"Human" A Great Gamble

1 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,279 Around 300,000 years ago, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,399 our species, Homo sapiens, 3 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:17,000 evolved in Africa. 4 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:21,719 For generations, 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,360 small bands of hunter-gatherers explored the planet... 6 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:29,760 ..learning to survive. 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:40,759 Many other species of human walked the Earth alongside us, 8 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,040 but one by one, we supplanted them... 9 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,920 ..until only we remained. 10 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:00,360 For most of our history, our population was tiny and fragile. 11 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,480 Every aspect of our lives determined by the natural world. 12 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:11,920 And yet... 13 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,320 ..everything would change. 14 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,719 Today, there are about eight billion of us, 15 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,279 most of us living in cities, like this one, 16 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:35,559 able to connect in an instant with people across the planet. 17 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,279 And you might think it was inevitable, 18 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:42,719 the result of progress over time, but surely, our story so far, if it 19 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,640 teaches us anything, it's that none of this was a foregone conclusion. 20 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:52,880 So, how did we get here? 21 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,079 How did humanity transform from scattered 22 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,880 groups of nomads into our modern, interconnected world? 23 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,839 What happened in that final chapter of our story 24 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,320 that took us on a path to this place? 25 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:21,074 26 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,160 On a remote hilltop, in the far east of Turkey... 27 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:54,240 ..stands a prehistoric monument steeped in mystery. 28 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,440 It is so hard to stand here and not have goose bumps. 29 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:28,520 This is the oldest temple unearthed anywhere on this planet. 30 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,840 It was built 11,500 years ago by hunter-gatherers. 31 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,759 That's 6,000 years earlier than Stonehenge, 32 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,440 and yet somehow, our ancestors were capable of making this. 33 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,960 This is Gobekli Tepe. 34 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,999 There are these incredible T-shaped pillars, 35 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,679 which would've been holding up a huge roof. 36 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:19,079 And then, if we look at them, they're covered in these engravings. 37 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:23,039 So, this is a fox, there's vultures here, there's bear, 38 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:29,119 there's wild boar, and here, this one just has to be my favourite. 39 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:34,519 It's a leopard, hunting one of those wild boars. 40 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,359 So, notice these holes here. 41 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,599 This was dressed with furs and they were also painted. 42 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:45,999 So, you get the impression of this place as being beautifully 43 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,360 coloured and textured. 44 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:56,159 And yet, this incredible feat of architecture is not the most 45 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,600 revolutionary thing about this place. 46 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,559 Gobekli Tepe is not simply a temple. 47 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,200 It is a marker of a species on the cusp of change. 48 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:21,399 In many ways, 49 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,719 these prehistoric builders lived as their ancestors had for thousands 50 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:31,360 of years, their days spent foraging and hunting to feed their families. 51 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:34,840 ANIMAL GRUNTS 52 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,240 But they'd made one fundamental change. 53 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,800 After generations spent as nomads, following the herds... 54 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:13,240 ..here at Gobekli Tepe, they stopped moving and settled down. 55 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,200 The evidence for which lies not in the temple itself... 56 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,320 ..but in the rubble surrounding it. 57 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,439 Now, this might not look like much compared to that, 58 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,679 but this small square building is actually 59 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:47,240 the remains of one of the first permanent houses ever built. 60 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,959 That there is a storage vessel, this is a grinding stone for wild 61 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:04,160 wheat, and this floor of plaster and stone, this was somebody's home. 62 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,000 This is one of the first villages. 63 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,079 Archaeologists believe maybe a few hundred people 64 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:23,960 were living here permanently... 65 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:28,200 ..and calling it home. 66 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:37,679 For 300,000 years, Homo sapiens roamed freely. 67 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:42,879 But now, they were gathering together to put down roots. 68 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,239 And so, the question is, why? 69 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:48,640 And why now? 70 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,760 This was a world of plenty... 71 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:09,880 ..warm and abundant. 72 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,200 But the planet had not always been this way. 73 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,039 Only a few generations earlier, Homo sapiens had been 74 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:21,800 fighting for survival... 75 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,600 ..through the brutal peak of the last Ice Age. 76 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,959 Now that local areas could provide plenty of food, 77 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,279 people could spend longer in one place, 78 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:43,919 and when large groups came together to share their bounty, a feature 79 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,880 of our brain had an opportunity to flourish like never before. 80 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,440 Our almost limitless capacity to learn. 