Videos

Girth, grit and training can bring victory in Japan's most beloved traditional sport. Sumo wrestling dates back to Shinto ceremonies more than 1,000 years old; its traditions dictate everything from pre-show rituals to the wrestlers' diet...

An introduction to Dr. Neiman's lecture on Egypt and the Amarna age. In this segment Dr. Neiman discusses how the physical geography of Egypt shaped its culture and development.

Dr. David Neiman continues his lecture on ancient Egypt by describing the methods of irrigation used in ancient and current times on the banks of the Nile. The ancient capitals of Thebes and Memphis were united, but the designations of Upper...

In part three of Dr. David Neiman's lecture on ancient Egypt, Dr. Neiman traces the development of Egyptian culture and cites, as well as the great Egyptian historian, Manetho, who divided the history of Egypt into periods defined by dynasties...

Dr. Neiman explains the origins and progression of the pyramid structure. Further, he describes the pyramids at Giza in detail, including their building structure and importance.

In the fifth part of his lecture on ancient Egypt, Dr. David Neiman discusses the building materials, tools and techniques used by the ancient Egyptians to construct the pyramids.

In the sixth segment of Dr. Neiman's second lecture, he reviews Babylonian advances in astronomy and mathematics. He also credits the Babylonians with devising some of civilization's most basic concepts: dividing the circle into 360 degrees...

Dr. Neiman describes the connection between Sumer, Babylon and the development of Chinese civilization.

The Babylonians developed a calendar based on the moon and sun cycles. The Lunar calendar was designed to work in conjunction with the solar cycle by adding leap months known an "intercalary" months.

In this concluding segment of Dr. David Neiman's "Cradles of Civilization" (lecture two), Dr. Neiman discusses the way the year 'one' was calculated before the advent of the modern calendar.