Wow someone is finally shining a light on the so called Dark Ages. The presenter guy is absolutely perfect for the task! Thank You to all involved in this production.
@@Ddub1083 It's definitely misleading. The Nile-o-meter was used in Pharaohic, Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, and the new Arab dynasties merely recognised their value and rebuilt those that had fallen into disrepair and/or tweaked the designs. It was still the same system using the same ancient method, and was thus definitely not 'invented'.
This is an excellent documentary and I enjoyed it. HOWEVER, the title misleads. This isn't really about Herod's Temple. It is about Islamic art. Why did the producers use such an obviously disingenuous title. Did they believe Islamic Art couldn't stand on its own merits?
Also, there were several editions of the 2nd temple; Herod's was the last and most spectacular. At about 6 stories of gleaming marble, it was visible from afar. The size of the site, the platform, was 34-36 acres, but that is only the site, not the building. Where Waldemar got his #s, no clue.
@@ybggorot1912 he was comparing the dome of the rock, a muslim dark age building, with herod's temple, a jewish classical building, which used to be on the exact same location, he brought it up for about 15 seconds and actually insulted it. I have absolutely no idea why timeline singled that part for the title and thumbnail.
I think you may be right. And Western Europe at that because the Byzantine Empire thrived until the beginning of the modern age vis a vis the Renaissance
Finally someone with good sense here! Dark ages happened only in territories dominated by Christianity. While Arabic countries developed astronomy and medicine the church was busy burning witches and forcing people to believe the Earth was flat.
@@levisinner2694 That's a half truth, half of the achievements of the renaissance and the late middle ages were directly supported, commissioned, or blessed by the church. Your dismissing one extreme interpretation and adopting another in retailation. Also, everything wasn't just roses and rainbows with Islam, dogmatists took over in Baghdad after the 12th century and stagnation occurred.
Also the dome of the Rock is a based on Eastern Roman architecture they used Eastern Roman artisans to make the mosaics and whatnot This certainly is a disappointment after the wonderful doc he just did on The barbarians 🤬🤬🤬😡😡😡
Loved the doc! It's a horrible title! It should say why the dome of the Rock shows that the dark ages were only in Europe. 😁😭 A great documentary that was stupendously and horribly mistitled. 🤢🤮
Rose...school is supposed to pique (English isn't my first language, so I hope I spelled it right) your interest so that you would go to the library (I'm of that gen!) and get the books that would enlarge your knowledge.
@@sulaymankindi an art "historian" attempting to debunk the term "dark age". He thinks it meant that the 500-1000 ad period was garbage, thus a dark age as opposed to the golden age of Rome. The "dark" in European Dark Age, is the same as in dark matter or dark energy. It refers to it being hidden or unknown, since without the western Roman Empire in power, written accounts are scarce.
In this episode of the mini-series, he tried to argue that the Islamic golden age disproves the European dark age, or "not dark age because Dome of Rock pretty"
It was dark only in Western Europe. And even then Western Europe had never been that enlightened by Greece and Rome. The most enlightened cities of Italy remained the same. Rome was abandoned for Constantinople and Ravenna because it was getting infested with malaria from the Pontine marshes. It is called dark mostly because of our lack of documents upon that period (many medieval documents were destroyed or let rot during the early modern era as a kind of academic cancel culture started devaluing everything medieval as dirty) not because they lacked documents necessarily : at least as many books were being copied in monasteries from 500 to 800 as there had been during the pax romana, though not the same.
@@MrMirville Huh.. Well that's interesting information. Thanks for that. I did know other places were basically having a golden age at this time though. I guess it's kind of "ethnocentric" to say THE dark ages. But it still seems like massive change was pretty universal during this time. And that's weird that people stopped valuing medieval texts - it seems like almost everything makes a comeback in popularity. I guess it's like the graph that shows the value of things start off high, then as new things happen or are made, they hit their lowest value and then, when they become antiques or ancient, they become valuable again.
coming from America the view of these beautifully built pieces of architecture has me in awe . The up keep that it takes to keep the buildings clean and strong after the crazy amount of years shows how much of a treasure they are.
The oldest buildings we have in North America are the 12th century villages of the southwestern natives. That is, unless you count Mexico as part of North America, in which case, some of the mesoamerican ruins date as far back as the 1st or 2nd century bc. But most cities in North America don't go back further than the Victorian era.
What a terrific series this is. And now I have relearned so much that we were never told or were given incorrect historical information. Just TOO MANY ADS.
Doesn't the appearing out of nowhere imply that there was probably art being made in the earliest days, just possibly in forms that didn't survive. Maybe something like fabrics.
of course it didn´t come from "nothing" - as hesitatingly even admitted in this program all this art is simply copy-paste of art forms from earlier cultures - christianised greco-roman tradition. Like the astrolab was of course not "Islamic", but was developed by the Greeks a thousand years earlier. And the octogon you can find in Aachen (Aix-La-Chapelle) dome of Charlemagne earlier as well.
Alfraganus lived in the 9th Century, which is after the period commonly referred to as the Dark Ages, and also after disruption of the Eastern Empire that is sometimes referred to as the Byzantine Dark Ages. His achievements are impressive and important, but actually reinforce that the preceding period had been a Dark Age. For instance, Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician who also lived in Egypt, had accurately calculated the diameter of the Earth over 1000 years earlier. This is the kind of information that was lost during the chaos of the Dark Ages and was only rediscovered centuries later. Also, the Ancient Egyptians first constructed nilometers for predicting the annual flood over 2000 years earlier.
The dark ages are commonly placed at AD 500/600 - AD 1200/1300 Alfraganus defiantly falls in the dark ages. Also agree with your other statements, should we just call it the Dim ages?
Had it not been for the Arabs translating and learning Greek books lots of thier knowledge would have been wasted in the world... The Arab scholars brought the western world the light in the dark ages....
@@haseenamonga7609 Something like 90% of all classical literature was preserved, copied, annotated, commented on, etc, and transmitted to western Europe through the Byzantines/Romans, and there are actually zero Arabic, or Latin (via Arabic transmission) manuscripts that we don't still have in the original Greek as preserved by the Byzantines, meaning... there are no Arabic manuscripts that are the sole surviving text from the ancient Greek world, so without Arabic transmission, we would still have every last Greek classical lit manuscript that we have currently. The Arabic manuscripts themselves were translated by Christians in the East, from Greek into Syriac, then Syriac into Arabic, or by Byzantine scholars that were sent to places like Baghdad to translate works directly from Greek into Arabic.
I'm so inspired by Walderman's observations and got lost for another hour of time reading the superb comments of so many viewers. I read so many of them aloud to my kids!
I wish you could do a show on the Dark ages in China(relative to Europe and Islam) and what they were achieving at that time in art architecture and innovation.
@@rosebud4387 There doesn't seem to be much art left from the Warring States period or Qin Dynasty, and yet we have the massive terracotta army. What gives?
@@LordJagd As the westerners who looted China when they invaded at the end of the Qing Dynasty lots of stolen Chinese antiques sent O/S turning up in auction houses and wealthy peoples homes. Ask the Eunuchs who have been slyly stealing stuff from palaces for centuries +(after every dynasty fall =looting damages) Lots of sticky fingers and sneaky traders in the last part of China's history... Japanese have a lot of Chinese and Korean art in their museums(looking after it for the Chinese!!caring for it)!Thank god the Terra Cotta army was deeply buried underground and only found and excavated in the 70"s or it would have been stolen looted or smashed as well.
I love this guy! He needs more toys lol I love how he's like a big kid with his maps, getting all excited to go see mosaics and catacombs. I am totally subscribed and I'm watching this again just to get the hosts name 😁
It's always amazing to me how Waldermar finds himself in the most extraordinary buildings in the world and there's hardly anyone else in the buildings while he's there.
i like these programs and this guy, the Astrolabe is much older invention, the one he had no doubt was used for that purose, but the name is not Islamic. I think what we should be forwarding is that all these cultures stood upon the shoulders of their predecessors, the waxing and waning if you like. But no matter the culture, all of them came to power through conquest, invasion and blood, Goths, Muslims, Vikings, Vandals, Huns.... but Documentaries are worth watching all the same....only other point i would make is that Cordoba Mosque "For the first time in European architecture, the aesthetics of light were shaping a building" is slightly odd statement considering some of the other buildings he took us through and other extant buildings we know about, surely the Pantheon 126AD or even the Hagia Sophia 537AD etc. But it is a unique interior, almost like a forest of red/white palms trees, so in that respect it is new ....
@DATING HARLEY QUINN Light had to be a consideration, how could it not? If you didn't allow for light, it would be very dark. And although there were dark churches before, they found a way to let in light and designed for it, specifically.
So I always learned that the Dark Ages we're referring to Christian Europe not the Isamic World. It was a Islamic Golden Age. The Muslims saved what ever ancient Greek knowledge the Christians didn't distroy. The Islamic Golden Age ended after the Mongol Golden Age challenged and vanquished the Muslim World. I still love your videos
Fascinating and beautiful art and history documentary. However, every time he mentions “Christianity” he says it and everything about it with such disdain. I find it very off putting. That building with the borrowed pillars was incredible. The look down the corridor was something that you could look at for an extended period of time and not be bored with the views. Stunningly beautiful.