81 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,559 An ability with roots that can be traced way back, 82 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:07,680 right to the beginning of the human story. 83 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,760 As the distant ancestors of our species were gradually evolving... 84 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,320 ..they had begun developing larger brains. 85 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:32,519 But as their brains grew, 86 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,800 the way they were organised was evolving too... 87 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:42,599 ..becoming increasingly adaptable, and more able to 88 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,840 change in response to stimulation from the outside world... 89 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,080 ..until they became us... 90 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,519 ..a species brilliant at learning, 91 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,000 both from our experiences and other people. 92 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,399 The major thing that marks our species as different isn't 93 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:15,399 just the size of our brain, it's also the way they're organised 94 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,359 and their extraordinary flexibility. 95 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,279 Now, we call this flexibility neuroplasticity, 96 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,359 because it's like our brains are plastic. 97 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,199 They adapt, they alter and they change. 98 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,840 It has some profound effects. 99 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:46,719 Humans have a natural affinity for observing 100 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,080 and copying each other... 101 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,199 ..giving Homo sapiens the ability to have a 102 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,400 shared understanding of the world. 103 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,799 At Gobekli Tepe, the symbols of their shared experiences 104 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,920 and beliefs are carved into the stone. 105 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,200 And these indicate a bigger shift in our species. 106 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,519 The odd thing about being human is that we are constantly 107 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:23,959 surrounded by a bunch of things that are so all-encompassing, and yet we 108 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:28,079 never really think about where they started or where they come from. 109 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:30,440 I'm talking here about culture. 110 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,519 Ritual, custom, language, art, stories 111 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:44,479 and ideas that have been passed down orally through generations, 112 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,120 and have now found physical form. 113 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:57,679 Places like Gobekli Tepe became so rich in meaning 114 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:03,240 that our ancestors never wanted to leave, and culture flourished. 115 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:11,919 Cooperating and building connections 116 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,000 are what our brains are actually set up to do. 117 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,079 Wherever humans settled down, an explosion in creativity 118 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:27,000 followed, launching an era of extraordinary innovation. 119 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,120 We can see the results of this shift in the archaeological record... 120 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:38,280 ..which begins to seethe with the debris of new technology. 121 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,279 Our ancestors couldn't have foreseen it, 122 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,719 but one innovation from around this time was to have consequences 123 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,520 far greater than they could possibly have imagined. 124 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:04,639 We start to see the first sparks of something that would come to 125 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:06,920 shape the way we live today. 126 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,759 Wherever there were humans, there was 127 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,360 a dramatic rise in the bones of goats and sheep... 128 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:24,280 ..far outstripping the remains of the species they hunted. 129 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,560 These changes reveal a key point in the human story... 130 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,480 ..the moment we began to farm livestock. 131 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,320 The people had found a safe, reliable way to feed themselves. 132 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,040 They'd stopped chasing their food and started rearing it... 133 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:16,680 ..providing a regular supply of milk, cheese and yoghurt... 134 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,600 ..and later, textiles like wool... 135 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,480 ..season after season. 136 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,680 The farming of animals marked a watershed moment. 137 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:48,799 The result of this, I don't think could've been predicted. 138 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:53,519 This altered relationship that they had with animals, altered them, 139 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,439 because not long after they learnt how to do this, 140 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,200 something fascinating happened. 141 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,480 Their population started to boom. 142 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,279 Now, we're not really sure why this happened, 143 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,319 but the strongest theory is that people staying in one place 144 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,159 and not moving as much, but also having more food, having more 145 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:28,720 calories, basically led to mums having more energy for reproduction. 146 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,840 As our numbers rose, settlements began springing up... 147 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:47,760 ..scattered across an area which we now call the Fertile Crescent. 148 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:02,600 As their populations grew, villages transformed into towns. 149 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,800 And the largest of the towns of the Fertile Crescent was Catalhoyuk. 150 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,160 An early prototype of urban living. 151 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:41,280 Wow! 152 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,439 Every single one of these is a house. 153 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,399 That's right. And you have to imagine, of course, 154 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,639 that each of these houses is a box, with a roof. 155 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,439 But, uh, there's no space really between them. 156 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:55,479 Like a beehive. 157 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:59,519 The fact that they're all tightly up against each other means 158 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:03,399 that the whole thing is much more structurally sound. 