people were herding groups of tame sheep
0:05:27 > 0:05:30in many parts of the eastern Mediterranean.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Wild pig also lived in the prehistoric forests of Europe,
0:05:46 > 0:05:51rootling around for acorns, nuts and roots, just as they do today.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54They were one of the favourite targets for the early hunters.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Their young are striped, presumably for camouflage
0:06:01 > 0:06:03when for the week or so after they are born
0:06:03 > 0:06:05the mother leaves them in a nest in the undergrowth,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and they must be virtually invisible
0:06:07 > 0:06:10if they're not to be taken by predators -
0:06:10 > 0:06:13wolves or bears - or men.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16They soon learn to follow their mother around
0:06:16 > 0:06:18as she searches for food, as they have to
0:06:18 > 0:06:20if they themselves are to get a meal.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23After about three months, they will stop suckling
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and then their stripes will fade.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Pigs are far from being fussy feeders.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39They will tackle almost anything, animal or vegetable.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41These are seeing what they can find
0:06:41 > 0:06:43in the shrinking waters of a drying pond.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Wild pigs must have scavenged for scraps
0:07:14 > 0:07:16around the hunting camps of early man,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18and doubtless they soon became accepted
0:07:18 > 0:07:21and were thrown regular food to induce them to stay,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24so that they could be killed and eaten when needed.
0:07:30 > 0:07:349,000 years ago, the shores of the western Mediterranean
0:07:34 > 0:07:36were covered with forest,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and the people lived in settlements of flimsy huts built in clearings.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43But at the eastern end of the sea, some cattle-owning tribes
0:07:43 > 0:07:46were developing a much more elaborate way of life
0:07:46 > 0:07:48in the grasslands of the Nile delta.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Nonetheless, they still worshipped the bull.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09THUNDER CRASHING
0:08:09 > 0:08:11The bull god was sent to earth, they believed,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13into the womb of a mortal cow.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17He had a triangular mark on his forehead, double hairs on his tail,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19and the shape of a vulture with outstretched wings
0:08:19 > 0:08:20clasping his shoulders.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27The priests were responsible for finding this holy calf
0:08:27 > 0:08:29as soon as his predecessor died.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Only one bull god could rule at a time.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33His name was Apis
0:08:33 > 0:08:36and his discovery was the cause for national rejoicing.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Children born on that auspicious day
0:08:39 > 0:08:42might be given the name "Apis Is Found"
0:08:42 > 0:08:44to mark such a happy coincidence.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Once he was identified,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51he was brought to the great temple at Memphis
0:08:51 > 0:08:54and kept in a stall quite near here.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57He was fed on special foods and regularly anointed,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00and on all great festivals and occasions
0:09:00 > 0:09:02he was led forth in front of the people
0:09:02 > 0:09:06with garlands around his neck and golden regalia between his horns.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09The people consulted him as an oracle.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12They would recite questions to him and interpret his answers
0:09:12 > 0:09:15as to whether he advanced or retreated.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17They would write questions on pieces of pottery
0:09:17 > 0:09:18and put them beside his path
0:09:18 > 0:09:23to see whether he veered towards them or away from them.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26And when he died, his great body was brought here
0:09:26 > 0:09:29to this immense mortuary table.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34It weighs about 50 tons,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38it was brought here from 250 miles upriver,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41and on each side it carries a lion,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45the guardian of the dead and the symbol of the resurrection.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49The body was then mummified,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51using exactly the same embalming techniques
0:09:51 > 0:09:55as were used for the bodies of the god kings, the pharaohs.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57After the removal of the viscera,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00scented embalming fluid was poured over the corpse,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02which drained through this runnel here,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04and were collected in this basin.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07For, having passed over the body of a god,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10they were very magical and precious.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Then the body was wrapped in bandages
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and carried in procession to its last resting place.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31For over 1,000 years, the mummified bodies of the bulls
0:10:31 > 0:10:35were brought down here in these limestone galleries
0:10:35 > 0:10:37cut deep below ground.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Once their walls were covered with tablets, like this one,
0:10:41 > 0:10:46erected by the priests or devotees or workers,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50as acts of devotion to the spirits of the bull gods.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Preparations to receive the body of the bull
0:10:55 > 0:10:59had been going on for some time, perhaps as much as a year,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02perhaps even before the bull itself had died.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05A huge granite sarcophagus had been quarried upriver
0:11:05 > 0:11:07and brought down here on barges.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10This is just the lid of one
0:11:10 > 0:11:13that for some reason had been abandoned here.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16The main part of it lies deeper in these galleries.