I noticed that disdain as well, it is unmistakable. There was also a similar, cynical tone when he referenced Jewish history there, coupled with describing the classically styled second temple as pompous and inelegant. There seems to unfortunately be a political agenda here sadly.
@@018Greg I agree. I will say that in a separate episode he discussed Christian and Jewish history with none of that same haughty disdain. Odd. But in this one I was very much repelled by his attitude. I’m glad it wasn’t just me.
why is it that Waldemar's view seems bias, when he describes how the crystals were used as part of dark ages and is spooky....while the ones designed under islamic architecture was awesome. while still suggesting that the later islamic architecture derives heavily from christian architecture.
The Jewish temple was built in the "Jewish Quarter". The Dome of The Rock was built on a Roman fort. Religions knew how to give each other room at one point in time.
Don't tell me you believe the enourmous space on the Temple Mount and the unbelieable arcitecture (there's stones in the foundation that modern machines would seriously struggle to move, just in what remains, was made to put a simple Roman Millitary camp on top of it? There's no other examples of this being done. Don't forget that the Jews came on pilgrimage to what was used as a rubbish dump, in century after century, and allowed once a year to come cry and wail there, after the Romans pulled down the temple 70 AD. If it was placed somewhere else, I doubt it was suddenly forgotten by the collective memory of the Jews.
This is a very enlightening documentary, thank you. I think it is such a shame that people have to disagree just for the sake of it. And quite often from the viewpoint of ignorance.
"For the first time in European architecture, the aesthetics of light were shaping a building." That is a ridiculous statement. All architecture must consider how natural light will penetrate into the structure. I'm a huge fan of Islamic architecture and decoration. However, the Romans had been dematerializing walls for centuries while creating larger and larger column-free spaces. Early Islamic mosques are beautiful, but the return to hypostyle halls actually represents an enormous regression of technology. Think of the church of Santa Sabina, with its enormous nave and clerestory windows. It's all about creating a light-filled space. What about the Basilica Nuovo? Or the Hagia Sophia? The Baths of Diocletian? The Aula Palatina? It would be centuries after the Dark Ages before very large vaults reemerged in Western Architecture. The Ottomans would certainly master the technology to impressive effect. Humans are incredibly resourceful, and the societies that emerged in the Dark Ages strived and succeeded in building impressive buildings with the skills and resources available to them. However, we should be honest about the loss of technology relative to the preceding periods.
I don't know what there is to get your knickers in a knot about the films narration about light. I think you are misunderstanding what the narrator is saying .
When someone shows true passion and knowledge towards a sunject they love I can't help but feel really enveloped in intrigue. I get a dopamine rush pf knowledge.
True we're in a dark age just listen to the music 🎶 of today and you'll understand why it's the dark ages. Building designs are not very visually appealing.
Dark Ages is about the lack of written history between 400 and 1300 AD. In roman times, between 1100 and 1300 that was the move from sculptures to frescoes. The roman empire left a void behind. Most cultures were off to land grab. Civilizations were not to start elaborating in art till few centuries later. So it is understandable to see some cultures start at 400 AD and some at 600, 800 and 1300 AD. It is important to point out that some cultures were bent on destroying historical privilege of other empires or religions by renaming land marks and thus eradicating historical precedence, or taking literary achievements by translations and destroying the sources. Obviously, no one religion and its seeded parishioners ever thought of preserving historical backgrounds and if any existed were obviously prime incidences. Since the early Pharaohs, experienced masons (builders not the secret society paranoia) were building structures that required certain knowledge and skills. It meant that multicultural masons were always available to trade this skill. This skill must be foreign to the indigenous culture because at times, these high level officials would murder the masons to preserve the secrets of the building or structure. Thus, if there were no people left to exchange this knowledge with other cultures through the epochs, structures would have still been rubble on top of rubble. In essence, the astrolabe is nothing but another forgotten achievement that seems to be deemed as desertian achievement. If that would have been so, people in the vast deserts would have had nothing but sky to study. That didn't happen till the proverbial pillaging and invasions took place.
So you filmed inside the holy of holy and never mentioned that you were there inside especially in a cave in Mount Moriah. The artifacts are in front of you and all around you and yet you speak in generalities. When you tell people that your in a gorgeous holy jewel of a building, people get to mesmerized by the building to realize that it's the foundation of the building that is what brings pilgrims to this site not the building. In religious terms the building could be a tent and they would still sacrifice time and money to visit and pray there. The camara work is some of the best I have ever seen of the inside of the Dome Of The Rock. Truly spectacular cinematography!
This guy is great! He's made a subject that I thought I had no interest in very interesting! he's a bit eccentric, but that makes it all the more entertaining. He likes to show off that skull ring, too. :)
Pat, forgive me for saying so, but that's why you believe him. He's way off the mark. Read all of the comments above, he really is putting massive Spin on the whole subject - it's not factually accurate at all. You might as well watch a Hollywood version of ancient history.
The religious message of the Done of the Rock is that if you build on top of the most important site an already established religion and use violence to keep it there, you will pull the wool over many eyes.
Many comments are negative but actually the effort to make this kind of documentary has to be appreciated. Thank you to the producer. The concept of Dark Ages (applied to Europe, under west roman empire) was characterized the entire Middle Ages as a time of intellectual darkness in Europe between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance.
It's a false characterization based on ignorance. There were a vast amounts of advancements in thought, technology, government, art and quality of life during the thousand years of the so called "dark ages".
I wasn't aware that any historian had suggested that The Dark Age of Western Europe was experienced by the Islamic world. In fact, I remember a History teacher saying that if it hadn't been for The Golden Age of Islam, we would not have anything like the information we do on Ancient cultures and knowledge.
I can't get my head around why for all western historians foundation and existance of kingdoms on the territory taken from Byzantian Empire between 5th and 11th centuries are not included in the European history? Haven they heard that in the middle of 9th century a new alphabet was created by St. St Cyril and Methodius and later on at the end of the same century in Bulgaria was establish Cyrilic alphabet by their disciples? Nowadays almost 500 million people use Cyrilic script. Isn't that enouigh to be mentioned as one of the greatest achievemnets of so called Dark Ages?
I've become a great fan of history with the yrs passing...anyway, I can watch anything, just about, relating to history. Also, what I mainly wanted to relate before watching this episode, was that the Renaissance experts or historians (from the Renaissance itself) on the topic of the so-called Dark Ages which they coined...for no reason other than that there wasn't a revival of the Classical Antiquity as they were experiencing. Those scholars didn't give enough credit to the advances that occurred those centuries earlier.
…but you actually failed to mention“The Moops” by name, therefore you lose! Based on what you said in the last episode, Islam does not appear to be much unlike Aryan Christianity in its belief about Jesus being lesser than God the Father., and seems to share more in common, in that regard, than it does with catholicism, which worships the Trinity concept. Such a shame that the various religions, which have been so inspired by their reverence for divinity, to create such artistic beauty, and mathematical-engineering brilliance, yet often possess so much animus toward each other (as do certain political ideologies as well), simply because their tribal overlords have leveraged the faithful’s ignorance, in order to get them to do their bidding; using violence and coercion in acquiring material resources for the consolidation their power.
@Kristie C Arian, after its proponent Arius of Alexandria. "Arianism" was declared heretical at the first council of Nicea in AD 325 but didn't go away.
I love this guy and he knows way more about this topic than any plain old lay person walking down the street! Or someone who watched a movie at one time etc etc etc. Geeze how embarrassing some of these people are.
he knows how to sensationalize facts better than truly presenting facts. make no mistake. but then again people like sensational documentaries, if it isnt sensational it is unbelievable isnt it.
True, it that was for navigation. I believe the Islamic inventors modified it to have an azimuthal component to facilitate facing Mecca. He does mention that they perfected it (for that purpose).
@@rafthejaf8789 Nah, we dont need to get over anything, just pointing out that Islam is a continuation of eastern aggression against the west since the dawn of history and that Islam just conquested, burned, and stole to build it's knowledge, not really invent anything useful. Islam and the prophet of war. Tisk tisk
@@rafthejaf8789 Exactly right, thank you for reminding me how you invaded east into India where that wonderful ancient Hindu culture gave us the number system we all use today and thank you to Greece for logic and Geometry, and thank you China for your wonderful Calculus. As for soap... uh okay man cool. Soap. LMAO!! Now use that soap!
Fool! The Chinese claim to have done it first! The Greeks though the earth was flat. How do you calculate the circumference of a plane, you ignoramus! Haven’t you read Homer’s “The Odyssey”? In it, Odysseus and his homeboys ate, drank and had a great time on Circe’s island and then they take off the next morning and then reach the western EDGE of the world! Ie: the word was flat. Aka a plane. Now get back to doing your thing with your favorite sheep.