159 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,919 There's literally no gap. 160 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,559 The only way you can get in the house is to move along the roofs 161 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:11,999 and go down through a hole into the house, 162 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,480 because there's no streets. 163 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:27,440 Each dwelling was small and had its door in the ceiling. 164 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,960 The inhabitants lived much of their lives up on the roofs... 165 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,319 ..grinding grain, trading, 166 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,240 and feasting in the bright sunlight above their homes. 167 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:49,679 In this honeycomb, 168 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:54,080 their animals were kept in pens right next to the living quarters. 169 00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:59,479 Here, you can see bits of animal bone. These are the sheep bones 170 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:00,839 from feasting and so on. 171 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,919 But also, there are lots of droppings 172 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,319 and so, this is telling us that, as well as people 173 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:11,760 living in the village, they also brought in domesticated animals. 174 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,959 And these farmers left behind intriguing signs 175 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,480 that they were here to stay. 176 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,359 What are those holes over there? 177 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:30,479 These are the ancestors who are buried beneath the floors. 178 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,839 In some houses, there are up to 62 people buried in them. 179 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,159 I mean, Ian, 60-odd people being buried, 180 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:38,759 that's a graveyard in a home. 181 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,359 We've dug up hundreds of burials here, 182 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:44,359 and what's fascinating is that people were sleeping just 183 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:48,080 a few centimetres from the bones of their ancestors. 184 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,880 Between the dead, the living and their animals... 185 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,160 ..this thriving town was densely packed. 186 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:19,839 At its height, some people think there were 8,000 people 187 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,679 living at Catalhoyuk, so that's one of the largest 188 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,039 settlements on the planet at this point. 189 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,439 And so, it's so easy to imagine this straight line from this 190 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:37,479 population boom to our own huge population of humans on this planet. 191 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,719 And yet, that straight line was severely interrupted, 192 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,879 because the formula for success that was playing out here 193 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,080 also turned out to be a bit of a disaster. 194 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:56,800 Our pioneering farmer ancestors couldn't have known it... 195 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,640 ..but they had opened Pandora's box. 196 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,360 Amongst the many burials of Catalhoyuk... 197 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:17,120 ..were skull after skull with clear signs of violent impact. 198 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,880 And it's something not only seen at Catalhoyuk. 199 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,479 In many early farming settlements, 200 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,920 we start to see the unmistakable signs of violence... 201 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,960 ..suggesting the two are connected. 202 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:51,079 Choosing to live like this, in such close proximity with your 203 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:55,559 neighbours, with the animals which you're breeding, 204 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,400 with your rubbish... 205 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:04,160 ..in a way that has never been seen before, leads to this cascade. 206 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:10,440 The densely populated towns had become exposed to new dangers. 207 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,239 Living with their animals spread disease. 208 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,680 Their dependence on crops made them vulnerable to failed harvests. 209 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,839 And with ever growing competition for the land near the settlement, 210 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,439 people were no longer just battling nature, 211 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,200 they were battling each other. 212 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,239 Suddenly, it must have seemed like this perfect world 213 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,000 they'd created was cursed. 214 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,639 Faced with all these challenges, 215 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:57,439 these towns didn't survive or grow into great metropolises. 216 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:02,480 Instead, growth was followed by collapse and exodus. 217 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:12,879 And as the early town dwellers left their homes 218 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,080 and farms in droves, they faced a choice. 219 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,959 To start again and risk failing, or rejoin the vast 220 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:27,120 majority of humans across the globe still living nomadic lives. 221 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,119 For me, this is one of the biggest mysteries 222 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:46,480 in the history of our species. 223 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,999 Because for the very first settlers, it was a disaster. 224 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:58,079 They were facing disease and famine, and yet, at the very same time, 225 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:02,439 across the planet, hunter-gatherers were thriving. 226 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,799 And that way of life we know works, 227 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,559 because today, millions of people live like that. 228 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:14,199 They have made it to the 21st century just like the rest of us. 229 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,239 And yet, we know how this story ends. 230 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:21,320 Most of us live in huge cities like this. 231 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:39,880 So, what is it that turned a disaster into a success? 232 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,279 Our early attempts to live together in large numbers 233 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,400 had ended in failure and strife. 