0:11:24 > 0:11:25This huge block,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29although it's hollowed out inside and is without its lid,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33must weigh, nonetheless, between 60 and 70 tons.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37It was dragged here by the dozen or so masons who made it,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and it would have taken them about four days
0:11:40 > 0:11:43to pull it all the way to its appointed vault.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06When the sarcophagus reached this position,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09this vault was full of sand.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11The sarcophagus was hauled across on top of it
0:12:11 > 0:12:14and then the sand removed from either side
0:12:14 > 0:12:19so that this huge block sank slowly to its final position.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23On its side are inscribed in hieroglyphs,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28"Apis, beloved of Osiris...
0:12:29 > 0:12:31"given...
0:12:31 > 0:12:34"all...life...
0:12:34 > 0:12:37"stability...
0:12:37 > 0:12:39"power...
0:12:39 > 0:12:41"and all joy...
0:12:42 > 0:12:45"..forever."
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Then the bull, in its wrappings and adornments, was placed inside,
0:12:49 > 0:12:55and this immense lid hauled across to seal it.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56But not forever.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00For, a century or so later, in Christian or Roman times,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03thieves came and pulled back this lid,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07and stripped the bull of all its golden finery.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14The falcon was also worshipped.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15Hovering aloft in the sky,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18ceaselessly scanning the earth beneath,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21and on occasion flying so high that it disappeared from sight,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23the people identified it with the sun
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and worshipped it as Horus, lord of the sky.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33It too had temples dedicated to it,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37where priests kept captive falcons and revered them as gods.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43As the centuries passed, these cults changed in character.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Instead of choosing one representative bird,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49all birds of a particular species
0:13:49 > 0:13:52were believed to contain something of the god's spirit.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55So all falcons, for example, merited mummification.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01They lie here in Saqqara in immense stacks,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03each eviscerated, embalmed,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07and sealed in its own pottery sarcophagus.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11There are estimated to be 800,000 falcons here,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15and they're not only falcons, they're birds of prey of all kinds.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Some of the bigger pots contain vultures,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20a bird that was sacred to the kingdom of Upper Egypt.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23But, above all, there are ibis.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26There are so many that it's impossible to believe
0:14:26 > 0:14:28that they all met a natural death,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31yet Herodotus the Greek historian was absolutely clear -
0:14:31 > 0:14:35even the accidental killing of a sacred ibis in ancient Egypt
0:14:35 > 0:14:37was a crime punishable by death.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41But the devotees of the ibis cult
0:14:41 > 0:14:44flocked to this temple in huge numbers,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48and each wanted to gain merit with the ibis god
0:14:48 > 0:14:50by presenting an embalmed bird
0:14:50 > 0:14:52and depositing it in these vaults.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55So it seems that the priests
0:14:55 > 0:14:58maintained a kind of ibis breeding station,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02a sort of sacred zoo on a lake near here.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05And then when devotees came, they were able to supply
0:15:05 > 0:15:10a bird ready-mummified and sealed, for a price.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14These galleries have not yet been fully explored,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16but it's estimated that, at very least,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20there are four million mummified ibis here,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23and the true number may be twice that.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33The ibis uses its long, curved bill
0:15:33 > 0:15:36to probe in mud and find its food.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38The Egyptians watching it do so in their fields
0:15:38 > 0:15:42interpreted its action as a continuous search for the truth,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44and so they regarded the bird
0:15:44 > 0:15:47as the incarnation of Thoth, the god of wisdom.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51We still call this handsome black and white species
0:15:51 > 0:15:53the sacred ibis, but it no longer lives in Egypt
0:15:53 > 0:15:56and has retreated to more southerly parts of Africa.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10The papyrus swamps that existed throughout the Nile delta
0:16:10 > 0:16:13were rich in wildlife of all kinds,
0:16:13 > 0:16:18and the Egyptians found in them a great source of delight and wonder.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Certainly, they deified and worshipped
0:16:20 > 0:16:22many of the animals that they saw here.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35The hippopotamus with its swollen belly was Tawaret,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38the protector of pregnant women, who, if suitably propitiated,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41could make the trial of childbirth less difficult.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46The crocodile, not surprisingly, was the god of evil, Sobek.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01The cat, which had come to live alongside people in their houses,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04was also a suitable subject for mummification.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07It was an associate of the goddess of war, Pasht.