Others even earlier Islam is Satans religion it gives nothing good to man that it hasn't stolen from the just and peaceful it concurred and terrorized for the sake of speading evil no fiber of its being impresses me.
Khal Drago Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth in 250 BC most Greek intellectuals believed the earth was round in 500BC but he was first to work it out
1) There is some doubt that the so called Temple Mount was not the site of Solomon's Temple. It was the site of a Roman garrison, however, where the occupying Roman Army camped in Jerusalem.
Then perhaps commentators shouldn't ascribe achievements to islam, that are patently not! In this film, the minaret (lighthouse) is described as an islamic invention, yet there was one built in Alexandria, by the Ptolomeys, in 280BC. Double (and even triple) arches were commonplace in the Roman Empire. Domes have been built ever since man needed shelter, and true 'engineered' domes existed in neolithic times. Islam is considered the repository of knowledge, in this time, for two reasons. It had smashed Mediterranean cultures to pieces, and overrun places like Persia, soaking up the artisans responsible for its cultural richness, giving them a simple choice ... islam or death. Just about everything in islamic art and science, is borrowed.
@@Cactuskid118, quite right! Talking about islamic science is particularly misleading! People that speak of "islamic science" do not call the discoveries made by Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Gallilei and Newton christian science.
Not to downgrade the achievements of the era or empire/kingdom, but it begs to ask, is this really Islamic though? It's so easy to group everything into one religion but in reality, they were warring empires who just happened to be Muslims. It would be tantamount to calling all the empires or kingdoms from the West, a Christian Empire, and everything Western as Christian Architecture or Art. However, we call them by their names - like French, British, German, Spanish, etc and not one big Christian Empire. I think it is more correct to call it as it really is - Sasanian empire, Byzantine empire , Umayyad caliphate, Spanish Umayyads (756-1031), Ottomans, etc, etc and not as one Islamic Empire. Would it follow that there was never an Islamic Golden Age, but more of an Persian (Samanid/Seljuks -Muslim Persians) Golden Age? In closing, these wonderful contributions to humankind by these cultures and empires have been (if you will insist that they are Islamic) overtaken by conservatives in Islam - thereby slowing down, if not ending, their great discoveries.
I love this 4-part series, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out one small mistake: Herod didn't build the second temple in Jerusalem. The second temple was constructed under the Persians several hundred years before Herod.
35:24 - so, prior to the dam, how many times did it flood beyond the perfect level? Cause the dam today although it controls water flow it has ruined the fertility brought by the waters, among many other ecological disasters...
I bet the electric company/damn owner is making a penny or too though, giving kick backs to the government/elites. So it's unlikely to change unfortunately.
The mosaic with the lion and the antelopes under a tree has served as an important source of inspiration for the Armenian potters of Jerusalem. The Balian studio has a few examples.
This is a nifty and valuable presentation, but is it the Dark Ages. The Arabs and the Byzantines were literate, and we know a lot about their history. We know very little about western Europe because very little stuff wa written down, hence the name "Dark Ages".
@@reza6713 hope i'm not being rude, but did he mention the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, where muslims walk around the big black retangular stone? Is that a religious day? Truly don't mean to sound ignorant, but would like to learn about that celebration.
@@reza6713 Thank you for the helpful insight. In the bible, they have similar/same (?), telling. Just was not aware of the actual place. Did not mean to offend you, when calling it a retangle, as it is a sacred site.
@@reza6713 yeah, we're of european descent, pagans from back in the day. Even though we had a base for religion and faith. Difficult at best, in youth, to understand. Always be thankful and greatful for the many changes thru out ones lifetime. Nice speaking with you, sincerely hope all well in your life. Here's to progress, may a little light always shine with hope for everyone.
I'd like to thank all the high-profile internationally-renown medieval history academics that despite their busy schedules decided to contribute and enlighten us in the comment section with their inspired, deep and valuable comments.
The dome of rock has no significance in Islam, the rock it was built upon is honored by the Jews. The area in which is honored by the Muslims is the mosque further way with the blue dome. This is a common misconception amongst the majority of the Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims usually try to pinpoint this error.
Agreed. In his other series about the Baroque, he’d mentioned one of the Spanish masters and his Jewish heritage. I would have loved to have him devote some time to Jewish art during the “dark ages” too.
I hope the Chinese perspectives Japanese & Indian perspectives will feature as apart of this series, as these cultures were also thriving during the English period of 'dark ages' during the medieval period of cultural perspective, bridging the Roman Empire through until the formation of the British Empire, when England, or Britannia ruled the seas & oceans, apparently ;-)
@@virgiljjacas3955 - in my understanding, without copies of seminal Roman and other texts held in Islamic libraries, at a point in time access to these had been irrevocably lost for Europeans for various reasons, the West could not have segued into 'the Enlightenment' from the 'Dark Ages' via the Renaissance. From an art history perspective, it was the rediscovery of key texts such as *De architectura* by Vitruvius (Roman architect) that enabled the Renaissance by totally rebooting a gamut of lost arts, including the use of perspective in painting, and architectural as well as engineering practices. The sources i read often pointed to the effective loss of such knowledge to Western culture in medieval times, over the centuries, and much was only recovered via Islamic 'golden age' libraries. This always intrigued me - the loss of books and knowledge on one hand, and on the other, this idea of the rediscovery of ancient knowledge in long forgotten books hidden away in libraries in faraway lands 📚🏰🌎
Spot It, the historical values become a victim!!! I appreciate the provided information here and the art of ancient times BUT there is a HUGE DOUBT, concerning exactly where the ark of Noah come to rest. I don't want to make political or religion conversions, but this inaccurate information ruins the merits of history. Everyone should know that the ark of Noah come to rest on the apex of Armenian mountain Ararat which now is the land of Turkish. And the fact that The Mosque of Ibn Tulun is situated in Turkey does not mean that it is in the vicinity of Ararat Mountain. The distance between Istanbul and Ararat is 810.82 mi = 1304.89 km. You can even google it and check. HENCE, I cast doubt this point presented in the movie
The Astrolabe? Islam didn't Invent the Astrolabe, the Greeks did, at least 8 Hundred years before Mohamed was a glint in his daddy's eye. Oh, and BTW, it was Perfected by a woman named Agora, who Taught Astronomy and Mathematics in the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt around 430 AD, 200 years before Mohamed was a glint in his daddy's eyes. This guy is so Full of B.S. He Stinks. What Waldemar Januszczak knows about history can be summed up in 1 word, "Nothing". What "Time Line" knows about History can be summed up in 1 word, "Nothing".
He is correct in the sense that during the period roughly 400AD through 1100AD most of the knowledge of the past Greco-Roman civilisation was lost to western Europe and it was preserved in the early Islamic world which at that stage was not the anti-science culture it later became. Aristotelian and other Greek thought and philosophy was 'lost' to western Europe until scholar monks who visited Islamic lands copied and brought it back and so reseeded western European civilisation.
The dark ages were a golden age for Islam, but not Western Europe or the Mediterranean region as a whole. Due to the breakdown of trade and safe travel, middle classes and merchants had to leave many urban areas (Rome became a skeleton of what it was) and consign themself to serfdom. During feudalism the peasants were tied to the land, so it wasn't much of a life for them.
The host does not know what the phrase 'Dark Age' means. Dark Ages refers specifically to the area of the Western Roman Empire, therefore, any discussion of other areas is spurious and not germane to the topic. No knowledgeable historian would apply that term to any other location - not the Eastern Roman Empire; not the Islamic Empire, which didn't begin until the 7th century; not China - only Western Europe. Additionally, the areas of the Empire that came under the sway of other powers are not included in discussions on the Dark Ages. Carolingian France, England, and Northern Italy are the main focus of Dark Age research; topics beyond this are not pertinent to the Dark Ages, e.g. the Dome of the Rock has no relationship to the Dark Ages other than being built at the time when France, England, and Northern Italy were plodding through the Dark Ages.
The host does actually clarify that within the first part, but he mostly tries to tackle the historical misconception that this period of time was dark altogether. You and me might understand that the Dark Ages did not really affect areas outside of Western Europe, but there are people who are still unaware of these accomplishments and that some accomplishments still took place in Western Europe. We shouldn't expect EVERYONE to know of this, especially since in English speaking and Western countries there isn't as much emphasis placed on places like China, the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe even so its unknown to many. The area between 285/476 to 1066/1096 is pretty understudied in general.
Not very historically true, although it could be stated it did happen in highly Orthodox states like the Almorivads or Almohads (even then, not to such a great extent) it certainly doesn't apply to most of Muslim states then.
They burned books everywhere they conquered! If it did not support the holy books then it was destroyed, if they were about something that the holy books did not address then they were irrelevant and they were destroyed, If the were about something that the holy books addressed they were redundant and were destroyed! The problem I have with so many people these days that call themselves historians or scholars of Islam is that they ignore a MASSIVE part of Islamic history because it is hideous and inhuman at best! There is no part of Islamic history after Medina that is not synonymous with Death, Destruction, and oppression!
