Civilisations

Episode 2

Egypt - The Way of Eternity

A Journey in the Nile Valley. For 3,000 years, from the construction of the first pyramid until the death of Cleopatra, Egypt was a land of prosperity; largely thanks to the River Nile. What is the story of the development of this impressive civilisation and its relationship with its principal source of life? How did the river valley evolve during Antiquity? Why did the Egyptians never fight against nature, preferring to draw their own life-force from its natural power? And what remains today of the riches and wealth that nature has offered to Egypt? Shaped and fashioned by the hand of man in his pursuit of modernity, against all odds, the Nile has finally been tamed.

Episode 3

The Indus - The Masters of the River

A Silent Civilisation. One of the most mysterious of these four civilisations is no doubt that which developed around the Indus, discovered only in 1920. Considered to be one of the world's most powerful rivers, the Indus has a flow rate twice as high as the Nile, and three times that of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Its geographical course enabled extensive communication to be developed and, at the same time, the rise of a prosperous civilisation, the Harappeans.What was the story of this recently discovered civilisation, and how can we explain its decline?

Episode 4

Mesopotamia - The Gardens of Babel

The Conquest of Two Rivers. Mesopotamia, or the country between two rivers, is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value. How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever?