I particularly love these "lesser known ancient things" videos, not nearly enough of these places get the public recognition they deserve, and there's always some even I haven't heard of which is always exciting!
Sorry to be off topic but does any of you know a trick to get back into an instagram account..? I was dumb forgot my login password. I appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
Postscript - end of the video sounds like a guitar shop on a saturday afternoon when the teenage riff gods have cranked up the amps. Dear Simon, please tone down the volume as after a pleasant video of you explaining fascinating places and top tens, this can scare the crap out of us listening on headphone :P
Finally someone well educated and from the "mainstream" covers these astonishing marvels of our distant past besides of all those "Aliens build it!" nuts! Thank you very much for videos like this and also for showing us authentic pictures instead of fantasy "paintings" and photoshopped stuff!
Really enjoying "Side Projects", and appreciate your study of the odd and unusual without going down all the same old roads. Never a dull moment where Simon is concerned!
FYI, El Mirador is in Guatemala, in Central America, not Equador, in South America. It's believed to have been one of the first great Mayan Cities, roughly 1000 BCE.
Honestly, I think you could have done an entire video about the utterly *Mind Blowing* engineering feats accomplished by the Roman Legions. Off the top of my head, the list could have included: * - Caesar's walls around Alesia - Roughly 38 miles of walls were built, one circle encompassing Alesia and faced towards the city , whereas a second wall encompassed the first and faced away from the city. Both were built with the kind of defences necessary to repel attacks coming from inside the city and to repel attacks from relief armies attacking from outside the city. Both walls were built while under pressure from attacks by Vercingetorix's armies inside Alesia, the final, exterior walls being completed only shortly before the relief armies arrived from outside of Alesia to attempt to relieve the Roman siege on the city. * - Caesar's bridge across the Rhine - A quarter mile of bridge across almost a quarter mile of river, built in around ten days. It is believed to be the first bridge to ever have been built crossing the Rhine. After using it to serve his purposes, Caesar had the bridge torn down upon leaving Germania. Two years later, Caesar built another such bridge, the second bridge ever to have been built across the Rhine river, completing its construction in a mere few days. * - Legio X Fretensis' ramp to the gates of the fortress at Masada - The Jewish revolts in Judea came to an end on the mountaintop fortress of Masada. The Jewish terrorists believed that they could outlast the Roman siege, since they had many years of supplies, while conversely, Lucius Flavius Silva was under enormous pressure to end the unrest in Judea and thus had limited time to do so before the Emperor would lose confidence in him and have him replaced as Governor of Judea. Silva didn't have years to wait out the siege and thus needed to storm the fort. The fort built at the very top of a very large mountain. The Tenth Legion did this by dismantling a nearby mountain and using the pieces to build a ramp up to the door of the fort atop Masada. The Legion did most of the work, but when approaching nearby the fort, the Romans would come under intense fire from the fort and could not build any closer. So Jewish slaves were brought in to finish the construction, since the Jewish rebels were loath to fire on their own people who were enslaved by the Romans. The Jews believed that they could still repel the assault, until they saw that the Romans had secretly constructed a siege tower, which was to be towed up the ramp to the gates of the fort. The rest of the story is wildly compelling, but has little to do with Roman engineering marvels. Nb: The ramp AND the camp used by Legio X Fretensis is still visible today. The ramp is still the best way to reach the fortress at the top, even 2,100 years after its construction. Those are just the three that stood out in my mind as the most salient examples of *Mind Blowing* engineering feats accomplished by the Roman Legions. Aqueducts and Roman Roads should probably be included. So too should the Colosseum, the Roman Pantheon (NOT the Parthenon, which is- of course- Greek) and Roman fleets...
What's so crazy about their fortifications is that most people don't realize that it wasn't just a wooden palisade thrown up. The Roman fortifications had a trench dug and the dirt used to raise the ground where the wall would go. The walls were studded with small watchtowers and outside the wall was usually some form of sharpened stick/stake field, slowing advances even more. Caesar's legions bridge across the Rhine will always stand out to me as an amazing display of construction prowess.
The Maccabis were NOT terrorists! They were devout Jews. When I visited Masada, we were shown the containers where the food was stored. It was enough food to last several years.
@@Genesh12 Archeologists say there is no evidence at Masada that anyone was there very long. There is no evidence of the site being in use, even though it was set up for that. I have never studied it personally; I'm just stating what arceologists concluded after their investigations. No disrespect meant whatsoever.
hi! I love that you made this comment! I love data! the many pontoon bridges built as a ' temporary ' measure to shorten the time taken by switchbacks that were how their oxen & carts & sledges , wagons etc . could get Up to a high fortification without ruining the beasts of burden or having axels break, wheels shatter from the force required to move on steep uneven terrain was removed when they could sling a partial suspension, supported at beginning & end by ropes spiked to & around tree groupings 100's of feet below the bridges entrance & at the midpoint the use of sturdy pontoons angled across the rivers or river, again & again stabilized & relieved the burden upon the tree clumps immensely & they could lower huge dray wagons , foodstuff, armor, weapons by way of essentially zip lines but controlled complex ones with spotters & signalers , pulleys, block & tackle, COUNTERWEIGHTING! PLATFORMS of oxen , the bases of siege engines could all be lowered reducing the ground mile travel often down to 1/4 of the original & even with the intensive labor involved in all this the often cut the time of traveling to their next engineering site by half! ofto sap walls or divert water supplies from the next new piece of empire to be! thank you for your sharing data! 😻😽💨cat kisses!
