Civilizations The Second Moment of Creation (Season 1, Episode 1)
TV-PG
TV Episode | 58 min | Documentary, History

Primary photo for The Second Moment of Creation

Civilizations

The Second Moment of Creation (Season 1, Episode 1)

TV-PG

TV Episode | 58 min | Documentary, History

Historian Simon Schama claims art is an essential part of civilization in general and each one's identity. A retired Iraqi archaeology director preferring decapitation by ISIS to betraying where he hid unique treasures at Palmyra in Syria....See moreHistorian Simon Schama claims art is an essential part of civilization in general and each one's identity. A retired Iraqi archaeology director preferring decapitation by ISIS to betraying where he hid unique treasures at Palmyra in Syria. Then he takes us to several early sparks of Ancient civilizations, like the possibly earliest cave paintings in Spain and France. We know the Nabataeans, an Arab desert people, settled to establish the fabulously wealthy city Petra in Jordan, having seized a monopoly on frankincense, and for lack of writings its architecture is nearly all we know of them. Interaction plays a great part in neighboring cultures' development, as Crete's Minoian and Santorini's heritage contributed to the Mycenean prelude of Classical Greece. Sometimes art is all a civilization left, like one in China's Szechuan province, parallel early to the Yellow River cradle of classical China, yet absent from all records, all that remains are magnificent metal divinity masks. Even a civilization as rich and prominent as the Maya city states ends up swallowed by the jungle, including its glorious monuments to pantheon and mighty elite. Written by KGF Vissers See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
15 cast members

Name	Known for
Simon Schama Self - Columbia University Self - Columbia University See fewer	A History of Britain (2000)
Wulf Hein Self Self See fewer	The Iceman from Oetz Valley (2000)
Jack Davis Self - University of Cincinnati Self - University of Cincinnati See fewer	Expedition Unknown (2015)
Sharon Stocker Self - University of Cincinnati Self - University of Cincinnati See fewer	The Greeks (2016)
William Fash Self - Harvard University Self - Harvard University See fewer	Civilizations (2018)
Barbara Fash Self - Harvard University Self - Harvard University See fewer	Civilizations (2018)
Maya Jasanoff Self - Havard University Self - Havard University See fewer	Civilizations (2018)
Jay Xu Self - Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Self - Asian Art Museum of San Francisco See fewer	Traces of the Brush: The Heartprint of Fu Shen (2018)
Rupert Till Self - University of Huddersfield, England Self - University of Huddersfield, England See fewer	And There Was Music (2021)
Kostis S. Christakis Self - Heraklion Museum, Crete Self - Heraklion Museum, Crete See fewer	Blowing Up History: Seven Wonders (2021)
Serafin Antonio Jimenez Self - Mayan Cultural Educator Self - Mayan Cultural Educator See fewer	Civilizations (2018)
Khalid Al-As'ad Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	East to West (2011)
Arthur Evans Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer
Pablo Picasso Self (archive footage) Self (archive footage) See fewer	Something's Gotta Give (2003)
Liev Schreiber Self - Narrator (US version) (voice) (version: US) Self - Narrator (US version) (voice) (version: US) See fewer	Spotlight (I) (2015)