Unaware of any such cases really. The Islamic caliphates of old worked to preserve a lot of old books. The policy of dhimmi which protected conquered peoples allowed them to preserve their religious texts and not worry about persecution. A tax did also come with this, but the Muslims had to pay a zakat (charity) tax and serve in the military, dhimmis were exempt from both. Later on, millets (courts for dhimmis) start to emerge and play a role in preserving their rights. There were multiple Chritisan texts published, for example, during the Islamic period. My local museum even has one which I recently got to see, Church Canons published in Egypt. The Coptic Christians of Egypt actually did not resist the Muslims when they took the country, since Byzantine control was more oppressive to the Coptics since they were considered a heretic sect and widely persecuted. Under the Muslims, they seldom rose up. The Islamic civilization also claimed great volumes of writers, historians and inventors. Many Muslim, many were Jewish and Christian even.
The building that we were looking at was not the 2nd Temple, was the Dome the Rock/Shrine built a thousand years later! 😳😭 I loved this documentary but the title ruins it! It is such an enormous historical mistake it makes me wonder it was named inaccurately just to increase views. HORRIBLE!! THE CINEMATOGRAPHY WAS SO GOOD! 😁❤️ Really, "Herod The Great" didn't build any Jewish Temple but he expanded and improved on whatever was already there. If you think about it Jesus' protest against the money changes in 'God's House' was a criticism of exactly that addition that Harold made because that is where the money changers where in the new Herodian addition. The 1st Temple was distroyed at the beginning of the Babylon Exile and rebuilt at the end of this exile. This initial rebuilding never reached the splendor of the 1st Temple until King Harold 'The Great' renovated the 2nd Temple. It is understandable, I have seen people say King Harold built the 2nd Temple but this is obviously historically wrong by hundreds of years. The easiest way to know that is wrong is that the celebration of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the 2nd Temple by the Maccabees and that happened after the Babylonian Exile but way before Harod the Great. What he did was make a religiously tremendous building look the part after living with a not so impressive 2nd 2nd temple for something like 400 years! He did not rebuild the 1st Temple, i.e. the 2nd Temple but did a massive renovation on the 2nd Temple. www.britannica.com/topic/Temple-of-Jerusalem One could say that the distruction of the 2nd Temple was long before the [European] Dark Ages. This presenter was not focusing on the 2nd Temple in this documentary. He is focused on the building where the 1st & 2nd Temple used to be, The Shrine/Dome of The Rock. This much more recent building was built during the [European] Dark Age but also during the overlapping time of Muslim Golden Age. I think this presenter is wrong to say that the Dark Aged weren't Dark because the Muslim Golden Age because that designation is discribing European cultural stagnation not Muslim stagnation. They were virtually separate world culturally.
I saw a film with Rachel Weisz performing a role as Hypatia. It was just ok, i reckon. Nevertheless, the narrative aroused some interest on my part in her life's work, including its relationship to other discoveries. Are there any sources on Hypatia that you would recommend?
Hyperbole must be avoided. I am trained in ocean navigation, the use of a sextant for navigation. I doubt the astrolabe was more accurate. There is ten minutes of mathematics after two minutes of sightings. The result is a triangle with 10kilometer sides. I might be inside that but only if I make no mistakes and the enormous book of tables is available, scientific charts areonhand and my compass is true. Five accurate devices are needed to navigate.
One thing Cortez's Lt. said in his diary was Tenochtitlán was more beautiful than Cordoba... Cordoba was considered the center of the educational world in Europe as the Morse/ Arab occupation had created such a wonderful city. Consider what Tenochtitlán was like for him to make such remarks considering what you have heard here, if this is all you have known. Again a fine presentation. EBW M.Ed. USN Ret.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #30 ДВА В ОДНОМ [Один человек]• Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nrXy15orKhY/mqdefault.jpg)
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Spiritual dark.
Whats up with the Title on this one? The video has absolutely NOTHING to do with King Herod's temple.
Wow someone is finally shining a light on the so called Dark Ages. The presenter guy is absolutely perfect for the task! Thank You to all involved in this production.
Huh? This is the textbook survey of this period..... any art history book or class would tell you this..... sigh.....
It's a bit misleading to say that the Nile-o-meter was an Islamic invention, the Ancient Egyptians had used the same system for thousands of years.
Its not. Just like the astrolabe was a greek invention, even though people had been using the stars for navigation for thousands of years.
@@Ddub1083 It's definitely misleading.
The Nile-o-meter was used in Pharaohic, Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, and the new Arab dynasties merely recognised their value and rebuilt those that had fallen into disrepair and/or tweaked the designs. It was still the same system using the same ancient method, and was thus definitely not 'invented'.
@@sonofskeletor33 Perhaps the invention was tying the nile level to taxes, which the presenter points out.
@@Ddub1083 That's not an invention though, it's an initiative.
most excellent observation son of Skeletor! and backin it up as well!, Respect! keep it real bro! Real history_
Bring it out....!!!!!!! peace_
ONE
This is an excellent documentary and I enjoyed it. HOWEVER, the title misleads. This isn't really about Herod's Temple. It is about Islamic art. Why did the producers use such an obviously disingenuous title. Did they believe Islamic Art couldn't stand on its own merits?
Excellent observation Cate! The title is way off! ..........peace_
Thank you.. you just saved me an hour I would have lost..
@@bellrugby03
I love Islamic history and culture. Great video.
@Celto Loco and Islam stole things and claimed to create them
Islam came in 600 C.E, since then nothing good came out of it.
I'm learning a lot in this series, and seeing history in a less linear way than how I was taught. The human story is so amazing and complex!
Waldemar has gotten me through quarantine in one piece 10/10 would recommend
Definitely; every video with him is a gem
Herod's temple is a product of the Classical era long before the Dark Ages
wonder why he made that parallel ?
@@ybggorot1912 idiocracy!!..lol,,they swear they "know"!!
Who needs historical accuracy when you are DESPERATELY trying to shill for the middle east.
Also, there were several editions of the 2nd temple; Herod's was the last and most spectacular. At about 6 stories of gleaming marble, it was visible from afar. The size of the site, the platform, was 34-36 acres, but that is only the site, not the building. Where Waldemar got his #s, no clue.
@@ybggorot1912 he was comparing the dome of the rock, a muslim dark age building, with herod's temple, a jewish classical building, which used to be on the exact same location, he brought it up for about 15 seconds and actually insulted it. I have absolutely no idea why timeline singled that part for the title and thumbnail.
I’m pretty sure the term “The Dark Ages” only applies to Europe. And we see where the “light” was in those times.
I think you may be right. And Western Europe at that because the Byzantine Empire thrived until the beginning of the modern age vis a vis the Renaissance
Finally someone with good sense here! Dark ages happened only in territories dominated by Christianity. While Arabic countries developed astronomy and medicine the church was busy burning witches and forcing people to believe the Earth was flat.
@@levisinner2694 That's a half truth, half of the achievements of the renaissance and the late middle ages were directly supported, commissioned, or blessed by the church. Your dismissing one extreme interpretation and adopting another in retailation. Also, everything wasn't just roses and rainbows with Islam, dogmatists took over in Baghdad after the 12th century and stagnation occurred.
Herods Temple was constructed long before the so called Dark Ages began.
Also the dome of the Rock is a based on Eastern Roman architecture they used Eastern Roman artisans to make the mosaics and whatnot
This certainly is a disappointment after the wonderful doc he just did on The barbarians 🤬🤬🤬😡😡😡
the outside yes, but the inside decorative art was indeed "dark ages"
The temple was wrecked in 70 AD.
Loved the doc!
It's a horrible title!
It should say why the dome of the Rock shows that the dark ages were only in Europe. 😁😭
A great documentary that was stupendously and horribly mistitled. 🤢🤮
For a documentary about art I’ve learned so much history from this series that I never heard about in school or other historical documentaries.
Rose...school is supposed to pique (English isn't my first language, so I hope I spelled it right) your interest so that you would go to the library (I'm of that gen!) and get the books that would enlarge your knowledge.
How Herod's Temple Proves The Dark Ages Weren't So Dark ????? Incredible misleading title
It's like saying the Napoleonic wars prove Charles Windsor isn't a German Prince
@@Lightman0359 I even forgot what this video was about, but definitely not what the title says
@@sulaymankindi an art "historian" attempting to debunk the term "dark age".
He thinks it meant that the 500-1000 ad period was garbage, thus a dark age as opposed to the golden age of Rome.
The "dark" in European Dark Age, is the same as in dark matter or dark energy. It refers to it being hidden or unknown, since without the western Roman Empire in power, written accounts are scarce.
In this episode of the mini-series, he tried to argue that the Islamic golden age disproves the European dark age, or "not dark age because Dome of Rock pretty"
@@Lightman0359 Ah yes, some modern brains are in dark ages
I am fascinated by the Dark Ages. It's such an interesting time - like a major transitional period.