@@DieNextInLINE I just read about that in a book of ' fiction ' lol a temp bridge that lasted so well all they did years latér was renew some ropes, replace some boards & remove, drain, dry & reassemble the pontoons back in place! the first real planned engineering corp to make parts standardized & 1 size fits models blah blah & style b fits all others & store the materials like happy little box, bag , barrel stave & hoop & strut & truss & rope etc. hoarders, all labeled & in their designated places! like the equivalent of ford's or whoever's assembly lines! lol 😻😽💨cat kisses!!
I see/hear “built along astronomical lines” a lot when it comes to ancient buildings and structures, and it is almost invariably stated that while we don’t know why, it was most likely due to some religious observance. I have another theory though: The ancient peoples spent a lot of time looking at the sky and the movements of planets and stars. So many had a pretty decent idea of where a given point of light would be at a given point of time every single day. If you have that information, you can push a pole into the ground and take your sightings on said point of light and plant another pole some distance away. Then all you have to do is make sure everything lines up between the poles.
You will hear many "things", but you will have to think what is the actual solution or information. Regarding the Eupalinos Tunnel of Aqueduct, take a look at how it was constructed in the available video in my channel. They followed the North-South axis, as we do in solar panel installations nowadays. Also check the Egyptian pyramids video. The method was also used in ancient Egypt.
In some agreement with that possible theory, most parts of the world the sun faces due south or north at local noon and the shadow will cast due north or south, depending on hemisphere. If you poke a stick in the ground and trace the shadow through the day(s), then with some very basic tools and geometry you'll be able to have an excellent directional reference. ....and of course, many prehistoric folks seem to have a much deeper knowledge of geometry than people usually assume. Even for strictly Euclidean stuff, while his Elements may be one of the best teatises on the subject, a great deal of that knowledge pre-dates him. In some ways he just assembled it with proofs into a logical series.
6:24 took my breath away... that portion of the Chand Baori stepwell looks like an MC Escher painting recreated* in stone *edit: should’ve written “created” as it was built thousands of years before Escher was born
Excellent video! I've been lucky enough to visit two of these lesser known wonders. Sechin Bajo in 2003 during my round the world backpacking trip and recently the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos. Going from 38°c sunshine into the cool and airy tunnel was quite a relief for an hour or so!.
The amount of effort and hours put into building that water system is incredible, and is something we take for granted today with pipework and pumps supplying us with fresh clean water... :)
I mean it's not like current water supply doesn't require plenty of effort too though. So I wouldn't be surprised actually if most people back then didn't think much of it like people today as long as they grew used to it just working like you expect it to. Because just like today people don't typically participate in the work behind their convenient water sources so they might not fully appreciate how it's made possible aka taking it for granted. I think your impression of modern water supply being less impressive as if the system of pipes, pumps and etc appear out of nowhere or just exist supports the idea that humans would think pretty much the same thing if you replaced it with the equivalent in ancient times.
Haha that escalated. But yeah I know what you mean, in ancient times it was common to mix water with alcohol just for that reason. And I know we have it better nowadays but I still get boil bans like once a month and I don't like drinking out of the tap because a lot of times it just isn't safe
@@DajuOnUA-cam fuck yeah lot of bigass pipes laid for you sewer water and stormwater. Where i am where still semi rural but it's quickly geting built up with lots of little developments. It's kinda bizzare when two streets over their on full services yet youve only got power. Still dealing with sewrage tanks rainwater tanks and trucking water in when necessary vs turning a tap on and just having it there. I remember when i moved out of home into a unit for a little while going to the neighbour for water as my power got cut(they mixed up the address so I'd paid the neighbours bill.) It never dawned on me where's the pump i just was so use to no power means no water. But the neighbour just looked at me as stupid.
La Hougue Bie is is practically identical (and similarly named) to the Fogous here in Cornwall, they are equally mysterious, but there is compelling ideas of them being giant pottery kilns.
Kailasa Temple is another great example of ancient Engineering. This entire temple carved out of rocky mountain cliff from a single rock. What makes it different is that, they actually started carving the rock from Top of the mountain towards base. And thousands of tonnes extracted rock found nowhere near temple. The carvings and sculptures are so beautiful that they are impossible to be made in today's time. Whole temple looks like it'll be 3D printed or carved by using laser technology.
yes, saw that, thought some amount of the excavation tailings must have been used up in the delicate carvings, like a few bits of abrasive debris tucked in a corner & then just ground away at in that spot until the debris was powder & a bit of surface was ,well, surfaced ! like how jade is worked, not so much with forcefully carving but with a drilled hole being rubbed with abrasives, pumice perhaps or sand, or oh chunks of seriously abrasive volcanic rock like in faux fireplaces!
06:43 "according to local legends ghosts build it in one night" that kinda remind me of an Indonesian folk tale about a guy named Raden (a title roughly translated to "noble") Bandung Bondowoso that wanted to propose to a lady named Roro Jonggrang, but she said he must build a thousand temple before he can do that. (edit: some typos on the names)
The tunnel of Eupalinos was not the first tunnel excavated from both ends. The Siloam tunnel (which is only half as long so maybe less impressive) also was excavated from both ends, at least 150 years before.
I live near around Dallas. We made waterworks many times bigger than the Panama Canal, but people didn’t notice because it was after steam shovels. Oh, and we had camel bones in ancient fire pits, which mean people were here before the last ice age.
