Sacred Sites

In the rocky highlands of Jordan and the deserts of Saudi Arabia lie the remains of two remarkable cities, Petra and Hegra, built by the Nabataeans over 2,000 years ago. The story of this lost kingdom has faded from history, but thanks to ancient inscriptions and recent discoveries, these rock tombs and temples are finally yielding profound secrets about the Nabataeans' way of life. Join us as we enter Sacred Sites carved from cliffs and reveal a civilization where women wielded unrivaled power for centuries.

Fans of "The Da Vinci Code" know the Knights Templar as a secret society. Still, the story of their tumultuous two centuries in power is more shocking and scandalous than any Hollywood movie. After the king of France targets the Knights Templar, they face imprisonment, torture, and executions; but their legacy endures today. Were the Knights Templar faithful servants of Christ or hedonistic heretics? Follow our team of experts as they go to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the most bitterly contested sacred site in the world. With the help of DNA tests and a remarkable discovery in the Vatican archives, we reveal the truth about the knights' rise into the world's most powerful military, religious order to their spectacular and sudden fall from grace.

Archaeologists discover a link between the prophecies of the oracles and seismic activity beneath Earth's surface. Earthquake lights. Hallucinogenic gases. Magnetic fields. New scientific research has revealed that these and other tectonic phenomena happened at virtually every site in ancient Greece, where oracles delivered their prophecies to pilgrims and nobles. Could it be that the landscape itself contributed to making these places sacred? Join us as we travel the Mediterranean to visit locations where oracle predictions determined the fate of nations and examine the connection between mankind and what may be the most Sacred Site of all: Earth itself.

Of all the ancient civilizations, Egypt has left the greatest legacy. Its monuments all evoke one indisputable truth: Early Egyptians were obsessed with death and the afterlife. They recorded spells on papyrus rolls and tomb walls to help the deceased pass all the tests and creatures they would encounter in the underworld. These recordings were known as the Book of the Dead. But what if this book is hiding something deeper about these ancient Egyptian beliefs? The answers could lie within one unique artifact. A 4,000-year-old leather manuscript at the Cairo Museum sheds new light on The Book of the Dead from ancient Egypt. 

Embedded on a canyon floor in New Mexico are the broken ruins of ancient structures, buildings constructed over 1,000 years ago by the Pueblo civilization of Chaco Canyon. For over 300 years, this community grew and prospered under the leadership of a shadowy elite. But something happened that led to claims of bloodshed, human sacrifice, and even cannibalism. What happened? Our team of experts visits the remarkable landscape that this ancient civilization once called home to see what caused its swift and violent demise.