234 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,760 To make it work, our species would have to find another way. 235 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:35,120 An answer would lie... 236 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:40,600 ..along a great river. 237 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,639 There are bits of our story where geography just does not 238 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,479 feel like a fluke. Where if it was going to happen, 239 00:24:57,480 --> 00:24:59,760 it was always going to happen here. 240 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:06,479 Because beyond the thin strips of green that cut through this 241 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:11,440 arid landscape, there is very little but sand and death. 242 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:26,679 This narrow strip of habitable land was the only place to grow food 243 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:28,360 and rear animals. 244 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:34,360 But to produce enough, they had to control this natural resource. 245 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,559 The people needed to direct the water onto their fields, 246 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,680 and harvest en masse, once a year. 247 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,120 And so, they had no choice but to work together. 248 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,759 Put enough effort in, and more and more of this becomes 249 00:25:54,760 --> 00:26:00,999 productive farmland, giving these guys a massive food surplus 250 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,519 that would be collected in huge grain stores, attracting more and 251 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:11,840 more people to come and settle here, and join this growing revolution. 252 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,800 The people flooded into the Nile Valley, jostling for space. 253 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,359 But now, instead of abandoning their communities 254 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:35,320 when the towns became overcrowded... 255 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:39,360 ..they restructured them. 256 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,559 When you live in a small group, you've all got to be good, 257 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,399 or at least competent, at everything to survive. 258 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:58,639 But living in a large group, you can suddenly specialise. 259 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,159 Some of you might become really good at a particular 260 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:02,679 kind of textile making. 261 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,519 Others might become stone makers, butchers, bakers, 262 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,399 probably not candlestick makers yet. 263 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,799 All cogs in a huge machine, 264 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,960 at a scale that had never been seen before. 265 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,040 The people of these busy settlements were increasingly collaborating. 266 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,879 Becoming part of a social group 267 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,320 with hundreds or thousands of strangers. 268 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,760 And in the process, laying the foundation for something brand-new. 269 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,239 I know archaeologists are constantly pointing at walls 270 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,999 and trying to convince people of how important they are, 271 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,919 but this absolutely massive wall is pretty much all that's 272 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:02,519 left of the original city of Abydos. 273 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:07,160 Abydos being one of the very first cities in the whole world. 274 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,639 But walls like these also indicate a momentous shift 275 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,559 in the way humans lived together, 276 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,679 because to be on this side of the wall meant protection 277 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,239 and access to the grain stores, 278 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:25,639 but to be on that side of the wall meant to literally be without. 279 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,959 Now, humans have always been tribal, we've always been able to act 280 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:35,719 and think as part of a group, but what places like this prove 281 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,880 is that tribalism was scalable to the size of a city. 282 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:50,039 All along the great rivers of the ancient world, huge cities began 283 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:55,880 to appear, as our ancestors cracked the secret to living at scale. 284 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,560 A change which would propel us forward at an astonishing rate. 285 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:12,599 As these newly emerging cities grew 286 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,160 and their communities became more complex... 287 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:20,600 ..they started to change... 288 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:29,120 ..leaving evidence which can still be seen here in Abydos. 289 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:35,080 Not in the city of the living, but in the city of the dead. 290 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:51,399 This is Shunet El Zebib, and it's so vast, clearly, 291 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:56,159 but it was actually originally mistaken for a fort. 292 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:01,879 But it's a temple dedicated to a human, a man called Khasekhemwy, 293 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,399 who's actually buried in a cemetery over there. 294 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:10,839 Not everybody got one of these, which means that around here, 295 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,200 there were now at least two classes of people. 296 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,559 There was something about cities that was the perfect breeding 297 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:23,880 ground for producing not just the haves, but the have-a-lots. 298 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,399 We may never know why some people became wealthier 299 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,120 and more powerful than others. 300 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:40,279 One theory is that those in control of the water 301 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,840 could also be in control of the food supply. 302 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:50,400 But so long as they shared enough to feed the cities, the cities thrived. 303 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,679 Their newly specialised populations invented, made 304 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:02,160 and traded an unprecedented number of objects. 305 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:11,479 And in the process, created a tool, unassuming at first glance, 306 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,360 that would become a powerful instrument. 307 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,959 I know they don't look like much. 308 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:24,799 They look like just square pieces of bone. 309 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:29,799 They were found in Abydos, in a tomb, thought to be that 310 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:35,719 of a king known as The Scorpion King, from about 5,300 years ago. 311 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,479 Now, some of these symbols are very recognisable. 