When Sir Gentleman breaks wind...the aroma must be that of lavender and Burberry. May he continue on, illuminating us all by his words and the brilliantly oiled beard He doth wear so well.
Very interesting presentation. Have you thought about a program on Casa Bonito in Chaco Canyon. It is a remarkable structure. There are perfectly straight roads leading to the structure from several directions.
He also included Chand Baori in the list, which isn't ancient (pre-500s) but medieval (c. 800s). At the beginning of the video he also mentioned Angkor Wat which is also medieval (c. 1100s).
Next time would be nice to cover Borobudur and Prambanan. Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple located in central Java island of Indonesia, and the second one is Prambanan, a massive Hindu temple located not far from Borobudur, built at a different era Borobudur and Prambanan is between 1.100 year old and around 900 year old. I don't know if these two massive structure are considered unknown ancient marvels or too famous to be covered here.
For tunnelling i was thinking more along the tunnel that connects the sphinx to the great pyramid, but being eygpt wont let anyone visit what is down there i guess we cant have a video about that
This channel is so many sorts of wonderful distraction. Thank you for occupying my mind with so many more lights shone on things I've only the time or presence of mind to ponder. How do you feel about cryptids?
I wondered about that. The claims that El Mirador is Mayan and located in Ecuador cannot both be correct. Of course, being both Mayan and in the Department of the Peten in Guatemala are entirely consistent with one another.
Epaulinos is oldest ancient tunnel with two teams starting at both ends and intending to meet in the middle? The Siloam (Hezekiah’s) Tunnel in Jerusalem (at about 530 meters long) is radiocarbon dated to late 8th/early 7th century (some say there is evidence of it being even older) before the Common Era. An inscription inside the tunnel records the story as two teams starting on either end and meeting in the middle and there is additional evidence of that as well inside the tunnel itself.
For the Siloam Tunnel they followed an underground formation knowing that following the vein the two ends would meet. For the Eupalinos tunnel they used math to join the 2 segments since they were carving through uniform rock. Totally different concepts. The Eupalinos tunnel is many orders of magnitude more complex and difficult to make
Nothing prepared me for how amazing Rajahstan is. Randomly ended up there as a young bloke in 1990. The whole place is like something from 1001 nights or something...
“According to local legends ghost’s built the chand Baori stepwell in just one night… But… Well that seems unlikely” Haha why did that have me creasing so much ! Thanks Simon
I think it would be interesting to see what existing conditions, and what engineering, scientific advancements, that helped the Hanseatic League to thrive for three centuries; what brought it about, how it ended, and if it's influence can be seen today.
I love learning about the ancient world I would love to hear more about ancient engineering special things we know as little as we do now about because you got a lot of people nowadays that are such to do scientist say say things stupid like ancient people couldn't have built like the pyramids or whatever so it had to be space aliens which makes no sense I've always felt those are just people who are so dumb that they think that everyone else is as dumb as they are and is incapable of figuring out greater things cuz I do the same type of people that say all our current modern inventions are really alien inventions because humanity is not that bright which is nothing more than a slap in the face for our entire species
@@jordilouisson40 It is a bit confusing but I agree with the premise that the idea that ancient humans were so primitive that their incredible feats could only be the result of alien intervention. Give our ancestors the credit they deserve.
all these projects were long term well planned out studied and in the end built , today politics is short term it requires quick solutions and minimal costs so the politician is still around to reap the benefits of the project
You forgot about about Göbekli Tepe, The first Human Temple ever builded. Before agriculture even was discovered. Before the piramids, Stongange and everything else. Göbekli Tepe is atleast 12.000 years old.
6th-Century Greeks: We will build a 2-kilometre-long tunnel to bring water to our thirsty people. 6th-Century Macedonians a few miles upstream: Hey, guys! Let's install our sewage plant right here!
Ah but this isn’t learning, it’s entertainment. If you wanted to actually commit what is in this video to memory you would have to first create the synapses and then reinforce those synapses over and over again. Lastly you would test your own personal knowledge of the subject to see if those same connections are strong enough. I doubt anybody’s actually doing that while watching this video.
We use lasers and ultrasound to remove the cataract and replace it with a synthetic lens... Romans used a needle and a blunt stick (without anesthetic) to push the lens into the eyeball. Not exactly as advanced as what we use today
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view!" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?
So just a heads-up, Anasazi isn't the name of a tribe or group. It's a word meaning "the ancient enemy" and is just a slur from other tibes for the Pueblo.
In the vertical plane At the start of work, Eupalinos levelled around the mountain probably following a contour line in order to ensure that both tunnels were started at the same altitude. The possibility of vertical deviations in the process of excavation remained, however. He increased the possibility of the two tunnels meeting each other, by increasing the height of both tunnels at the point near the join. In the north tunnel he kept the floor horizontal and increased the height of the roof by 2.5 metres (8.2 ft), while in the south tunnel he kept the roof horizontal and lowered the level of the floor by 0.6 metres (2.0 ft). His precautions as to vertical deviation proved unnecessary, however, since measurements show that there was very little error. At the rendezvous, the closing error in altitude for the two tunnels was a few millimetres.[17][22]
ooohhh thank you ! very sexy kind of way to make ends meet with the greatest efficiency!! of course any mathematician whos figures were off would be sacrificed & serve as a motivational prod to help all their efforts!!! lol
Simon, would you do a video of Le Mont St Michel and it's virtual twin St Michaels Mount. I've been to both but no one can tell me much about the history
Please expand your horizons and search about Ellora Temples and caves in Maharashtra, India. You will find it very interesting, Specially Kailasa Temple.