0:17:14 > 0:17:20There were lion gods and ram gods, hawk gods and goat gods.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23The images of them that stood in temples were given human bodies
0:17:23 > 0:17:25to show that they represented
0:17:25 > 0:17:28not ordinary animals but divine beings.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39But though the people saw divinity in all the creatures around them,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43that didn't stop them from handling and exploiting animals.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Indeed, they were expert farmers.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53They handled wild animals with equal skill.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Judging from carvings such as these,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58they kept several kinds of antelope in captivity,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01even though they never succeeded in domesticating them.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06And here they appear to be force-feeding hyenas.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12One of their favourite pastimes
0:18:12 > 0:18:15was to go hunting in the swamps of the delta.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18They used throwing-sticks to bring down flying ducks.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32And they caught fish with harpoons.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38As well as abundant wildlife, the Nile brought other treasure.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Every year, hundreds of miles away upstream to the south,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44abundant rains fell.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48And so, every year, in a way that must have seemed almost magical
0:18:48 > 0:18:51to these people living here where there is no rain,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53the river rose between its banks,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57here and the upper part of its valley, by as much as 20 feet or so.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00And every year, a high official of the state would come
0:19:00 > 0:19:03and ceremonially break the banks
0:19:03 > 0:19:06to allow the waters to flow over the fields.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09They lay there for two months or so,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12and when the river began to fall again and the waters to retreat,
0:19:12 > 0:19:14they left behind what was perhaps
0:19:14 > 0:19:16the Nile's greatest treasure of all -
0:19:16 > 0:19:19a thick layer of rich, fertile mud.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23And so the people here were able to grow the plants
0:19:23 > 0:19:24that now are being domesticated
0:19:24 > 0:19:27all round the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Wheat and barley grew abundantly,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35and the people were able to plough and sow not only once
0:19:35 > 0:19:37but twice in a year.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00We know how they worked in the fields
0:20:00 > 0:20:04from the way in which they chose to be buried in their tombs.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08They believe that scenes painted on the tomb walls
0:20:08 > 0:20:10would be repeated in the afterlife.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14So the nobleman who once lay here
0:20:14 > 0:20:16chose to be surrounded in death
0:20:16 > 0:20:20by pictures of some of the most important and delightful times
0:20:20 > 0:20:22that he spent on earth,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25and that included cultivating the crops.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30The heads of grain were cut with sickles
0:20:30 > 0:20:32that initially were made of flint.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Cattle, yoked together, pulled the wooden ploughs,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39and they too trod the grain
0:20:39 > 0:20:42to loosen the kernels from the seed heads.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Winnowing, to get rid of the chaff,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56was done exactly as it is now.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Away to the northwest, 400 miles across the Mediterranean,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18lay a scatter of islands.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20The nearest and biggest of them was Crete,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23itself 200 miles long.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Tribes of people from the mainland on the other side of the sea,
0:21:26 > 0:21:27from Greece and Turkey,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30had reached Crete about 9,000 years ago,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33even before the Egyptians had begun building their cities.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46For a long time after their arrival here, however,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51the Cretans had lived simple lives in small hamlets of wooden huts,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53for their land was far less kind to them
0:21:53 > 0:21:56than the valley of the Nile was to the Egyptians.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Here, there was no annual flood of fertile mud.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13The land was stony, the soil was thin,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and when people first began to build the cities here,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18some 4,000 years ago,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22all this land was covered with forest,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and in that forest grew trees like these.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28They are amongst the longest-living of Mediterranean trees,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32living for as long as 1,000 or 1,500 years.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34And they bear great wealth -
0:22:34 > 0:22:36their olives.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43The people, then as now,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45harvested them by beating the branches with sticks
0:22:45 > 0:22:48to knock down the ripened fruit.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54The olives were then crushed in mills,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58using not horses as they use today, but oxen.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00PEOPLE CHATTING IN GREEK
0:23:13 > 0:23:17The final squeezing of the pulp is done in a press,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21which extracts the last drops of this clear, precious oil.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27In ancient times, this oil was the main form of wealth on the island.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29By now, there were many cities in Crete,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33and people paid their taxes to the king in this oil.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37The most important of these cities
0:23:37 > 0:23:41stood near the north coast, at Knossos.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50The oil was stored in gigantic pots like these.