312 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,600 That's obviously a bird. 313 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,719 This is a plant of some kind. 314 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,599 And notice the holes in them. 315 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:52,079 These are effectively labels, or tags. 316 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,719 These tags were thought to have been attached to offerings 317 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:59,039 buried in the tomb, but what they reveal is something 318 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,160 happening in the world of the living. 319 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:07,039 And these symbols represented the provenance where the 320 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,519 item that they were attached to came from. 321 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,879 Perhaps they have a quantity as well attached to them. 322 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:18,439 And then someone had this absolutely revolutionary idea. 323 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:20,480 What if they strung them together? 324 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:39,480 With local agreement on their meaning, symbols became words. 325 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:47,160 Gradually, the rows of images became more complex... 326 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:51,720 ..until... 327 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,440 ..we stopped labelling and started writing. 328 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:06,559 Detailed knowledge and culture that had previously been 329 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:11,799 passed down generation to generation to generation was now able to 330 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,679 be preserved in a completely different way. 331 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,079 And the thing with writing is that like 332 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,159 so many of the giant leaps forward that we have made as a species, I'm 333 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,759 thinking here about the invention of agriculture and metalworks 334 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:32,319 and the wheel, writing does seem like an idea whose time had come, 335 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,680 because it doesn't just happen in Egypt. 336 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,759 Again and again across the Earth, 337 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,480 we invented forms of writing. 338 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:56,360 Giving our facts, stories and ideas lasting form. 339 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:07,359 And we still have no conclusive evidence as to how or even 340 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:11,159 whether these events influenced each other, or 341 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:13,199 whether they happened organically, 342 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:16,959 as a result of needing to keep track of things at that scale. 343 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:20,479 But however it happened, once writing was a thing, once it was 344 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:25,560 out there in the world, then nothing would be the same ever again. 345 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,159 Now, laws, customs 346 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:37,320 and beliefs could be recorded permanently in ink. 347 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,799 But with over 700 symbols, 348 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,200 this technology required years of study to master... 349 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:56,079 ..and so was the sole preserve of those trained to use it, 350 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,040 scribes working for the ruling class. 351 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,839 And the ability to send out detailed instructions to people across the 352 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:14,600 land gave the rulers enormous power to influence, instruct and build. 353 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,839 In 2013, a team of archaeologists were excavating 354 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,360 a cave on the Red Sea coast... 355 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:29,719 ..when, hidden inside, 356 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:33,920 they found ancient fragments of inscribed papyrus. 357 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,280 Preserved there for over 4,000 years. 358 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:50,160 It's believed to be the oldest ever found. 359 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,760 And a time capsule from the reign of an iconic ruler. 360 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:05,159 So, this is... this is your actual excavation notebook from the time? 361 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,839 Yeah, yeah. Every day, I was recording the papyri, 362 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,679 and we were surprised to find most of them have the name of a king. 363 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,799 And this pharaoh is Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid. 364 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:18,119 Not a small pharaoh. 365 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,959 All the material is giving information about this very 366 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,799 reign, which is the very beginning of the Egyptian state, in fact. 367 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:25,840 Yeah. 368 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:31,280 Khufu ruled Egypt for almost a quarter of a century. 369 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,599 And one of world's most familiar structures was built to 370 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:41,960 honour him - the first of the Great Pyramids of Giza. 371 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:47,799 We had to wait till the very end of the excavation 372 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:51,319 to have the best-preserved papyri. 373 00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:54,719 - We only had a small piece left untouched. - No! 374 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:57,119 And all the papyri were thrown inside... 375 00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:58,879 Into that one spot that was the very last spot 376 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:02,119 - that you decided to look in. - Yeah, yeah. 377 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:06,159 The team discovered around 1,000 pieces of papyrus, 378 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,440 revealing a vastly complex construction project. 379 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:11,759 - Wow! - Yeah. 380 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,319 It belongs to a kind of elite at that time, 381 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:15,919 because we don't think that more 382 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:20,199 than 1% of the... of the population was able to read and write. 383 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:23,159 It's a logbook, and I can see in the small boxes 384 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:25,799 the number of the day of the month, and for each day, 385 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,959 this official is giving information about what he has done. 386 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,519 For example, here, on the first day of the month, they are 387 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:37,399 sending a boat to Heliopolis, to fetch the food for the workers. 