The best unknown example of ancient engineering that no one talks about is King Tutankhamun's closet. It is so amazingly roomy and had special shelves for his Nikes. And don't get me started on his personal basketball court! Oh, and big foot built the Parthenon.
11:38 El Mirador and the Mirador Basin are both located in Guatemala, Central America - not in Ecuador, Sudamerica! I hope no one dies lost in the Ecuadorian rainforest looking for it after watching this video!
Totally awesome! We think we are so sophisticated, and we tend to think of ancient cultures as ignorant, but we have no idea of what went on in the past. Huge projects like this and we immediately think of thousands of slaves under whips and chains but, like the Egyptian pyramids, we don’t know half of what we think we do.
Outside of the Greek tunnel, I'm not sure how much engineering was taking place. Just unlimited time and labor until something was accomplished. Megaprojects, maybe.
Excellent video How important is writing ✍️ even simple rock There would be some record of who made them. Let’s appreciate those narcissistic egotistical rulers of Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Writing ✍️ in its many forms is important.
I particularly love these "lesser known ancient things" videos, not nearly enough of these places get the public recognition they deserve, and there's always some even I haven't heard of which is always exciting!
"lesser known ancient thing" sounds like how my gf would describe me 🤭
Lesser known because powers that be can't stand the idea of ancient cultures being more advanced and sophisticated than we are presently
Sorry to be off topic but does any of you know a trick to get back into an instagram account..?
I was dumb forgot my login password. I appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
Regarding the Eupalinos Tunnel of Aqueduct, take a look at how it was constructed in the available video in my channel.
Look up the UA-cam channel phantom universe you can thank my later
0:40 - Chapitre 1 - La Hougue Bie
3:20 - Chapter 2 - Sechin bajo
5:55 - Chapter 3 - Chand baori stepwell
8:50 - Chapter 4 - Tunnel of eupalinos
11:40 - Chapter 5 - El mirador
Postscript - end of the video sounds like a guitar shop on a saturday afternoon when the teenage riff gods have cranked up the amps. Dear Simon, please tone down the volume as after a pleasant video of you explaining fascinating places and top tens, this can scare the crap out of us listening on headphone :P
The correct location for the Mirador pyramid is Guatemala, Central America. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mirador
Chand Baori stepwell isn't ancient (pre-500s), it's medieval (500-1500) being built in the 800s.
@@realtalk6195 in England it's different. They didn't go mediaeval till after Hastings.
Finally someone well educated and from the "mainstream" covers these astonishing marvels of our distant past besides of all those "Aliens build it!" nuts! Thank you very much for videos like this and also for showing us authentic pictures instead of fantasy "paintings" and photoshopped stuff!
Really enjoying "Side Projects", and appreciate your study of the odd and unusual without going down all the same old roads. Never a dull moment where Simon is concerned!
FYI, El Mirador is in Guatemala, in Central America, not Equador, in South America. It's believed to have been one of the first great Mayan Cities, roughly 1000 BCE.
Exacto!!! Simon should fire the "researcher" who gave him that data... It's in Guatemala
THANK YOU!! I love Simon's channels but this was so painfully incorrect....
Yup! Simon, fire your researcher!
Ok, so I think they confused the location name with a large copper mine in Ecuador.
Honestly, I think you could have done an entire video about the utterly *Mind Blowing* engineering feats accomplished by the Roman Legions. Off the top of my head, the list could have included:
* - Caesar's walls around Alesia - Roughly 38 miles of walls were built, one circle encompassing Alesia and faced towards the city , whereas a second wall encompassed the first and faced away from the city. Both were built with the kind of defences necessary to repel attacks coming from inside the city and to repel attacks from relief armies attacking from outside the city. Both walls were built while under pressure from attacks by Vercingetorix's armies inside Alesia, the final, exterior walls being completed only shortly before the relief armies arrived from outside of Alesia to attempt to relieve the Roman siege on the city.
* - Caesar's bridge across the Rhine - A quarter mile of bridge across almost a quarter mile of river, built in around ten days. It is believed to be the first bridge to ever have been built crossing the Rhine. After using it to serve his purposes, Caesar had the bridge torn down upon leaving Germania. Two years later, Caesar built another such bridge, the second bridge ever to have been built across the Rhine river, completing its construction in a mere few days.
* - Legio X Fretensis' ramp to the gates of the fortress at Masada - The Jewish revolts in Judea came to an end on the mountaintop fortress of Masada. The Jewish terrorists believed that they could outlast the Roman siege, since they had many years of supplies, while conversely, Lucius Flavius Silva was under enormous pressure to end the unrest in Judea and thus had limited time to do so before the Emperor would lose confidence in him and have him replaced as Governor of Judea. Silva didn't have years to wait out the siege and thus needed to storm the fort. The fort built at the very top of a very large mountain. The Tenth Legion did this by dismantling a nearby mountain and using the pieces to build a ramp up to the door of the fort atop Masada. The Legion did most of the work, but when approaching nearby the fort, the Romans would come under intense fire from the fort and could not build any closer. So Jewish slaves were brought in to finish the construction, since the Jewish rebels were loath to fire on their own people who were enslaved by the Romans. The Jews believed that they could still repel the assault, until they saw that the Romans had secretly constructed a siege tower, which was to be towed up the ramp to the gates of the fort. The rest of the story is wildly compelling, but has little to do with Roman engineering marvels.
Nb: The ramp AND the camp used by Legio X Fretensis is still visible today. The ramp is still the best way to reach the fortress at the top, even 2,100 years after its construction.
Those are just the three that stood out in my mind as the most salient examples of *Mind Blowing* engineering feats accomplished by the Roman Legions. Aqueducts and Roman Roads should probably be included. So too should the Colosseum, the Roman Pantheon (NOT the Parthenon, which is- of course- Greek) and Roman fleets...
What's so crazy about their fortifications is that most people don't realize that it wasn't just a wooden palisade thrown up. The Roman fortifications had a trench dug and the dirt used to raise the ground where the wall would go. The walls were studded with small watchtowers and outside the wall was usually some form of sharpened stick/stake field, slowing advances even more.
Caesar's legions bridge across the Rhine will always stand out to me as an amazing display of construction prowess.
The Maccabis were NOT terrorists! They were devout Jews. When I visited Masada, we were shown the containers where the food was stored. It was enough food to last several years.
@@Genesh12 Archeologists say there is no evidence at Masada that anyone was there very long. There is no evidence of the site being in use, even though it was set up for that. I have never studied it personally; I'm just stating what arceologists concluded after their investigations. No disrespect meant whatsoever.
hi! I love that you made this comment! I love data! the many pontoon bridges built as a ' temporary ' measure to shorten the time taken by switchbacks that were how their oxen & carts & sledges , wagons etc . could get Up to a high fortification without ruining the beasts of burden or having axels break, wheels shatter from the force required to move on steep uneven terrain was removed when they could sling a partial suspension, supported at beginning & end by ropes spiked to & around tree groupings 100's of feet below the bridges entrance & at the midpoint the use of sturdy pontoons angled across the rivers or river, again & again stabilized & relieved the burden upon the tree clumps immensely & they could lower huge dray wagons , foodstuff, armor, weapons by way of essentially zip lines but controlled complex ones with spotters & signalers , pulleys, block & tackle, COUNTERWEIGHTING! PLATFORMS of oxen , the bases of siege engines could all be lowered reducing the ground mile travel often down to 1/4 of the original & even with the intensive labor involved in all this the often cut the time of traveling to their next engineering site by half! ofto sap walls or divert water supplies from the next new piece of empire to be! thank you for your sharing data! 😻😽💨cat kisses!
@@DieNextInLINE I just read about that in a book of ' fiction ' lol a temp bridge that lasted so well all they did years latér was renew some ropes, replace some boards & remove, drain, dry & reassemble the pontoons back in place! the first real planned engineering corp to make parts standardized & 1 size fits models blah blah & style b fits all others & store the materials like happy little box, bag , barrel stave & hoop & strut & truss & rope etc. hoarders, all labeled & in their designated places! like the equivalent of ford's or whoever's assembly lines! lol 😻😽💨cat kisses!!
I see/hear “built along astronomical lines” a lot when it comes to ancient buildings and structures, and it is almost invariably stated that while we don’t know why, it was most likely due to some religious observance. I have another theory though: The ancient peoples spent a lot of time looking at the sky and the movements of planets and stars. So many had a pretty decent idea of where a given point of light would be at a given point of time every single day. If you have that information, you can push a pole into the ground and take your sightings on said point of light and plant another pole some distance away. Then all you have to do is make sure everything lines up between the poles.
You will hear many "things", but you will have to think what is the actual solution or information. Regarding the Eupalinos Tunnel of Aqueduct, take a look at how it was constructed in the available video in my channel. They followed the North-South axis, as we do in solar panel installations nowadays. Also check the Egyptian pyramids video. The method was also used in ancient Egypt.
In some agreement with that possible theory, most parts of the world the sun faces due south or north at local noon and the shadow will cast due north or south, depending on hemisphere.
If you poke a stick in the ground and trace the shadow through the day(s), then with some very basic tools and geometry you'll be able to have an excellent directional reference.
....and of course, many prehistoric folks seem to have a much deeper knowledge of geometry than people usually assume. Even for strictly Euclidean stuff, while his Elements may be one of the best teatises on the subject, a great deal of that knowledge pre-dates him. In some ways he just assembled it with proofs into a logical series.
6:24 took my breath away... that portion of the Chand Baori stepwell looks like an MC Escher painting recreated* in stone
*edit: should’ve written “created” as it was built thousands of years before Escher was born
I thought the exact same thing! that maybe somehow he had seen them in a vision or a past life or even in a book, lol!
This was excellent. I'd love more of these, if possible. Thank you!
Excellent video! I've been lucky enough to visit two of these lesser known wonders. Sechin Bajo in 2003 during my round the world backpacking trip and recently the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos. Going from 38°c sunshine into the cool and airy tunnel was quite a relief for an hour or so!.
The amount of effort and hours put into building that water system is incredible, and is something we take for granted today with pipework and pumps supplying us with fresh clean water... :)
Clean might be a bit of a stretch but yeah
I mean it's not like current water supply doesn't require plenty of effort too though.
So I wouldn't be surprised actually if most people back then didn't think much of it like people today as long as they grew used to it just working like you expect it to.
Because just like today people don't typically participate in the work behind their convenient water sources so they might not fully appreciate how it's made possible aka taking it for granted.
I think your impression of modern water supply being less impressive as if the system of pipes, pumps and etc appear out of nowhere or just exist supports the idea that humans would think pretty much the same thing if you replaced it with the equivalent in ancient times.
