PBS Distribution has been putting out some wonderful documentary films this season, from 20th century politics and photography, and now to two very ancient topics: Stonehenge and Solomon. Secrets of Stonehenge and Quest for Solomon's Mines, from NOVA, will add to your knowledge of these historical topics, especially if your knowledge is based on long-ago high school history classes.
Of the two DVDs, I was more interested in Stonehenge, but learned from the Solomon one as well.
The accomplishment of Stonehenge, as one subject says, was the equivalent of a space program, but done some 5,000 years ago, at the end of the Stone Age. Located in southern England, many people have tried to unlock the keys of this circle of stones. New research has confirmed the astronomical alignment of the design but also added much to our understanding of this amazing architectural wonder of the world. Not least of the new discoveries are related monuments just nearby that were obviously connected to Stonehenge itself.
The Solstice was clearly an important event for those who designed it, but one archeologist said the monument is a way to connect the people to their ancestors, represented by the massive stones. Hundreds of people ( mainly wealthy men ) may be buried on the grounds. While Stonehenge may have been a tribute to ancestors, a nearby timber circle, Durrington Walls, may have been where the living celebrated with massive feasts. The two separate designs complement each other perfectly astronomically: they were linked on the summer and winter solstice.
Stonehenge was built, and re-built, over the course of many years, around 3000-2500 B.C. As an interview subject said, it became a monument like no other, marking the end of an era, a swan song for the Stone Age and all it would accomplish.
Metals, including gold and copper, would soon change nearly everything as they came into prominence. Civilians became more focused on wealth connected to metals. The age of grand communal monuments would come to an end, the film says: "A symbol of eternity, Stonehenge was built to stand forever, but in time the great stone circle was abandoned. Its age was eclipsed by a new technology, a new way of being. And that is a story as old as the hills."
That new technology is partially documented in Quest for Solomon's Mines, another new DVD out from PBS and NOVA.
This DVD does not present many solid answers to the mystery of King Solomon, son of David and allegedly the ruler of the first great Israelite kingdom and builder of the first great temple in Jerusalem. This was in the 10th century BC, so not much evidence remains from that era to prove the stories, and the Bible, correct in its assessment of his kingdom and his wealth. This film is part Solomon and part copper history, as we trace the mineral's trek from the mines to the smelting site, as archeologists use camels to carry the copper along what may have been the same ancient trails. Slaves likely lived for months or years at a time in the mines of the Dead Sea Rift Valley, and various kingdoms probably controlled the mines over the centuries.
Demand for the precious metal exploded during this time, which made the area an "industrial powerhouse," according to the film, which calls this "evidence of the earliest industrial revolution," and the "birth of the modern world."
The Biblical account of Solomon's kingdom says it was so large and so controlling that operating the copper mines at the Dead Sea Rift Valley would have been no problem, according to one expert in the film. But archeologists doubt that story, and there are very few clues of the actual wealth and power of David and Solomon ( few doubt that they existed, it is their wealth that is in question ) . The film takes us to one ancient city that may hold evidence of their life and times.
The new findings mentioned in the film have "transformed" the image of the mysterious 10th century BC, Solomon's century. It was "a time of walled cities and scribes, and rising kingdoms that could command a flourishing copper industry." And emerging from the shadows, the film notes, is a "long forgotten metal revolution, which transformed their era."
Both DVDs provide new and interesting information about their subjects, and are great for history buffs, or for your teenage kids just learning for the first time about these moments in time.
For copies, call ( 800 ) PLAY-PBS or visit shopPBS.org .