0:23:50 > 0:23:57420 of them stood in 18 long, narrow chambers like this one.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59So this, in effect, was the treasury
0:23:59 > 0:24:02of the palace and the state.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04It was used, of course, for cooking,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06just as it is today in this part of the world.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10But it was also used for lighting, being burnt in small, pottery lamps,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14of which hundreds have been found in ruins such as this one.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16And it had another use -
0:24:16 > 0:24:19purified and scented with crushed herbs,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22the people used it to anoint their bodies.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25That not only gave them a pleasant perfume,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28but it also helped in keeping themselves clean.
0:24:28 > 0:24:33After heavy exercise, they would take an instrument such as this
0:24:33 > 0:24:35and scrape away the oil,
0:24:35 > 0:24:40so carrying away the perspiration and the dirt.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Not all these pots had oil in them.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48Others contained that other very precious liquid, wine.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50ANIMATED CHATTER
0:24:57 > 0:25:00In Crete today, as almost everywhere else
0:25:00 > 0:25:02that grapes are grown and wine made,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05happy parties are held to celebrate the harvest.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08While some drink, others, fortified and encouraged
0:25:08 > 0:25:10by the taste of last year's crop,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14tread the grapes to produce the juice for this year's vintage.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17ANIMATED CHATTER
0:25:29 > 0:25:32The wild vine grew originally as a creeper
0:25:32 > 0:25:35in the forests around the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Somehow, people discovered very early
0:25:37 > 0:25:41that it could be propagated with cuttings grafted onto root-stocks.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44So if a man happened to find in the forest a vine
0:25:44 > 0:25:48that produced particularly abundant, big or sweet grapes,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51he could cut the stem and graft it onto a plant
0:25:51 > 0:25:53that grew beside his house.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Over the years, this steady collection of selected vines
0:26:04 > 0:26:07produced crops which had a high proportion
0:26:07 > 0:26:09of large, elongated pips,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11and from finding such evidence as that,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14archaeologists deduce that the domestication of the vines
0:26:14 > 0:26:17started around 8,000 years ago.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20MEN CHATTING AND LAUGHING
0:26:28 > 0:26:30There are many palaces in Crete,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32some say over 100.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35This one is at Phaestos on the southern coast,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39and it was only a little less magnificent than that at Knossos.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43They had upper storeys supported by long lines of wooden columns.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Inside, they were magnificently decorated with frescoes.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50And all those that have been excavated so far
0:26:50 > 0:26:52have one thing in common in their layout -
0:26:52 > 0:26:56they are centred around one large, paved arena.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Here, many archaeologists believe,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04was held the great ritual which dominated the lives of the people.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07It was a blend of religious devotion,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11athletic prowess and great bravery.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14For these people, like the Egyptians before them,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16worshipped the bull.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Young men would seize a charging bull by its horns,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29somersault over its back and then land on their feet behind it.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32CROWD CHATTERING BUGLE PLAYS FANFARE
0:27:42 > 0:27:44CROWD JEERING AND WHISTLING
0:27:47 > 0:27:504,000 years later, in southern France,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53men still taunt bulls.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55CROWD JEERING AND WHISTLING
0:28:03 > 0:28:05The bull carries a red rosette on its forehead
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and white tassels on the points of its horns.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11If the men, skilled athletes who specialise in this sport,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14manage to snatch off a tassel or a rosette
0:28:14 > 0:28:16they win considerable prizes,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19and the crowd lays bets on who will do so.