388 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:39,319 And when it arrives, it's written in red, 389 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:43,719 because it's much more important for them than everything else. 390 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:48,520 About 40 days, you have a precise record of what he is doing. 391 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:53,719 Egyptian extracted fine limestone blocks that were used 392 00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:57,639 for the building of the outer casing of the pyramids. 393 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:01,399 So, what it is all about is that they were bringing 394 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:06,159 stones from the Tura quarries to the pyramid of Khufu at the end 395 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,039 of the reign of this king. 396 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:14,279 So, this is... this is telling us how they built the pyramids, basically. 397 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,239 - Yeah, basically, yeah. - This is the administration behind it all. 398 00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:19,799 That... That's absolutely incredible. 399 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:24,239 So, this is a snapshot in time 400 00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:26,799 of the building of the Great Pyramid. 401 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,160 - Mm. - And you found it. 402 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:35,159 Without all those records, I think 403 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:37,280 the pyramid would not have been possible. 404 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,599 You can't really overstate the significance of finding 405 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:54,839 a document like that, one from such a pivotal moment in history. 406 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,599 And when you read the translation, you definitely do get 407 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,959 a sense of what a logistical feat it was, 408 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,639 building these things. 409 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:11,079 But you do also get a real sense of how mundane 410 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,159 and bureaucratic it all was. 411 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:16,919 Just kind of ordinary humans doing ordinary human things. 412 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:22,679 Between the invention of writing and the building of the pyramids, 413 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:25,559 there were no major technological advancements 414 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:27,080 that we know of in Egypt. 415 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:35,959 And so, for 4,500 years, people have looked at these and just had their 416 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:42,719 breath taken away, and wondered how on earth were they built. 417 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:48,720 And perhaps the answer is just this simple - writing built the pyramids. 418 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:56,799 And even though they were originally built for the elites, 419 00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:01,079 they actually became symbols of national identity, 420 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:05,520 which bind huge groups of people together on an unconscious level. 421 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:15,159 The unit of human cooperation had grown from tribe, to village, 422 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,520 to town, to city... 423 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,840 ..and now, to nation. 424 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:35,719 But alongside the emergence of these nation states 425 00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:37,760 was a more sinister development. 426 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:44,680 What had once been tribal skirmishes became state warfare... 427 00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:51,000 ..recorded by the victors in art and writing. 428 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:56,719 The emerging superpowers began launching military 429 00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:03,480 campaigns against their neighbours, for land, resources and manpower. 430 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,640 Bringing thousands of captives back as slaves. 431 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:20,639 Many of the early civilisations follow this pattern of growth, 432 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:26,120 innovation, writing and an ever more stratified society. 433 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:34,399 By 4,000 years ago, we'd clearly made some massive strides to the 434 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:38,959 modern world, with the rise of these civilisations that were supporting 435 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:44,280 so many more people, and about 70 million of us walking this planet. 436 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:46,800 But... 437 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:54,159 ..the disparity in the human condition had never been so wide. 438 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:57,719 Some people were living gods, and they would go on to build 439 00:41:57,720 --> 00:42:02,640 monuments like these to themselves for centuries. 440 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:06,839 But many more were slaves, who were forced to 441 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:11,440 live in the shadows of the splendour that they'd helped to create. 442 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:17,000 And humankind's powerful new tool, writing... 443 00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:21,760 ..still remained in the hands of just a tiny number. 444 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:25,799 If we were going to get to the future, the here and now as you 445 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:31,080 and I know it, it was going to require a spark from somewhere else. 446 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:55,199 Almost 4,000 years ago, a small group of our ancestors were 447 00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:59,119 forced to make a journey to one of the most inhospitable 448 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:01,280 places on Earth. 449 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:06,359 Through the baking, barren waste 450 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:08,160 of the Sinai Desert. 451 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:13,719 But here, in this desolate landscape, 452 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:15,720 they would change the world. 453 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:26,880 This place is stunning and yet, a complete and utter deathtrap. 454 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:31,000 It was of very little interest to the Egyptian elites. 455 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:36,880 That is until someone found something in these mountains. 456 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:40,920 Lots and lots of copper. 457 00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:44,480 And this stuff, turquoise. 458 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:50,679 Raw materials that could be transformed into jewels 459 00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:52,840 and ornaments of great value... 460 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:04,960 ..if you could prize them from this harsh landscape. 461 00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:12,560 Far to the north was the tiny land of Retjenu. 