It was dark only in Western Europe. And even then Western Europe had never been that enlightened by Greece and Rome. The most enlightened cities of Italy remained the same. Rome was abandoned for Constantinople and Ravenna because it was getting infested with malaria from the Pontine marshes. It is called dark mostly because of our lack of documents upon that period (many medieval documents were destroyed or let rot during the early modern era as a kind of academic cancel culture started devaluing everything medieval as dirty) not because they lacked documents necessarily : at least as many books were being copied in monasteries from 500 to 800 as there had been during the pax romana, though not the same.
@@MrMirville Huh.. Well that's interesting information. Thanks for that. I did know other places were basically having a golden age at this time though. I guess it's kind of "ethnocentric" to say THE dark ages. But it still seems like massive change was pretty universal during this time. And that's weird that people stopped valuing medieval texts - it seems like almost everything makes a comeback in popularity. I guess it's like the graph that shows the value of things start off high, then as new things happen or are made, they hit their lowest value and then, when they become antiques or ancient, they become valuable again.
@@Blalack77 For India it was a golden age, the Shivaite Renaissance as it was called.
coming from America the view of these beautifully built pieces of architecture has me in awe . The up keep that it takes to keep the buildings clean and strong after the crazy amount of years shows how much of a treasure they are.
The oldest buildings we have in North America are the 12th century villages of the southwestern natives. That is, unless you count Mexico as part of North America, in which case, some of the mesoamerican ruins date as far back as the 1st or 2nd century bc. But most cities in North America don't go back further than the Victorian era.
At least do us Americans the credit of spelling and punctuating properly. You're an embarrassment to those of us who know how to read.
What a terrific series this is. And now I have relearned so much that we were never told or were given incorrect historical information. Just TOO MANY ADS.
Hahahaha! I majored in Art History and illustrating..... this is nothing new..... guess for normies who are casually interested.....
You can watch ad-free with a Premium subscription. I think UA-cam is such a great resource that I don't mind paying for Premium. And I hate ads.
ublock origin my dude
@@alejandromolinac oh you are so smug and superior....how painful it must be to endure the babble of those beneath you
So, if you're so superior, why are you watching this doc?
Doesn't the appearing out of nowhere imply that there was probably art being made in the earliest days, just possibly in forms that didn't survive. Maybe something like fabrics.
It's cause there was no early Islam. It was created by Abdul Malik in 692ad. There is zero evidence of Muhammad or anyone in Mecca until the 720's
of course it didn´t come from "nothing" - as hesitatingly even admitted in this program all this art is simply copy-paste of art forms from earlier cultures - christianised greco-roman tradition. Like the astrolab was of course not "Islamic", but was developed by the Greeks a thousand years earlier. And the octogon you can find in Aachen (Aix-La-Chapelle) dome of Charlemagne earlier as well.
Kazeir Amra doesn't look Islamic at all ... It's definitely not an lslamic Heritage.
The best meme ever created. "I've got this book... well, I've got this other book... you guys need more books..."
Alfraganus lived in the 9th Century, which is after the period commonly referred to as the Dark Ages, and also after disruption of the Eastern Empire that is sometimes referred to as the Byzantine Dark Ages.
His achievements are impressive and important, but actually reinforce that the preceding period had been a Dark Age. For instance, Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician who also lived in Egypt, had accurately calculated the diameter of the Earth over 1000 years earlier. This is the kind of information that was lost during the chaos of the Dark Ages and was only rediscovered centuries later.
Also, the Ancient Egyptians first constructed nilometers for predicting the annual flood over 2000 years earlier.
The dark ages are commonly placed at AD 500/600 - AD 1200/1300 Alfraganus defiantly falls in the dark ages.
Also agree with your other statements, should we just call it the Dim ages?
Had it not been for the Arabs translating and learning Greek books lots of thier knowledge would have been wasted in the world... The Arab scholars brought the western world the light in the dark ages....
@@haseenamonga7609 Something like 90% of all classical literature was preserved, copied, annotated, commented on, etc, and transmitted to western Europe through the Byzantines/Romans, and there are actually zero Arabic, or Latin (via Arabic transmission) manuscripts that we don't still have in the original Greek as preserved by the Byzantines, meaning... there are no Arabic manuscripts that are the sole surviving text from the ancient Greek world, so without Arabic transmission, we would still have every last Greek classical lit manuscript that we have currently.
The Arabic manuscripts themselves were translated by Christians in the East, from Greek into Syriac, then Syriac into Arabic, or by Byzantine scholars that were sent to places like Baghdad to translate works directly from Greek into Arabic.
@@haseenamonga7609 - This really isn't true, and has been refuted by numerous scholars.
Just think of the amount of work and hours it took to make all this stuff, especially the mosaics in the dome. And at the time it was done. Amazing.
I'm so inspired by Walderman's observations and got lost for another hour of time reading the superb comments of so many viewers. I read so many of them aloud to my kids!
I wish you could do a show on the Dark ages in China(relative to Europe and Islam) and what they were achieving at that time in art architecture and innovation.
I wholeheartedly second that.
excellent idea. is there as much records and information?
@@hmax1591 Need to dig it up I am sure there's lots of information on Ancient China Dynasties.
@@rosebud4387 There doesn't seem to be much art left from the Warring States period or Qin Dynasty, and yet we have the massive terracotta army. What gives?
@@LordJagd As the westerners who looted China when they invaded at the end of the Qing Dynasty lots of stolen Chinese antiques sent O/S turning up in auction houses and wealthy peoples homes. Ask the Eunuchs who have been slyly stealing stuff from palaces for centuries +(after every dynasty fall =looting damages) Lots of sticky fingers and sneaky traders in the last part of China's history... Japanese have a lot of Chinese and Korean art in their museums(looking after it for the Chinese!!caring for it)!Thank god the Terra Cotta army was deeply buried underground and only found and excavated in the 70"s or it would have been stolen looted or smashed as well.
Waldemar and team: many thanks for a jewel of a documentary series. best wishes to all from Nuuk, Greenland.
Greetings and peace unto to you, Clusterguard. I’m from Denmark, and I love Greenland and the Greenlandic people. Best wishes my friend, take care
I love this guy! He needs more toys lol I love how he's like a big kid with his maps, getting all excited to go see mosaics and catacombs. I am totally subscribed and I'm watching this again just to get the hosts name 😁
He has good stuff on Amazon Prime too!
his erotic movies are the greatest
It's always amazing to me how Waldermar finds himself in the most extraordinary buildings in the world and there's hardly anyone else in the buildings while he's there.
yeah because he's so dumb and they just want to avoid him
@@mynameisinigomontoyayoukil3828 care to explain?
@@mynameisinigomontoyayoukil3828 as you wish.
@@mynameisinigomontoyayoukil3828 intelligence recognizes intelligence. the obverse can be discerned from my previous statement.
Maybe because everyone who is there that is watching him what he is doing is staying out of the picture because they're not what the film is about ,
i like these programs and this guy, the Astrolabe is much older invention, the one he had no doubt was used for that purose, but the name is not Islamic. I think what we should be forwarding is that all these cultures stood upon the shoulders of their predecessors, the waxing and waning if you like. But no matter the culture, all of them came to power through conquest, invasion and blood, Goths, Muslims, Vikings, Vandals, Huns.... but Documentaries are worth watching all the same....only other point i would make is that Cordoba Mosque "For the first time in European architecture, the aesthetics of light were shaping a building" is slightly odd statement considering some of the other buildings he took us through and other extant buildings we know about, surely the Pantheon 126AD or even the Hagia Sophia 537AD etc. But it is a unique interior, almost like a forest of red/white palms trees, so in that respect it is new
....
@DATING HARLEY QUINN Light had to be a consideration, how could it not? If you didn't allow for light, it would be very dark. And although there were dark churches before, they found a way to let in light and designed for it, specifically.
Yes, all cultures have heavily relied on conquest and invasion. War was just so dominant back then.
So I always learned that the Dark Ages we're referring to Christian Europe not the Isamic World. It was a Islamic Golden Age. The Muslims saved what ever ancient Greek knowledge the Christians didn't distroy. The Islamic Golden Age ended after the Mongol Golden Age challenged and vanquished the Muslim World.
I still love your videos
Fascinating and beautiful art and history documentary. However, every time he mentions “Christianity” he says it and everything about it with such disdain. I find it very off putting. That building with the borrowed pillars was incredible. The look down the corridor was something that you could look at for an extended period of time and not be bored with the views. Stunningly beautiful.
I noticed that disdain as well, it is unmistakable. There was also a similar, cynical tone when he referenced Jewish history there, coupled with describing the classically styled second temple as pompous and inelegant. There seems to unfortunately be a political agenda here sadly.
@@018Greg I agree. I will say that in a separate episode he discussed Christian and Jewish history with none of that same haughty disdain. Odd. But in this one I was very much repelled by his attitude. I’m glad it wasn’t just me.
Waldemar is my new art teacher...love his way of presenting. So clever
why is it that Waldemar's view seems bias, when he describes how the crystals were used as part of dark ages and is spooky....while the ones designed under islamic architecture was awesome. while still suggesting that the later islamic architecture derives heavily from christian architecture.
of course its biased. The entire publicly funded "art" and "historical" programs are.
