I honestly cannot get enough of Peter Weller (i.e. actor turned Renaissance scholar who played RoboCop back in the 80s, 90s), he should just narrate everything. The History Channel (now just called "History") has committed a grave sin by airing garbage like Ancient Aliens, plus all the other non-historical fluff they have like Ice Road Truckers. Nevertheless, this Engineering an Empire series, which covers civilizations spanning from Carthage to Rome, from Egypt to China, are really well done. They're not just entertaining; they're highly informative and pay close attention to detail.
This particular video covers the history of the Mayas, particularly the history of their grandiose building projects in Central America. From Tikal to Palenque, this documentary shows not only the impressive tombs and pyramidal temples that the Mayans erected, but also explains the personalities of the patrons and rulers behind them. Luckily, enough hieroglyphic writing has survived to allow us to know much about great Mayan kings like K'inich Janaab' Pakal and Yik'in Chan K'awiil. Mayan mathematics are actually quite impressive, from their separate invention of the number zero to applying the square roots of rectangles in architecture and geometric floorplans, as the video explains. The latter also demonstrates how their practice of astronomy allowed them to create accurate solar calendars.
I've actually been to Mexico once, and it was my pleasure to visit the Yucatan ruins of Chichen Itza (even got to go inside the pyramid and see the jaguar throne, plus the ball court, although I only saw the observatory from a distance):
Last edited by Roma_Victrix; November 26, 2015 at 04:42 PM.
No replies? Really? You know what this means, don't you, TWC? The Mayan ancestors are not going to be happy about this. Foul beasts and primordial serpent gods from the Mayan underworld shall soon rise up and smite this forum and all its members for this grave offense.
Engineering an Empire, as a series, was quite entertaining and informative in its explanation of the architectural works of civilizations throughout history. Another show in the same mold as this was Lost Worlds. It's a shame they had such short runs, maybe 10-12 episodes apiece, because History has moved away from producing shows with historical and/or educational value, and jumped on the reality TV bandwagon (like everyone else), whereby having no historical value whatsoever.
Whenever I watch Rome: Engineering an Empire, or catch series episodes every now and again on Youtube, Peter Weller has that cool History teacher vibe about him. Maybe if I'd had more teachers like him in Math, I would've done better.
Last edited by HunterKYA; November 29, 2015 at 03:44 PM.
The Maya: Engineering an Empire
The History Channel (now just called "History") has committed a grave sin by airing garbage like Ancient Aliens, plus all the other non-historical fluff they have like Ice Road Truckers. Nevertheless, this Engineering an Empire series, which covers civilizations spanning from Carthage to Rome, from Egypt to China, are really well done. They're not just entertaining; they're highly informative and pay close attention to detail.
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