0:28:39 > 0:28:40There's real danger.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43If the men are caught, they may be severely gored
0:28:43 > 0:28:45and even tossed and killed.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58CROWD CHEERING
0:29:02 > 0:29:04BUGLE PLAYING FANFARE
0:29:10 > 0:29:12After a carefully timed period of 15 minutes,
0:29:12 > 0:29:14the bull is let out of the ring
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and goes back to its pen, uninjured.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19But it will return several times later in the season
0:29:19 > 0:29:22to fight again in this extraordinary tournament.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28The ancient Cretans were skilled fishermen.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30They probably copied their ships from those of the Egyptians,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32who had developed a technique
0:29:32 > 0:29:34of sailing in the calm waters of the Nile.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38But the Cretans ventured out into the rough and unpredictable open sea
0:29:38 > 0:29:40and were greatly rewarded.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48From deep water around their coasts,
0:29:48 > 0:29:51they occasionally hauled up red coral.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54They used it for jewellery and for trade.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Eventually, people as far away as central Asia
0:29:56 > 0:29:59came to prize this extraordinary substance,
0:29:59 > 0:30:03so like a stone, yet so unlike anything dug from the earth.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07Cretan pots carried pictures
0:30:07 > 0:30:10of the products the people specially valued.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13At the bottom of this one, among the twigs of coral,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16is a particularly precious sea snail.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22This is murex.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25At first sight, it looks very similar
0:30:25 > 0:30:27to many other kinds of whelk-like molluscs
0:30:27 > 0:30:29that crawl about on the sea floor.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31But in its mantle it has a special gland
0:30:31 > 0:30:35from which comes a substance that will dye fabric a rich purple.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37Royal purple, it was called,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39and for the next 1,000 years or so,
0:30:39 > 0:30:42the murex was regarded throughout the Mediterranean lands
0:30:42 > 0:30:45as one of the most valuable things to come from the sea.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55Another creature they collected still entices men
0:30:55 > 0:30:57to dive deep at the risk of their lives.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Holding a lead weight in one hand to keep him down,
0:31:21 > 0:31:26with bursting lungs and seeing only blearily without goggles,
0:31:26 > 0:31:28he's searching for sponges.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34That's one.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02Divers in Tunisia still work without face masks,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05let alone any breathing equipment,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07just as they once did in ancient times.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16The length of time they can manage to stay below
0:32:16 > 0:32:17is quite extraordinary.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22He takes his breath...now.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37And only now can he breathe again.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46Octopus appear again and again on Cretan pots.
0:33:46 > 0:33:47And they were, then as now,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50one of the most favoured foods that the sea had to offer.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05The method used for catching them has also not changed
0:34:05 > 0:34:08since ancient times, nor does it need to.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10It's simplicity itself
0:34:10 > 0:34:13and requires nothing more than an earthenware pot.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30The octopus likes to hide inside small dens on the sea floor,
0:34:30 > 0:34:35and these pots apparently suit it so well, they are irresistible.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40All the fisherman has to do is to return after a few hours
0:34:40 > 0:34:42and haul up the pots.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00The way to get an octopus out of the pot is also easy.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04Pour in a little extra-salty water through a hole in the bottom
0:35:04 > 0:35:06and out it comes.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40The most valuable fish in the sea, then as now, is the tunny.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42Every year in the early summer,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44they swim in from the Atlantic to spawn.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48They are immense, some as much as 12 feet long.