I am astonished at this series of documentaries. STUNNINGLY good all of them!!!!
The Jewish temple was built in the "Jewish Quarter". The Dome of The Rock was built on a Roman fort. Religions knew how to give each other room at one point in time.
Don't tell me you believe the enourmous space on the Temple Mount and the unbelieable arcitecture (there's stones in the foundation that modern machines would seriously struggle to move, just in what remains, was made to put a simple Roman Millitary camp on top of it? There's no other examples of this being done. Don't forget that the Jews came on pilgrimage to what was used as a rubbish dump, in century after century, and allowed once a year to come cry and wail there, after the Romans pulled down the temple 70 AD. If it was placed somewhere else, I doubt it was suddenly forgotten by the collective memory of the Jews.
Your comment is absurd, you don't know what you're talking about.
@@elvenkindgaming3621 The wailing wall was not part of the temple, The temple was in the city of David nearby.
This is a very enlightening documentary, thank you. I think it is such a shame that people have to disagree just for the sake of it. And quite often from the viewpoint of ignorance.
I love his enthousiasm, places and stories told. But only scratching the surface, i see problems arising..
the day i sell my car, i'll call him
"For the first time in European architecture, the aesthetics of light were shaping a building."
That is a ridiculous statement. All architecture must consider how natural light will penetrate into the structure.
I'm a huge fan of Islamic architecture and decoration. However, the Romans had been dematerializing walls for centuries while creating larger and larger column-free spaces. Early Islamic mosques are beautiful, but the return to hypostyle halls actually represents an enormous regression of technology.
Think of the church of Santa Sabina, with its enormous nave and clerestory windows. It's all about creating a light-filled space. What about the Basilica Nuovo? Or the Hagia Sophia? The Baths of Diocletian? The Aula Palatina?
It would be centuries after the Dark Ages before very large vaults reemerged in Western Architecture. The Ottomans would certainly master the technology to impressive effect.
Humans are incredibly resourceful, and the societies that emerged in the Dark Ages strived and succeeded in building impressive buildings with the skills and resources available to them. However, we should be honest about the loss of technology relative to the preceding periods.
Quel interessante! Merci pour les renseignemente!
I don't know what there is to get your knickers in a knot about the films narration about light. I think you are misunderstanding what the narrator is saying .
@@galland3496 - What do you think is the proper interpretation and what did I get wrong?
When someone shows true passion and knowledge towards a sunject they love I can't help but feel really enveloped in intrigue. I get a dopamine rush pf knowledge.
If a lack of quality art is what signifies a 'Dark Age' then we are in one.
Pretty much Marvel comics
True we're in a dark age just listen to the music 🎶 of today and you'll understand why it's the dark ages. Building designs are not very visually appealing.
Why are there so many negative comments on this part of the documentary, truly disgusting. Take history for what it is not how you want to narrate it.
Wtf u talking about?
10th time watching, still learning! we need a Waldemar fan club. honest.
Dark Ages is about the lack of written history between 400 and 1300 AD. In roman times, between 1100 and 1300 that was the move from sculptures to frescoes. The roman empire left a void behind. Most cultures were off to land grab. Civilizations were not to start elaborating in art till few centuries later. So it is understandable to see some cultures start at 400 AD and some at 600, 800 and 1300 AD. It is important to point out that some cultures were bent on destroying historical privilege of other empires or religions by renaming land marks and thus eradicating historical precedence, or taking literary achievements by translations and destroying the sources. Obviously, no one religion and its seeded parishioners ever thought of preserving historical backgrounds and if any existed were obviously prime incidences. Since the early Pharaohs, experienced masons (builders not the secret society paranoia) were building structures that required certain knowledge and skills. It meant that multicultural masons were always available to trade this skill. This skill must be foreign to the indigenous culture because at times, these high level officials would murder the masons to preserve the secrets of the building or structure. Thus, if there were no people left to exchange this knowledge with other cultures through the epochs, structures would have still been rubble on top of rubble. In essence, the astrolabe is nothing but another forgotten achievement that seems to be deemed as desertian achievement. If that would have been so, people in the vast deserts would have had nothing but sky to study. That didn't happen till the proverbial pillaging and invasions took place.
Makes sense👍👌👊✌
But the Eastern Roman Empire did not go anywhere :)
Ours now is about, the inaccuracies in written History.
Thank you Mr. Januszczak!
Excellent elocution of the speaker added to this fascinating subject provided me with a great joy, a USEFUL joy. Thank you. Sincerely.
Cool how that brazier gives us an insight on how life was like in the umrah bathhouse due to the artwork. The art is key.
So you filmed inside the holy of holy and never mentioned that you were there inside especially in a cave in Mount Moriah. The artifacts are in front of you and all around you and yet you speak in generalities.
When you tell people that your in a gorgeous holy jewel of a building, people get to mesmerized by the building to realize that it's the foundation of the building that is what brings pilgrims to this site not the building. In religious terms the building could be a tent and they would still sacrifice time and money to visit and pray there.
The camara work is some of the best I have ever seen of the inside of the Dome Of The Rock. Truly spectacular cinematography!
This guy is great! He's made a subject that I thought I had no interest in very interesting! he's a bit eccentric, but that makes it all the more entertaining. He likes to show off that skull ring, too. :)
Pat, forgive me for saying so, but that's why you believe him. He's way off the mark. Read all of the comments above, he really is putting massive Spin on the whole subject - it's not factually accurate at all. You might as well watch a Hollywood version of ancient history.
I feel similarly about this series. Glad to see another positive review
He IS entertaining though, which is why I've watched him before.
ring looks gold*
He is more of a showman and less of a historian. Oh and his little skull ring makes his a douche. Also lose some weight you waddle like a penguin.
The wonderous architecture of the "Tartarian Empire"
I think Herods temple in Jerusalem was beautiful and we haven’t even seen the inside
he sees a model and calls it "in-elegant". what a cheap and sophomoric comment to say the least...
@@torceridaho I agree
The religious message of the Done of the Rock is that if you build on top of the most important site an already established religion and use violence to keep it there, you will pull the wool over many eyes.
Its called the Dark Ages because of what happened in the western roman empire. Of course the rest of the world was quite different, duh!
Rafael Santos True. He should have only discussed about Muslim Spain, since Spain is the only territory in Western Europe which fell to Arab rule.
Its called the dark ages bc of the lack of "recorded" history. There was a sudden drop off of things written bc of disease and war
Amazing documentary, most informative I have ever seen.
Thank you! Absolutely marvelous documentary!
The quality of this documentary is amazing.
Further up the Nile. Is the flood gauge designed over 3000 years earlier by the Egyptians.
It's a remarkable documentary! I truly did appreciate it so much. Thanks a lot for sharing! Keep it up!
W J is absolutely amazing, he explains topics well...
I think your channel needs more ads in the videos.
Yes more ads we like advertisements.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I can watch these all day!
In this time of lockdown in Britain, I do!
Many comments are negative but actually the effort to make this kind of documentary has to be appreciated. Thank you to the producer. The concept of Dark Ages (applied to Europe, under west roman empire) was characterized the entire Middle Ages as a time of intellectual darkness in Europe between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance.
It's a false characterization based on ignorance. There were a vast amounts of advancements in thought, technology, government, art and quality of life during the thousand years of the so called "dark ages".
Enthusiasm is no excuse for a lack of serious study.
and what exactly are the academic qualifications you can boast? smh
I wasn't aware that any historian had suggested that The Dark Age of Western Europe was experienced by the Islamic world. In fact, I remember a History teacher saying that if it hadn't been for The Golden Age of Islam, we would not have anything like the information we do on Ancient cultures and knowledge.
I can't get my head around why for all western historians foundation and existance of kingdoms on the territory taken from Byzantian Empire between 5th and 11th centuries are not included in the European history? Haven they heard that in the middle of 9th century a new alphabet was created by St. St Cyril and Methodius and later on at the end of the same century in Bulgaria was establish Cyrilic alphabet by their disciples? Nowadays almost 500 million people use Cyrilic script. Isn't that enouigh to be mentioned as one of the greatest achievemnets of so called Dark Ages?
5:17 LOL love how the woman walking through doesn’t care they’re shooting
thats what they meant by shooting, as in firing squad, this guy is as flexible with history as it gets
And in front of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque of all places....
I've become a great fan of history with the yrs passing...anyway, I can watch anything, just about, relating to history. Also, what I mainly wanted to relate before watching this episode, was that the Renaissance experts or historians (from the Renaissance itself) on the topic of the so-called Dark Ages which they coined...for no reason other than that there wasn't a revival of the Classical Antiquity as they were experiencing. Those scholars didn't give enough credit to the advances that occurred those centuries earlier.
Gives a whole different outlook on that area. Well done.
…but you actually failed to mention“The Moops” by name, therefore you lose!