Haha that escalated. But yeah I know what you mean, in ancient times it was common to mix water with alcohol just for that reason. And I know we have it better nowadays but I still get boil bans like once a month and I don't like drinking out of the tap because a lot of times it just isn't safe
@@DajuOnUA-cam fuck yeah lot of bigass pipes laid for you sewer water and stormwater.
Where i am where still semi rural but it's quickly geting built up with lots of little developments.
It's kinda bizzare when two streets over their on full services yet youve only got power. Still dealing with sewrage tanks rainwater tanks and trucking water in when necessary vs turning a tap on and just having it there.
I remember when i moved out of home into a unit for a little while going to the neighbour for water as my power got cut(they mixed up the address so I'd paid the neighbours bill.) It never dawned on me where's the pump i just was so use to no power means no water.
But the neighbour just looked at me as stupid.
La Hougue Bie is is practically identical (and similarly named) to the Fogous here in Cornwall, they are equally mysterious, but there is compelling ideas of them being giant pottery kilns.
Love your channels man! You work non stop! 🙌
Wonderful to see the passage grave! Thank you!
Simon the LEGEND reminding me again how poor my education was
Nice examples, I do wish Australian ones would be included in videos like this though, such as the Brewarrina Fish Traps or Budj Bim Eel Traps
I had actually heard of/seen photos of the stepwell, but everything else was new to me. These lesser known wonders vids are fantastic!
The step well was where Christopher Nolan got his inspiration for Bane’s prison in “The Dark Knight Rises”.
Another ancient and mysterious example of engineering is the Longyou Caves... fascinating story that we may never get an answer to.
Amazing video! I love everything Simon does. :D
The amount of UA-cam channels you have is a wonder in and of itself!
Kailasa Temple is another great example of ancient Engineering. This entire temple carved out of rocky mountain cliff from a single rock.
What makes it different is that, they actually started carving the rock from Top of the mountain towards base. And thousands of tonnes extracted rock found nowhere near temple. The carvings and sculptures are so beautiful that they are impossible to be made in today's time. Whole temple looks like it'll be 3D printed or carved by using laser technology.
@Aman wow👍.....I didn't know that
@Aman sure.....thx👍
yes, saw that, thought some amount of the excavation tailings must have been used up in the delicate carvings, like a few bits of abrasive debris tucked in a corner & then just ground away at in that spot until the debris was powder & a bit of surface was ,well, surfaced ! like how jade is worked, not so much with forcefully carving but with a drilled hole being rubbed with abrasives, pumice perhaps or sand, or oh chunks of seriously abrasive volcanic rock like in faux fireplaces!
'Impossible to do today.'
A common lie when ppl talk up ancient constructs. That kind of crap feeds the ALIENS DID IT bullcrap.
06:43 "according to local legends ghosts build it in one night" that kinda remind me of an Indonesian folk tale about a guy named Raden (a title roughly translated to "noble") Bandung Bondowoso that wanted to propose to a lady named Roro Jonggrang, but she said he must build a thousand temple before he can do that.
(edit: some typos on the names)
Korean turtle ships and Zheng He's indian ocean expeditions
Still say he needs to Admiral Yi from Korea: greatest military figure of all time
Just watched a documentary about Zheng He on Absolute history, it was very interesting!
@@AtotheZ7 Definitely one of the greatest naval admirals for sure, not sure I would go as far as to call him the goat military figure.
Julius was the GOAT military leader. Hail Caesar!
@@AtotheZ7 Alexander the great would have a problem with you calling some mostly unknown Korean greater than him
Excellent topic! Indeed, more of these would be awesome!
The tunnel of Eupalinos was not the first tunnel excavated from both ends. The Siloam tunnel (which is only half as long so maybe less impressive) also was excavated from both ends, at least 150 years before.
I was thinking that! Hezekiah’s Tunnel and he didn’t take years to complete it. Worth having a look at 😃
Yes, these 2 are the only ones in the entire ancient world. Therefor both impressive although the Eupalinos the more impressive one.
I live near around Dallas. We made waterworks many times bigger than the Panama Canal, but people didn’t notice because it was after steam shovels. Oh, and we had camel bones in ancient fire pits, which mean people were here before the last ice age.
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Great research. Kudos!
When Sir Gentleman breaks wind...the aroma must be that of lavender and Burberry. May he continue on, illuminating us all by his words and the brilliantly oiled beard He doth wear so well.
Absolutely fascinating. Looks like I've got a bit of catching up to do.
It's always interested me how universal the burial mound is. Across peoples, time and cultures.
Grand canal in China, incredible in its scale and impact on the Middle Kingdom's development. It is still used to this day!
El Mirador is located in Guatemala. That ain't south America nor Equador. Time: 11m 35secs
Swear you time these videos perfectly, I watch all.your channels when I'm eating and the video always ends right when I'm finished lol
That stepwell is simply phenomenal - as are many other stepwells in India. Those structures also provided a chance to escape the worst midday heat.
06:28 Looks like a Escherian Stairwell.
I guess you and I are the only ones here who know what "Escherian" means.
Yes, it does somewhat, but you don't need to invert gravity to walk down it.
Newark Castle, amazing English History and very much a figure point in a period in British history!
Please do Simon.
Nice!! Already hoped you'd cover this subject :)
As usual...very educational and entertaining!
Thank you for your efforts!