0:35:48 > 0:35:49Because of the shape of the coastline
0:35:49 > 0:35:51and the topography of the sea floor,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53in some places they have to swim along
0:35:53 > 0:35:56a restricted and predictable route,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58and there, the people wait for them.
0:36:01 > 0:36:02Nets hanging from floats
0:36:02 > 0:36:05are stretched diagonally across the migration path
0:36:05 > 0:36:07for as much as three miles.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10The fish swim along the face of them, seeking a way past,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14until they enter a corridor that not only has an end wall,
0:36:14 > 0:36:16but a floor of netting.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18Once they have started down it,
0:36:18 > 0:36:20the fishermen pull up the end of the floor
0:36:20 > 0:36:22and the tunny are trapped.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25MEN SHOUTING
0:36:34 > 0:36:36SHOUTING
0:37:14 > 0:37:18The net is pulled in, forcing the fish closer to the surface.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25As they thrash about in panic, the fish so exhaust themselves
0:37:25 > 0:37:28that some are already close to death.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59One single chamber may have trapped 100 of these giant fish,
0:38:59 > 0:39:0230 tons of prime-quality meat.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28When the last have been collected, the netting floor is dropped again
0:39:28 > 0:39:33to wait for the next shoal, which may well arrive within a few hours.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43The harvest of the Mediterranean has always been rich.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46The Romans were particularly fond of fishing scenes
0:39:46 > 0:39:49for the mosaics with which they decorated the floors
0:39:49 > 0:39:51of their sumptuous villas.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53And these give a good idea of the range of sea creatures
0:39:53 > 0:39:56that they knew and relished.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Hunting, too, was a Roman passion.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Many of the animals they caught alive.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33By the beginning of the first century AD,
0:40:33 > 0:40:37the Romans had become the dominant nation in the Mediterranean,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40ruling all the lands right round the sea.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43And they ransacked their vast empire for animals,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46the stranger and the more ferocious the better.
0:41:01 > 0:41:06The fate of these creatures was to be transported to huge cities
0:41:06 > 0:41:08that now stood in all parts of the empire,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11and there to be taken to the arenas
0:41:11 > 0:41:13that were the centres of mass entertainment.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20This, one of the most perfectly preserved, is at El Jem in Tunisia.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26The Roman public's thirst for blood
0:41:26 > 0:41:28and pleasure in witnessing pain
0:41:28 > 0:41:32seems to have been unquenchable and without limit.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36The caged animals were kept in dungeons below the main arena.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39When this place was in use, timbers were laid across
0:41:39 > 0:41:41to roof this underground passage.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43And when the day of the spectacle came,
0:41:43 > 0:41:4730,000 people were packed into the terraces.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52And then, to the sound of blaring trumpets and roars from the crowd,
0:41:52 > 0:41:57the terrified animals in their cages were hoisted up from this pit.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59And not only animals - human beings, too.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Criminals, slaves and prisoners of war.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06And here in this arena, they were set one upon the other,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10to provide the crowd with spectacles of the most appalling carnage.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12CROWD CHEERING
0:42:13 > 0:42:15ANIMALS ROARING
0:42:36 > 0:42:38APPLAUSE
0:42:48 > 0:42:51It still continues in Spain -
0:42:51 > 0:42:56even sometimes in the very arenas built by the Romans.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07The Romans built huge cities
0:43:07 > 0:43:09all around the shores of the Mediterranean.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Here at Ephesus, in what is now Turkey,
0:43:12 > 0:43:15they took over a Greek town around a great religious centre
0:43:15 > 0:43:18sacred to the goddess of fertility and nature, Artemis.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22Her temple here was so rich and splendid,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25it was listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30Roman copies in marble of the wooden statue
0:43:30 > 0:43:34that once stood in her temple still survive.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37And very strange they are too.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43Heads of bulls are clustered around her ankles.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46Above them are lionesses,
0:43:46 > 0:43:50mythical winged creatures like griffins,
0:43:50 > 0:43:52and then the heads of lions.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55For she had all nature, tame and wild, in her charge.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00The strange objects above them
0:44:00 > 0:44:04were for a long time thought to be multiple breasts,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07a kind of expression of her huge fertility,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10in spite of the fact that they aren't shaped like breasts,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13they don't have nipples, they are so low down on her body
0:44:13 > 0:44:15and there are so many of them.