Based on what you said in the last episode, Islam does not appear to be much unlike Aryan Christianity in its belief about Jesus being lesser than God the Father., and seems to share more in common, in that regard, than it does with catholicism, which worships the Trinity concept. Such a shame that the various religions, which have been so inspired by their reverence for divinity, to create such artistic beauty, and mathematical-engineering brilliance, yet often possess so much animus toward each other (as do certain political ideologies as well), simply because their tribal overlords have leveraged the faithful’s ignorance, in order to get them to do their bidding; using violence and coercion in acquiring material resources for the consolidation their power.
@Kristie C
All religions, what?
@Kristie C All religions are based off of Judaism? Lol That is beyond ridiculous nonsense right there..
@Kristie C Arian, after its proponent Arius of Alexandria. "Arianism" was declared heretical at the first council of Nicea in AD 325 but didn't go away.
It's always the sociopaths that stir up emnity, innit?
@@DoesNotGiveAF major religions
I love this guy and he knows way more about this topic than any plain old lay person walking down the street! Or someone who watched a movie at one time etc etc etc. Geeze how embarrassing some of these people are.
he knows how to sensationalize facts better than truly presenting facts. make no mistake. but then again people like sensational documentaries, if it isnt sensational it is unbelievable isnt it.
Gail King. You are the first person I ever met (in my 70 years) who admires propaganda mixed with lies and boasts about it! :-) :-) :-)
Astrolabe was invented by by Apollonius of Perga between 220 and 150 BC.
True, it that was for navigation. I believe the Islamic inventors modified it to have an azimuthal component to facilitate facing Mecca. He does mention that they perfected it (for that purpose).
Yes but it was improved upon by Muslims. Get over yourself!
@@rafthejaf8789 Nah, we dont need to get over anything, just pointing out that Islam is a continuation of eastern aggression against the west since the dawn of history and that Islam just conquested, burned, and stole to build it's knowledge, not really invent anything useful. Islam and the prophet of war. Tisk tisk
@@mandomtn1962 That's so funny! Why don't you go back to using the Roman number system and washing without soap! 😅
@@rafthejaf8789 Exactly right, thank you for reminding me how you invaded east into India where that wonderful ancient Hindu culture gave us the number system we all use today and thank you to Greece for logic and Geometry, and thank you China for your wonderful Calculus. As for soap... uh okay man cool. Soap. LMAO!! Now use that soap!
One of the best documentaries I saw .taught me so much
Does He not know the Greek calculated the circumference and diameter of the earth 1000 years before the Muslims??
Fool! The Chinese claim to have done it first! The Greeks though the earth was flat. How do you calculate the circumference of a plane, you ignoramus! Haven’t you read Homer’s “The Odyssey”? In it, Odysseus and his homeboys ate, drank and had a great time on Circe’s island and then they take off the next morning and then reach the western EDGE of the world! Ie: the word was flat. Aka a plane. Now get back to doing your thing with your favorite sheep.
Others even earlier Islam is Satans religion it gives nothing good to man that it hasn't stolen from the just and peaceful it concurred and terrorized for the sake of speading evil no fiber of its being impresses me.
@@khaldrago911 The Odyssey. You mean the epic POEM? Oh
The majority of the knowledge of the medieval Muslims was preserved from the ancient Greek and Roman periods.
Khal Drago Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth in 250 BC most Greek intellectuals believed the earth was round in 500BC but he was first to work it out
1) There is some doubt that the so called Temple Mount was not the site of Solomon's Temple. It was the site of a Roman garrison, however, where the occupying Roman Army camped in Jerusalem.
Any time some one talks about Arabic history Iranian commentators ridicule it .
We should all respect each other .
Why do they ridicule it? And people can say whatever they want actually.
Then perhaps commentators shouldn't ascribe achievements to islam, that are patently not! In this film, the minaret (lighthouse) is described as an islamic invention, yet there was one built in Alexandria, by the Ptolomeys, in 280BC. Double (and even triple) arches were commonplace in the Roman Empire. Domes have been built ever since man needed shelter, and true 'engineered' domes existed in neolithic times. Islam is considered the repository of knowledge, in this time, for two reasons. It had smashed Mediterranean cultures to pieces, and overrun places like Persia, soaking up the artisans responsible for its cultural richness, giving them a simple choice ... islam or death. Just about everything in islamic art and science, is borrowed.
@@Cactuskid118, quite right! Talking about islamic science is particularly misleading! People that speak of "islamic science" do not call the discoveries made by Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Gallilei and Newton christian science.
Agreed
Quite remarkable. Unique. You travel around on his shoulder, His squeaky boots make it all real, and his knowledge amazing
Emotive music style with Jeremy Clarkson style narration spouting Saudi funded content. Credibility C, novelty factor D
Of course. Muslims have all but taken the EU. That's why it's in the state it's in...well, the biggest reason.
Not to downgrade the achievements of the era or empire/kingdom, but it begs to ask, is this really Islamic though?
It's so easy to group everything into one religion but in reality, they were warring empires who just happened to be Muslims.
It would be tantamount to calling all the empires or kingdoms from the West, a Christian Empire, and everything Western as Christian Architecture or Art.
However, we call them by their names - like French, British, German, Spanish, etc and not one big Christian Empire.
I think it is more correct to call it as it really is - Sasanian empire, Byzantine empire , Umayyad caliphate, Spanish Umayyads (756-1031), Ottomans, etc, etc and not as one Islamic Empire.
Would it follow that there was never an Islamic Golden Age, but more of an Persian (Samanid/Seljuks -Muslim Persians) Golden Age?
In closing, these wonderful contributions to humankind by these cultures and empires have been (if you will insist that they are Islamic) overtaken by conservatives in Islam - thereby slowing down, if not ending, their great discoveries.
Some people are just plain ignorant. God forbid this guy appreciates other cultures and art
I love this 4-part series, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out one small mistake: Herod didn't build the second temple in Jerusalem. The second temple was constructed under the Persians several hundred years before Herod.
Think Persian art/architecture is being confused as Islamic.
Persians are Muslims. What is Islamic Art? Basically art of Muslims and Arab makes less than 20% of Muslims.
No is a arabic art , The Persians were taken from Arabic engineering
Strange shift in emphasis. Christians :long on politics short on Art .Islam: Long on Art Short on politics.Look forward to subsequent series!
35:24 - so, prior to the dam, how many times did it flood beyond the perfect level? Cause the dam today although it controls water flow it has ruined the fertility brought by the waters, among many other ecological disasters...
I bet the electric company/damn owner is making a penny or too though, giving kick backs to the government/elites. So it's unlikely to change unfortunately.
The mosaic with the lion and the antelopes under a tree has served as an important source of inspiration for the Armenian potters of Jerusalem. The Balian studio has a few examples.
This is a nifty and valuable presentation, but is it the Dark Ages. The Arabs and the Byzantines were literate, and we know a lot about their history. We know very little about western Europe because very little stuff wa written down, hence the name "Dark Ages".
we know very little! that should be the title of this vlog
@@reza6713 hope i'm not being rude, but did he mention the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, where muslims walk around the big black retangular stone? Is that a religious day? Truly don't mean to sound ignorant, but would like to learn about that celebration.
@@reza6713 Thank you for the helpful insight. In the bible, they have similar/same (?), telling. Just was not aware of the actual place. Did not mean to offend you, when calling it a retangle, as it is a sacred site.
@@reza6713 yeah, we're of european descent, pagans from back in the day. Even though we had a base for religion and faith. Difficult at best, in youth, to understand. Always be thankful and greatful for the many changes thru out ones lifetime. Nice speaking with you, sincerely hope all well in your life. Here's to progress, may a little light always shine with hope for everyone.
I'd like to thank all the high-profile internationally-renown medieval
history academics that despite their busy schedules decided to
contribute and enlighten us in the comment section with their inspired,
deep and valuable comments.
Thank you for taking a break from watching CNN to type your comment.
Waoow.As a Muslim I ❤️ everyone.and this guy is amazing too.waow.good one mate good one ☝️
The dome of rock has no significance in Islam, the rock it was built upon is honored by the Jews. The area in which is honored by the Muslims is the mosque further way with the blue dome. This is a common misconception amongst the majority of the Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims usually try to pinpoint this error.
That spiral tower is amazing
Love this guy and his work but what about the Jews - would be interesting to hear more about their development during the dark ages as well
Agreed. In his other series about the Baroque, he’d mentioned one of the Spanish masters and his Jewish heritage. I would have loved to have him devote some time to Jewish art during the “dark ages” too.
Jews were only busy in saving their skin from Spanish Inquisition.
Especially as Jerusalem was and is the most important city in judaism and that jews were living in Jerusalem long before muslims came!
I hope the Chinese perspectives Japanese & Indian perspectives will feature as apart of this series, as these cultures were also thriving during the English period of 'dark ages' during the medieval period of cultural perspective, bridging the Roman Empire through until the formation of the British Empire, when England, or Britannia ruled the seas & oceans, apparently ;-)
This guy see the mechanical calander made by the Romans hundred of years before Islam?
It was the Greeks actually - the Antikythera mechanism.
The Arabs did learn from the Persians and Romans.
Same misconceptions exists for many so called Western discoveries and inventions, many of them are Muslim discoveries and inventions.