Very interesting presentation. Have you thought about a program on Casa Bonito in Chaco Canyon. It is a remarkable structure. There are perfectly straight roads leading to the structure from several directions.
That Stepwell is gorgeous, wow!
I like this video format for sure! Why not take a look at Derinkuyu in turkey
well made video and information, but El Mirador is in central America, Guatemala, not Ecuador.
missed your comment, I said the same thing in my comment. I live in Guatemala and hope to visit it in the next year.
Yeah that really threw me off. I’ve actually even there it’s amazing.
He also included Chand Baori in the list, which isn't ancient (pre-500s) but medieval (c. 800s). At the beginning of the video he also mentioned Angkor Wat which is also medieval (c. 1100s).
Thanks, I'd never even heard of most of those!
Next time would be nice to cover Borobudur and Prambanan.
Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple located in central Java island of Indonesia, and the second one is Prambanan, a massive Hindu temple located not far from Borobudur, built at a different era Borobudur and Prambanan is between 1.100 year old and around 900 year old.
I don't know if these two massive structure are considered unknown ancient marvels or too famous to be covered here.
I love stuff like this. It’s mind blowing.
For tunnelling i was thinking more along the tunnel that connects the sphinx to the great pyramid, but being eygpt wont let anyone visit what is down there i guess we cant have a video about that
Yes please. More of these.
This channel is so many sorts of wonderful distraction. Thank you for occupying my mind with so many more lights shone on things I've only the time or presence of mind to ponder.
How do you feel about cryptids?
I love how you look at historical places that aren't just europe. Talk about a more rounded education than I got in US schools.
El Mirador is not found in Ecuador! El Mirador is in Guatemala.
I wondered about that. The claims that El Mirador is Mayan and located in Ecuador cannot both be correct. Of course, being both Mayan and in the Department of the Peten in Guatemala are entirely consistent with one another.
Epaulinos is oldest ancient tunnel with two teams starting at both ends and intending to meet in the middle? The Siloam (Hezekiah’s) Tunnel in Jerusalem (at about 530 meters long) is radiocarbon dated to late 8th/early 7th century (some say there is evidence of it being even older) before the Common Era. An inscription inside the tunnel records the story as two teams starting on either end and meeting in the middle and there is additional evidence of that as well inside the tunnel itself.
For the Siloam Tunnel they followed an underground formation knowing that following the vein the two ends would meet. For the Eupalinos tunnel they used math to join the 2 segments since they were carving through uniform rock. Totally different concepts. The Eupalinos tunnel is many orders of magnitude more complex and difficult to make
My parents live next to La Hougue Bie in Jersey. It was awesome to behold as a kid and still today !
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Nothing prepared me for how amazing Rajahstan is. Randomly ended up there as a young bloke in 1990. The whole place is like something from 1001 nights or something...
I’ll second that. It’s an amazing place.
“According to local legends ghost’s built the chand Baori stepwell in just one night… But… Well that seems unlikely” Haha why did that have me creasing so much ! Thanks Simon
I think it would be interesting to see what existing conditions, and what engineering, scientific advancements, that helped the Hanseatic League to thrive for three centuries; what brought it about, how it ended, and if it's influence can be seen today.
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Much better teacher then any one i had in school
Oath
*than
@@j.a.weishaupt1748 smart ass 😂
I love learning about the ancient world I would love to hear more about ancient engineering special things we know as little as we do now about because you got a lot of people nowadays that are such to do scientist say say things stupid like ancient people couldn't have built like the pyramids or whatever so it had to be space aliens which makes no sense I've always felt those are just people who are so dumb that they think that everyone else is as dumb as they are and is incapable of figuring out greater things cuz I do the same type of people that say all our current modern inventions are really alien inventions because humanity is not that bright which is nothing more than a slap in the face for our entire species
Just had a stroke trying to read this.
@@jordilouisson40 Porn will be more rewarding when it comes to strokes.
@@jordilouisson40 It is a bit confusing but I agree with the premise that the idea that ancient humans were so primitive that their incredible feats could only be the result of alien intervention. Give our ancestors the credit they deserve.
all these projects were long term well planned out studied and in the end built , today politics is short term it requires quick solutions and minimal costs so the politician is still around to reap the benefits of the project
Episode idea: the many temples of Java, and the underground tunnels of the royal palace in Yogyakarta in Central Java.
That step-well is impressive and beautiful.
There are numerous within 100-200 miles from New Delhi. Infact, New Delhi has a famous one... they are called _Baoli_'s
@@StripedLime I wasn't aware such things so beautiful existed. But that's why I am subscribed to this channel, I guess...
No handrails, though. And you slip and fall, you won't necessarily land in the water but on a lower flight of stairs. Made of stone. With sharp edges.
You forgot about about Göbekli Tepe, The first Human Temple ever builded. Before agriculture even was discovered. Before the piramids, Stongange and everything else. Göbekli Tepe is atleast 12.000 years old.
These are my favorite types of topics!
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6th-Century Greeks: We will build a 2-kilometre-long tunnel to bring water to our thirsty people.
6th-Century Macedonians a few miles upstream: Hey, guys! Let's install our sewage plant right here!
Bitcoin is on a bullish run now. INVEST now that the market is appreciating, do that with my Expert
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Yes, follow up please! This was great!
Bitcoin is on a bullish run now. INVEST now that the market is appreciating, do that with my Expert
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In the movie, "The Far Pavilions," a couple is shown climbing a pattern of stairs. Now I know what it was.
