Historian Bettany Hughes journeys across ancient Anatolia, modern-day Türkiye, to uncover some of the earliest foundations of civilisation. From Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe to Sardis, Gordion, Ephesus and Cappadocia, she explores how the first settled communities developed agriculture, religion, trade and urban life, while remarkable discoveries such as early monumental buildings, ancient weapons and life-sized human sculptures reveal a world far more sophisticated than once imagined.
Moving through landscapes where myth and history constantly overlap, Hughes follows the rise of kingdoms and empires, encounters the world of King Midas, and traces how Anatolia became a crossroads connecting cultures across continents. Presented here with both episodes combined into a single video, the series offers a sweeping archaeological journey into the places where some of humanity’s most important ideas, beliefs and institutions first began to take shape.