Ancient Treasures with Bettany Hughes

Turkey was a vital crossroads in the ancient world and is filled with archaeological wonders. Bettany Hughes visits the underground cave cities of Cappadocia and the 10,000-year-old temple at Göbeklitepe. In Urfa, she sees the possible birthplace of the Biblical figure Abraham, then hikes up to Mount Nemrut to see the highest open-air museum in the world.

Azerbaijan is known as the Land of Fire and Bettany Hughes is on a quest to find out why. She uncovers 40,000-year-old rock art which depicts the earliest inhabitants of this desert landscape. She then heads to Shaki, an important stop for merchants traveling on the ancient Silk Road and explores a remarkable glass palace.

Many parts of the remarkable island of Cyprus appear frozen in time. Historian Bettany Hughes explores some of the nation’s wonders, learns about the goddess Aphrodite and her sanctuary at Palaepaphos. Then it’s on to the astonishing Byzantine churches in the Troodos Mountains that have a surprising link to the Crusades.

Some of the iconic sites and undiscovered jewels in Saudi Arabia and Jordan are only just becoming accessible to tourists and Bettany Hughes is eager to be one of the first to see them. She encounters the natural beauty of the Red Sea, with its outstanding corals and marine life, and the astonishing ancient rock art and desert camps of local Bedouin tribes.

Albania was a strategic gateway for empires such as the Romans and Ottomans. Bettany Hughes explores the country in this compelling history documentary. She journeys to epic fortress towns and breath-taking archaeological sites. She visits the ancient city of Butrint, meets remote communities in the spectacular Albanian Alps and heads into the secret bunker of a former communist dictator.