0:44:15 > 0:44:20But recently we've learnt more about the cult of Artemis.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22Excavations at Ephesus in her shrine
0:44:22 > 0:44:27have revealed a great number of skeletons of bulls.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30It seems that they were not only sacrificed in her honour,
0:44:30 > 0:44:35but castrated. And, as part of the ritual, her image was hung
0:44:35 > 0:44:38with the parts of their body that were the very source
0:44:38 > 0:44:40of their power and fertility -
0:44:40 > 0:44:42their testicles.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48People were now travelling widely around the sea,
0:44:48 > 0:44:50protected by the peace imposed by Roman rule,
0:44:50 > 0:44:53and religious ideas were spreading.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56Visitors to Ephesus might well have carried bull worship
0:44:56 > 0:44:59back to western Europe, if indeed the practice of it,
0:44:59 > 0:45:03once so strong in earlier times, had ever ceased.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06During the first century BC,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09a bull cult appeared in Rome itself
0:45:09 > 0:45:12and was soon spreading all over the empire.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15In underground temples like this one near Rome,
0:45:15 > 0:45:19devotees gathered to worship this god, Mithras.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23The legend of Mithras originated, like that of Artemis,
0:45:23 > 0:45:25in the eastern Mediterranean,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29and it told how the god fought a great bull,
0:45:29 > 0:45:30stabbing it in the throat
0:45:30 > 0:45:35so that its blood gushed onto the earth, giving life to the animals,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38here represented by the snake and the dog
0:45:38 > 0:45:39which are lapping up the blood.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44So the bull is still seen as the source of all life,
0:45:44 > 0:45:49but now it requires a god in human form to release its fertility.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54At this time, Rome was at the height of her power,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57her empire extending across the Mediterranean
0:45:57 > 0:45:59to the North African shore.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01And here there were some 600 great cities,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04the biggest of all being this, Leptis Magna,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07with a population of around 100,000 people.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11And in the first year of the Christian era, AD 1,
0:46:11 > 0:46:15one of the wealthiest of them, a man by the name of Annobal Rufus,
0:46:15 > 0:46:17built for the benefit of the citizens,
0:46:17 > 0:46:19and doubtless for his own greater glory,
0:46:19 > 0:46:23this splendid theatre which could accommodate 7,000 spectators.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29Here, pantomimes and ballets were performed.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Elaborate scenery was set on the stage,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35and screens of canvas stretched between sticks
0:46:35 > 0:46:38were raised in front of the stage to allow settings to be changed.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41There was a magnificent basilica
0:46:41 > 0:46:43and huge municipal baths.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51In the city centre stood a splendid marketplace
0:46:51 > 0:46:52with marble colonnades
0:46:52 > 0:46:55adorned with statues of distinguished citizens.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57This city in Libya, in fact,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00was one of the wealthiest in the whole of the empire.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06That wealth was based directly on the land.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09Into this marketplace flooded produce of all kinds -
0:47:09 > 0:47:12figs and pomegranates, chicken and sheep,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15and this stone was used for measuring olive oil -
0:47:15 > 0:47:18pouring the oil in at the top
0:47:18 > 0:47:21and collecting it by removing the bung at the bottom,
0:47:21 > 0:47:23so forming a standard unit.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26But above all, there was grain.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Pliny, the Roman historian, said that the land here was so rich
0:47:29 > 0:47:32that if you planted one grain of wheat,
0:47:32 > 0:47:36from it would sprout a stem carrying 150 grains.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40By the end of the first century AD, North Africa was producing
0:47:40 > 0:47:43half a million tons of grain every year
0:47:43 > 0:47:46and supplying the densely populated city of Rome,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49which had long since outstripped its own resources,
0:47:49 > 0:47:51with two-thirds of its wheat.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57The southern shores of the Mediterranean, in fact,
0:47:57 > 0:47:59were among the most fertile territories
0:47:59 > 0:48:01in the whole of the Roman Empire.
0:48:02 > 0:48:07Their produce was brought to the great ports like this one at Leptis.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10Then, the sea lapped this jetty,
0:48:10 > 0:48:13and alongside it were moored the great ships.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16Onto to them were loaded hundreds of tons of wheat,
0:48:16 > 0:48:18thousands of gallons of olive oil,
0:48:18 > 0:48:21ivory for the craftsmen of the imperial city,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25caged wild beasts such as lions and leopards and rhinoceroses
0:48:25 > 0:48:28to be tormented and put to death in the arenas of the empire.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33And yet today the harbour is silted up,
0:48:33 > 0:48:37most of the city lies buried beneath sand dunes
0:48:37 > 0:48:39and the land has become a desert.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44As the population had grown and more people wanted more fields,
0:48:44 > 0:48:48so more of the forest that once stood around the city was cut down
0:48:48 > 0:48:50until, eventually, it was all gone.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54With no roots to hold the soil and no attempt to conserve it,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57it was carried away by the wind and the rain.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59And this is where it went.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07In bays all around the eastern Mediterranean,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10the sea is separated from the hills inland
0:49:10 > 0:49:14by strips of flat marshy land like this, made up of the soil
0:49:14 > 0:49:17that once clothed the rocks of the hills beyond.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22All this was deposited during the last 2,000 years,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25for this is the marsh that now separates the sea
0:49:25 > 0:49:27from the city of Ephesus.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32These ruined buildings mark the edge of the quay
0:49:32 > 0:49:35where once merchant ships lay moored.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37As the harbour died, so did the trade
0:49:37 > 0:49:40on which the city's wealth was based,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43and so, ultimately, did Ephesus itself.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47What was once one of the most splendid cities of the Roman Empire
0:49:47 > 0:49:50fell into decay and was abandoned.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13The city was approaching the height of its wealth and prosperity
0:50:13 > 0:50:16when, in the year 53 AD,
0:50:16 > 0:50:18St Paul settled here.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21Not only was there great wealth coming from the port,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24even though the harbour was rapidly silting up,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27but every year thousands of devotees came here
0:50:27 > 0:50:31to worship at the ancient shrine of Artemis of Ephesus,
0:50:31 > 0:50:33the goddess of fertility.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36But St Paul's message of Christianity
0:50:36 > 0:50:38began to strike at that trade.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41The silversmiths who made images of the goddess
0:50:41 > 0:50:45for sale to the pilgrims complained that it was ruining their trade,
0:50:45 > 0:50:50and eventually they organised a riot right here in this very theatre.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54Two of Paul's companions were badly beaten up,
0:50:54 > 0:50:57and although the authorities eventually managed to restore order,
0:50:57 > 0:51:02the situation remained so tense that Paul had to leave.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05But in truth, it was the Ephesians themselves
0:51:05 > 0:51:09who were flouting the principles of fertility
0:51:09 > 0:51:12by what they were doing to the land around their city.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16It used to be said that in places like this,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20nature eventually failed to support man.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23The truth is exactly the reverse -
0:51:23 > 0:51:26here, man failed to support nature.
0:51:27 > 0:51:3110,000 years ago, man regarded the natural world as divine.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34But as he domesticated animals and plants,
0:51:34 > 0:51:36so nature lost something of its mystery
0:51:36 > 0:51:39and seemed to be little more than a larder
0:51:39 > 0:51:41that could be raided with impunity.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46The bull, once the most important of the gods, was dethroned.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49So today, castrated and subdued,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52it works out its days in harness
0:51:52 > 0:51:54as man's patient slave.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56But at the other end of the Mediterranean,
0:51:56 > 0:51:59the sun was just a little less harsh,
0:51:59 > 0:52:01the rainfall a little more generous,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04and so there, nature is able a little better
0:52:04 > 0:52:06to withstand man's assaults.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09And so, over the next few centuries,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12the centres of human power and population
0:52:12 > 0:52:15slowly moved to the other end of the sea.