The Greeks were capable probably in 200bce
@@virgiljjacas3955 - in my understanding, without copies of seminal Roman and other texts held in Islamic libraries, at a point in time access to these had been irrevocably lost for Europeans for various reasons, the West could not have segued into 'the Enlightenment' from the 'Dark Ages' via the Renaissance. From an art history perspective, it was the rediscovery of key texts such as *De architectura* by Vitruvius (Roman architect) that enabled the Renaissance by totally rebooting a gamut of lost arts, including the use of perspective in painting, and architectural as well as engineering practices. The sources i read often pointed to the effective loss of such knowledge to Western culture in medieval times, over the centuries, and much was only recovered via Islamic 'golden age' libraries. This always intrigued me - the loss of books and knowledge on one hand, and on the other, this idea of the rediscovery of ancient knowledge in long forgotten books hidden away in libraries in faraway lands 📚🏰🌎
Spot It, the historical values become a victim!!! I appreciate the provided information here and the art of ancient times BUT there is a HUGE DOUBT, concerning exactly where the ark of Noah come to rest. I don't want to make political or religion conversions, but this inaccurate information ruins the merits of history. Everyone should know that the ark of Noah come to rest on the apex of Armenian mountain Ararat which now is the land of Turkish. And the fact that The Mosque of Ibn Tulun is situated in Turkey does not mean that it is in the vicinity of Ararat Mountain. The distance between Istanbul and Ararat is 810.82 mi = 1304.89 km. You can even google it and check. HENCE, I cast doubt this point presented in the movie
great series
This episode has a wrong title!
The Astrolabe? Islam didn't Invent the Astrolabe, the Greeks did, at least 8 Hundred years before Mohamed was a glint in his daddy's eye.
Oh, and BTW, it was Perfected by a woman named Agora, who Taught Astronomy and Mathematics in the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt around 430 AD, 200 years before Mohamed was a glint in his daddy's eyes.
This guy is so Full of B.S. He Stinks. What Waldemar Januszczak knows about history can be summed up in 1 word, "Nothing". What "Time Line" knows about History can be summed up in 1 word, "Nothing".
I was going to say this too. It bothered me that he made it seem like an Islamic invention (though they should get credit for adding improvements)
I think you mean Hypatia of Alexandria? Not Agora.
He is correct in the sense that during the period roughly 400AD through 1100AD most of the knowledge of the past Greco-Roman civilisation was lost to western Europe and it was preserved in the early Islamic world which at that stage was not the anti-science culture it later became. Aristotelian and other Greek thought and philosophy was 'lost' to western Europe until scholar monks who visited Islamic lands copied and brought it back and so reseeded western European civilisation.
He's definitely a salesman. I think this migh have originally been a BBC production, which would explain the lies and propaganda.
What lies and propaganda? Do provide examples and references please.
The dark ages were a golden age for Islam, but not Western Europe or the Mediterranean region as a whole. Due to the breakdown of trade and safe travel, middle classes and merchants had to leave many urban areas (Rome became a skeleton of what it was) and consign themself to serfdom. During feudalism the peasants were tied to the land, so it wasn't much of a life for them.
The host does not know what the phrase 'Dark Age' means. Dark Ages refers specifically to the area of the Western Roman Empire, therefore, any discussion of other areas is spurious and not germane to the topic. No knowledgeable historian would apply that term to any other location - not the Eastern Roman Empire; not the Islamic Empire, which didn't begin until the 7th century; not China - only Western Europe. Additionally, the areas of the Empire that came under the sway of other powers are not included in discussions on the Dark Ages. Carolingian France, England, and Northern Italy are the main focus of Dark Age research; topics beyond this are not pertinent to the Dark Ages, e.g. the Dome of the Rock has no relationship to the Dark Ages other than being built at the time when France, England, and Northern Italy were plodding through the Dark Ages.
The host does actually clarify that within the first part, but he mostly tries to tackle the historical misconception that this period of time was dark altogether. You and me might understand that the Dark Ages did not really affect areas outside of Western Europe, but there are people who are still unaware of these accomplishments and that some accomplishments still took place in Western Europe. We shouldn't expect EVERYONE to know of this, especially since in English speaking and Western countries there isn't as much emphasis placed on places like China, the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe even so its unknown to many. The area between 285/476 to 1066/1096 is pretty understudied in general.
The host also doesn't address that fact that Islam is responsible for destroying more history and knowledge than they are responsible for!
Not very historically true, although it could be stated it did happen in highly Orthodox states like the Almorivads or Almohads (even then, not to such a great extent) it certainly doesn't apply to most of Muslim states then.
They burned books everywhere they conquered! If it did not support the holy books then it was destroyed, if they were about something that the holy books did not address then they were irrelevant and they were destroyed, If the were about something that the holy books addressed they were redundant and were destroyed! The problem I have with so many people these days that call themselves historians or scholars of Islam is that they ignore a MASSIVE part of Islamic history because it is hideous and inhuman at best! There is no part of Islamic history after Medina that is not synonymous with Death, Destruction, and oppression!
Unaware of any such cases really. The Islamic caliphates of old worked to preserve a lot of old books. The policy of dhimmi which protected conquered peoples allowed them to preserve their religious texts and not worry about persecution. A tax did also come with this, but the Muslims had to pay a zakat (charity) tax and serve in the military, dhimmis were exempt from both. Later on, millets (courts for dhimmis) start to emerge and play a role in preserving their rights. There were multiple Chritisan texts published, for example, during the Islamic period. My local museum even has one which I recently got to see, Church Canons published in Egypt. The Coptic Christians of Egypt actually did not resist the Muslims when they took the country, since Byzantine control was more oppressive to the Coptics since they were considered a heretic sect and widely persecuted. Under the Muslims, they seldom rose up. The Islamic civilization also claimed great volumes of writers, historians and inventors. Many Muslim, many were Jewish and Christian even.
This is really incredible stuff. Thanks you!
That is no longer true. The temple has been found and it's outside the city. This must be an old video.
I love the enthiousiasm of the tour guide. He really brings history to life. Chapeau!
Hat?
Chapeau to you too!
The building that we were looking at was not the 2nd Temple, was the Dome the Rock/Shrine built a thousand years later! 😳😭
I loved this documentary but the title ruins it! It is such an enormous historical mistake it makes me wonder it was named inaccurately just to increase views. HORRIBLE!!
THE CINEMATOGRAPHY WAS SO GOOD! 😁❤️
Really, "Herod The Great" didn't build any Jewish Temple but he expanded and improved on whatever was already there.
If you think about it Jesus' protest against the money changes in 'God's House' was a criticism of exactly that addition that Harold made because that is where the money changers where in the new Herodian addition.
The 1st Temple was distroyed at the beginning of the Babylon Exile and rebuilt at the end of this exile. This initial rebuilding never reached the splendor of the 1st Temple until King Harold 'The Great' renovated the 2nd Temple.
It is understandable, I have seen people say King Harold built the 2nd Temple but this is obviously historically wrong by hundreds of years. The easiest way to know that is wrong is that the celebration of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the 2nd Temple by the Maccabees and that happened after the Babylonian Exile but way before Harod the Great. What he did was make a religiously tremendous building look the part after living with a not so impressive 2nd 2nd temple for something like 400 years! He did not rebuild the 1st Temple, i.e. the 2nd Temple but did a massive renovation on the 2nd Temple.
www.britannica.com/topic/Temple-of-Jerusalem
One could say that the distruction of the 2nd Temple was long before the [European] Dark Ages.
This presenter was not focusing on the 2nd Temple in this documentary. He is focused on the building where the 1st & 2nd Temple used to be, The Shrine/Dome of The Rock. This much more recent building was built during the [European] Dark Age but also during the overlapping time of Muslim Golden Age.
I think this presenter is wrong to say that the Dark Aged weren't Dark because the Muslim Golden Age because that designation is discribing European cultural stagnation not Muslim stagnation. They were virtually separate world culturally.
Wow! This is amazing!
Hypatia of Alexandria invented the astrolabe. Yes, Islamic scholars perfected it.
I saw a film with Rachel Weisz performing a role as Hypatia. It was just ok, i reckon. Nevertheless, the narrative aroused some interest on my part in her life's work, including its relationship to other discoveries. Are there any sources on Hypatia that you would recommend?
A man admiring a mans-world. Will we leave the dark times behind us one day?
Hyperbole must be avoided. I am trained in ocean navigation, the use of a sextant for navigation. I doubt the astrolabe was more accurate. There is ten minutes of mathematics after two minutes of sightings. The result is a triangle with 10kilometer sides. I might be inside that but only if I make no mistakes and the enormous book of tables is available, scientific charts areonhand and my compass is true. Five accurate devices are needed to navigate.
One thing Cortez's Lt. said in his diary was Tenochtitlán was more beautiful than Cordoba... Cordoba was considered the center of the educational world in Europe as the Morse/ Arab occupation had created such a wonderful city. Consider what Tenochtitlán was like for him to make such remarks considering what you have heard here, if this is all you have known. Again a fine presentation. EBW M.Ed. USN Ret.