462 00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:17,760 When Egypt demanded labourers for this treacherous mining mission... 463 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:23,559 ..it was the unfortunate people of this small powerless state, 464 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:26,480 who had no choice but to answer the call. 465 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:44,399 I can't imagine what it would've been like to be dragged here 466 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:48,839 to work in the turquoise mines, in the blazing heat, 467 00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:50,320 in the middle of nowhere. 468 00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:56,479 It must've been like being dropped onto 469 00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,240 the surface of a different planet. 470 00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:09,559 And even the Egyptians probably wondered 471 00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:11,160 if they would make it back home. 472 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:22,920 The Egyptians turned to their gods for protection. 473 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:27,999 And here, high up on a desolate plateau, 474 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:33,840 at the furthest edge of their world, they built a temple to ask for it. 475 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,919 A monument which has survived remarkably 476 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:46,520 unscathed for almost 4,000 years. 477 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:53,240 Frozen in time by the bone-dry desert. 478 00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:06,999 This temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor, 479 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:09,559 who is the goddess of turquoise and miners. 480 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:12,359 And they were documenting and celebrating their presence, 481 00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:14,639 and worshipping their gods. 482 00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:20,479 And each one of these pillars represents one of the missions. 483 00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:21,559 And they are hierarchical. 484 00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:27,239 So, you've got the Pharaoh at the top, and it goes through the ranks. 485 00:46:27,240 --> 00:46:30,119 You've got stonemasons, etc, etc, etc, 486 00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:34,359 until this is the brother of the Prince of Retjenu. 487 00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:37,719 Retjenu is where the miners came from. 488 00:46:37,720 --> 00:46:42,839 And yet, the miners are not here on this pillar, but they would have 489 00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:46,439 come through here, they would've seen this grandeur, this splendour. 490 00:46:46,440 --> 00:46:50,160 Seeing these impenetrable Egyptian hieroglyphics... 491 00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:55,960 ..the foreign workers also wanted to immortalise their presence here. 492 00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:00,559 But there was a problem. 493 00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:03,600 They weren't part of the elites and so they couldn't write. 494 00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:11,960 So, the illiterate miners did what we humans have always done. 495 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:19,360 They copied what they'd seen and made it their own. 496 00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:37,159 This is one of the turquoise mines, and if you look, all over the walls 497 00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:42,080 there are these scratches from where the workers' pickaxes have been. 498 00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:46,279 But here, something else is going on. 499 00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:51,639 There are about 30 or 40 of them all over this place. 500 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:53,959 Some of these have been copied from hieroglyphics, 501 00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:57,199 but some are completely new, and here's how the system works. 502 00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:01,679 You take the symbol and you say the name, 503 00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:06,039 but you only take the first sound, and you discard the rest. 504 00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:08,199 So, for example, this here. 505 00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:11,879 This is an ox, you can see the horns and the head here. 506 00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:14,839 To the miners, this would be "aleph". 507 00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:20,079 Now, aleph, just take the first sound, "a", discard the rest. 508 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:22,679 This is another symbol. This is the symbol for house. 509 00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:24,679 To them it would be "bet", 510 00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:28,119 so you just take the "be" sound at the beginning. 511 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:30,599 And if you put these two together, 512 00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:33,519 you start understanding what you're actually looking at here. 513 00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:37,360 This is the birthplace of the alphabet. 514 00:48:41,880 --> 00:48:45,959 This new script was simpler to learn than hieroglyphics, because 515 00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:50,840 the alphabet did not represent complete words, but spoken sounds. 516 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:59,120 It was able to convey any thought with only 20 to 30 symbols. 517 00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:06,279 These miners are the ones who gave birth to this, 518 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:09,400 and their legacy is still with us today, and is so important. 519 00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:18,080 In the centuries and millennia that followed... 520 00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:23,399 ..nearly all the early written languages 521 00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:27,520 fell into obscurity as those civilisations waned. 522 00:49:30,360 --> 00:49:35,239 But the alphabet would only grow, spreading across the planet, 523 00:49:35,240 --> 00:49:39,320 reshaping and branching into many different forms. 524 00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:46,679 Eventually becoming the most wildly used writing system 525 00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:48,520 in the world. 526 00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:59,359 Allowing millions, and then billions, of ordinary humans 527 00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:04,399 to access knowledge, to communicate and to document their thoughts, 528 00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:08,800 and their existence, in every corner of the globe. 529 00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:17,079 For me, this is one of the most powerful moments in the human story, 530 00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:22,639 because unbeknownst to the underdog, they had changed the world. 531 00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:27,359 One of civilisation's most profound and revolutionary ideas didn't 532 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:33,559 come from an educated elite, it came from inside these dark and miserable 533 00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:39,320 mines, through the copying and innovating of lowly migrant workers. 534 00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:06,160 The invention of writing marks an ending and a beginning. 535 00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:12,519 Because prehistory, so the period before writing, 536 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:16,759 we could only really piece together using fragments and artefacts, 537 00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:20,520 and now recorded time, history, had begun. 