There is some kind of trancey elevator music in the background which makes it hard to follow what Simon is saying
What track is that, Simon?
Sounds quite similar to level 3 in the Streets of rage 2 game for the Sega Megadrive
Thanks. I didn't notice it until I saw your comment.
All he needs now is to add a light show, some glow sticks and a smoke machine to go along with the trance music...
@@sophierobinson2738 now I can't unhear it.
Great video sweetie love from Birmingham in the UK xx
6:43 - So you're telling me there's a chance?
Simon has joined the list of my powerful bald men. He had all wisdom known to men
So bill jeff Simon yes"borat voice "
Simon, my curiosity is killing me. What is that thing on the wall over your right shoulder?
Is that a bruise on your head? Hope you're okay, I love your channels!
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I genuinely wish school teachers could be as good at teaching as these channels are
So far 2 teachers have disliked the video.
Definitely mate!! Most of my teachers in 2nd school ( im from Scotland ) HATED their job and it showed. BIG TIME!
But hey they are fine going on strike to ask for more money.
Hmm, El Mirador is located in Guatemala. That ain't south America nor Equador.
Ah but this isn’t learning, it’s entertainment. If you wanted to actually commit what is in this video to memory you would have to first create the synapses and then reinforce those synapses over and over again. Lastly you would test your own personal knowledge of the subject to see if those same connections are strong enough.
I doubt anybody’s actually doing that while watching this video.
What about the romans cataract eye surgery tools. Almost as advanced as what we use today
We use lasers and ultrasound to remove the cataract and replace it with a synthetic lens... Romans used a needle and a blunt stick (without anesthetic) to push the lens into the eyeball. Not exactly as advanced as what we use today
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view!"
Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam."
Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!"
Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..."
Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!"
Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky."
Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction."
Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?
So just a heads-up, Anasazi isn't the name of a tribe or group. It's a word meaning "the ancient enemy" and is just a slur from other tibes for the Pueblo.
In the vertical plane
At the start of work, Eupalinos levelled around the mountain probably following a contour line in order to ensure that both tunnels were started at the same altitude. The possibility of vertical deviations in the process of excavation remained, however. He increased the possibility of the two tunnels meeting each other, by increasing the height of both tunnels at the point near the join. In the north tunnel he kept the floor horizontal and increased the height of the roof by 2.5 metres (8.2 ft), while in the south tunnel he kept the roof horizontal and lowered the level of the floor by 0.6 metres (2.0 ft). His precautions as to vertical deviation proved unnecessary, however, since measurements show that there was very little error. At the rendezvous, the closing error in altitude for the two tunnels was a few millimetres.[17][22]
ooohhh thank you ! very sexy kind of way to make ends meet with the greatest efficiency!! of course any mathematician whos figures were off would be sacrificed & serve as a motivational prod to help all their efforts!!! lol
I love this topic
In the sechin segment, there's a hand bag very like those on Egyption hydrographs. A connection?
FACTBOI: ghosts…
Simon, would you do a video of Le Mont St Michel and it's virtual twin St Michaels Mount. I've been to both but no one can tell me much about the history
Please expand your horizons and search about Ellora Temples and caves in Maharashtra, India. You will find it very interesting, Specially Kailasa Temple.
Sechin Bajo music reminds me of "Pawn Stars" 😆😆
The best unknown example of ancient engineering that no one talks about is King Tutankhamun's closet. It is so amazingly roomy and had special shelves for his Nikes. And don't get me started on his personal basketball court! Oh, and big foot built the Parthenon.
Well is super ingenious
I have NEVER hit thumbs down on this AMAZING GUY
You need to watch more Business Blaze. Blaze Simon will have you smashing the dislike button. Allegedly
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11:38 El Mirador and the Mirador Basin are both located in Guatemala, Central America - not in Ecuador, Sudamerica!
I hope no one dies lost in the Ecuadorian rainforest looking for it after watching this video!
10:13 The mining machines they are talking about are probably people. Like "Big Bad John".
Have you thought of doing something on the Submarine HMS Affray
11:35 Petan basin, Guatemala
The inverted pyramid well probably had three sides because the fourth was the access ramp. Last job would be to fill the ramp with some bling.
Bitcoin is on a bullish run now. INVEST now that the market is appreciating, do that with my Expert
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Totally awesome! We think we are so sophisticated, and we tend to think of ancient cultures as ignorant, but we have no idea of what went on in the past. Huge projects like this and we immediately think of thousands of slaves under whips and chains but, like the Egyptian pyramids, we don’t know half of what we think we do.
Outside of the Greek tunnel, I'm not sure how much engineering was taking place. Just unlimited time and labor until something was accomplished. Megaprojects, maybe.
A more accurate title would be “5 examples of incredible ancient engineering”
yesterday I went to the toilet with a business blaze on and came out to biographics. That was a jump!
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What about an episode about the engineering of the temple of Abu Simple ,the sun phenomenon and how it was cut and transported
awesome, I live 5 minutes away from Hougue Bie :) nice to see it featured
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So... ghost are in the construction business now?
I know a few aliens who wont like it...
Chand Baori reminds me so much of the Temple of the Ancients from FFVII
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>Can say Julio correct
>Mispronunces bajo every single time
Saw SIMON in a watchMojo utube talking about the chech Osserary, he is getting famous
Excellent video
How important is writing ✍️ even simple rock
There would be some record of who made them.
Let’s appreciate those narcissistic egotistical rulers of Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.
Writing ✍️ in its many forms is important.