Can the past teach us anything about the present? That is the question that Legacy: The Origins Of Civilization will attempt to answer. Historian Michael Wood travels the globe in order to trace the origins of six ancient cultures to try and put new perspectives on the question "What purpose does society serve?"
In this 1991 documentary from the U.K., you will travel to Iraq, India, China, Egypt, Central America, and Europe in search of the answer. Legacy: The Origins Of Civilization is a three-DVD featuring six episodes, running a total of 304 minutes.
Iraq formed from an area with ready water and rich soil around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, this culture brought us, along with astronomy, mathematics, and literature, the concept of monotheism – one creator. In Episode 1, "Iraq: Cradle of Civilization," you will explore how Bagdad was a center of learning until the Mongols destroyed it in 1258.
Episode 2, "India: Empire of the Spirit," explores the culture of this South Asian country, which renounced the material world and cultivated a tradition of non-violence to focus on the human inner life. Throughout history, Indian rulers have sought to blend compassion, truthfulness, right conduct, and tolerance for all faiths. In this episode you will see how these ideas survive today with the vestiges of Western colonialism.
Episode 3, "China: The Mandate of Heaven," looks at thinkers like Confucius and Laozi and how they conceived of civilization as reflecting cosmic harmony. It explores how Taoism provides a parallel to Confucianism, and how Buddhism introduced the concept of eternity and importance of inner life to Chinese culture.
Episode 4, "Egypt: The Habit of Civilization," explores the world's first great nation and how the annual flooding of the Nile conferred not only fertility, but a respect for social and cosmic stability. It also examines the Egyptian viewpoint of resurrection of the dead and the hope for eternal life.
Episode 5, "Central America: The Burden of Time," examines how, independent of other civilizations, the Maya and the Aztecs created their own cultures in which bloody sacrifices were needed for renewal of the cosmos. Here you will see that although they arose independently, these civilizations had parallels with those in Asia including advances in mathematics, astronomy, writing, and construction of pyramids.
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