538 00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:26,199 And what we see is that as writing spreads, 539 00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:29,920 the pace of human innovation accelerates. 540 00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:37,359 Because that is the power of being able to document 541 00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:38,920 and lay down knowledge. 542 00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:54,559 Generation after generation building on the last, retaining 543 00:51:54,560 --> 00:51:56,400 and accumulating knowledge. 544 00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:02,720 Stone became bronze, iron became silicon... 545 00:52:05,240 --> 00:52:08,160 ..and gradually, we built the future. 546 00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:15,039 This is the very final bone of our series. 547 00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:18,959 This is actually one of the three ear bones, 548 00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:22,759 and just like every human bone we've encountered, 549 00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:29,039 whether Homo sapiens or otherwise, it represents a person. 550 00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:35,119 This individual had a family, parents, perhaps children, friends. 551 00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:38,799 But what's particularly remarkable is how much 552 00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:42,799 we now know about these ancient ancestors of ours, 553 00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:47,399 thanks to modern temples of knowledge, like this one. 554 00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:51,559 The scientists here are able to extract DNA from an individual 555 00:52:51,560 --> 00:52:54,959 who, in this case, lived about 1,600 years ago, 556 00:52:54,960 --> 00:52:59,599 from a piece of bone that is so tiny, delicate and precious, 557 00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:05,239 and they're able to ask questions, like whether industrialisation and 558 00:53:05,240 --> 00:53:11,360 agriculture actually affected our DNA, whether we're still evolving. 559 00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:18,039 And to think that our knowledge has got to the point where we're 560 00:53:18,040 --> 00:53:23,159 even able to entertain such huge questions 561 00:53:23,160 --> 00:53:25,560 from something so tiny... 562 00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:29,880 ..for me there's a poetry in that. 563 00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:42,840 We can look back on when nature and luck were on our side... 564 00:53:44,120 --> 00:53:46,239 ..and when they weren't. 565 00:53:46,240 --> 00:53:48,120 Where we made the right decisions... 566 00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:51,680 ..and where we went wrong. 567 00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:56,079 But what underpins our story 568 00:53:56,080 --> 00:54:01,880 and makes it unique is far more than just our will to survive. 569 00:54:03,120 --> 00:54:07,279 It's our cultural drive to come together, to learn from 570 00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:13,280 and inspire each other, to go further than what has gone before. 571 00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:21,079 We are the very last species of human to walk this Earth, 572 00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:26,719 and the most fascinating thing about our 300,000-year-long story 573 00:54:26,720 --> 00:54:30,239 is that we have no idea how much is left. 574 00:54:30,240 --> 00:54:36,559 Is this basically the whole of our story, or are we on the first 575 00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:40,479 act, or even prologue, with a long future ahead of us? 576 00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:42,719 We have no idea. 577 00:54:42,720 --> 00:54:46,799 But we are one species with one future. 578 00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:50,839 Now, you could never have predicted how we got here, 579 00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:54,680 and where we go next is up to all of us. 580 00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:29,239 In this episode, we filmed at Serabit el-Khadim, 581 00:55:29,240 --> 00:55:33,680 a 4,000-year-old mining complex on the Sinai Peninsula. 582 00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:39,120 Where ancient messages were scrolled on the walls of the mines. 583 00:55:41,080 --> 00:55:46,159 The archaeologists who discovered this mystery script in 1905 584 00:55:46,160 --> 00:55:51,519 called it Proto-Sinaitic, but they had no idea what it said. 585 00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:53,559 And until they could read it, 586 00:55:53,560 --> 00:55:56,080 they were ignorant of its true significance. 587 00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:03,199 A remarkable artefact, now in the British Museum, would be 588 00:56:03,200 --> 00:56:06,680 the vital clue to cracking the ancient code. 589 00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:11,359 This amazing object was discovered in the Hathor 590 00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:15,199 temple in Serabit el-Khadim, close to the turquoise mines. 591 00:56:15,200 --> 00:56:19,600 It's a so-called sphinx and dates roughly about 4,000 years old. 592 00:56:22,560 --> 00:56:27,519 Linguists already knew how to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. 593 00:56:27,520 --> 00:56:30,119 What the sphynx gave them was a key to decipher 594 00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:31,920 the script they couldn't read. 595 00:56:36,440 --> 00:56:40,479 So, if you look at the piece, we have inscription on both sides, 596 00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:42,199 and I'll show you this side first, 597 00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:44,760 where we only have the Proto-Sinaitic script. 598 00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:50,119 And then if I turn the sphynx, this is the most important and most 599 00:56:50,120 --> 00:56:54,559 fascinating side, because here we have then two different scripts. 600 00:56:54,560 --> 00:56:56,759 On the bottom, Proto-Sinaitic, 601 00:56:56,760 --> 00:56:59,120 and then you see the hieroglyphic right on top. 602 00:57:01,800 --> 00:57:05,439 The message in hieroglyphics at the top was a dedication 603 00:57:05,440 --> 00:57:07,439 to the goddess Hathor. 604 00:57:07,440 --> 00:57:11,479 Linguists deduced that the script below in Proto-Sinaitic 605 00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:13,280 was saying the same thing. 606 00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:19,999 We can start with the hieroglyphs, which reads "Beloved of Hathor", 607 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:22,399 so we have now the Egyptian goddess Hathor. 608 00:57:22,400 --> 00:57:26,319 Then we have a second part, which allowed us to decipher 609 00:57:26,320 --> 00:57:30,119 the Proto-Sinaitic language, because we know it was the same message. 610 00:57:30,120 --> 00:57:33,359 So, we were very lucky we found this amazing object. 611 00:57:33,360 --> 00:57:36,920 This is the kind of lottery win for the linguists. 612 00:57:38,080 --> 00:57:41,799 These short, corresponding phrases were the key to decoding 613 00:57:41,800 --> 00:57:43,040 the miners' writing. 614 00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:48,639 The probably most important aspect of Proto-Sinaitic is that 615 00:57:48,640 --> 00:57:51,839 it's an alphabetic script, and if you look at these signs, 616 00:57:51,840 --> 00:57:56,439 you probably will not recognise any alphabetic signs we use today, 617 00:57:56,440 --> 00:58:00,840 but the cow head that you see here becomes our A. 618 00:58:04,520 --> 00:58:09,879 Proto-Sinaitic gave birth to the modern alphabet, and unlocked 619 00:58:09,880 --> 00:58:14,720 the origins of the most widespread form of writing in the world. 620 00:58:15,305 --> 00:59:15,593 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm