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First Civilizations

Season 1
Having lived as mobile foragers for 99% of our time on Earth, how and why did humans set out on the road to civilization? How did they create villages, towns, cities and states, and establish the blueprint for the modern world? Explore the seedbed civilizations of Mesoamerica, the Middle East, and the Indus Valley in this global story. Episodes include War, Religion, Cities, and Trade.
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Episodes

  1. S1 E1 - War
    April 23, 2018
    54min
    TV-14
    War addresses the paradox that good comes from bad. The threat of destruction engenders a sense of fear, but also creates tighter bonds within a community, while driving an arms race of technological progress. This happened in the Zapotec civilization in Mexico, but also with the Teotihuacan civilization which overthrew the Zapotecs and emerged as the first superpower of the Americas.
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  2. S1 E2 - Religion
    April 30, 2018
    54min
    TV-14
    Religion examines the power of a shared belief system, which serves as the social glue to unify a population within a single state. Nowhere was this truer than in Ancient Egypt - still the world’s longest lasting civilization - which depended on the god-like status of its rulers for its stability.
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  3. S1 E3 - Cities
    May 7, 2018
    54min
    TV-14
    Cities investigates the symbiotic link between urban living and civilization - there have been no cities without civilization, no civilizations without cities. The world’s first settlements were in Mesopotamia, where the emergence of farming created the calories necessary for people to feed themselves on a permanent basis, leading to a boom in population and innovation - civilization itself.
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  4. S1 E4 - Trade
    May 14, 2018
    54min
    TV-14
    Trade explores the civilizing effect of buying and selling goods. In particular, the Indus Valley Civilization, on the borders of modern-day India and Pakistan, was seemingly created with the single purpose of encouraging the free flow of trade. The residual effects were massively beneficial: an increase in wealth, co-operation, and trust.
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Details

More info

Content advisory
Violence
Subtitles
None available
Directors
Robin DashwoodKaren Kelly
Producers
Tim LambertTom CebulaRobin DashwoodDavid Batty
Cast
Kerry Shale
Studio
PBS
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