The WORST episodes of Ancient Discoveries
Every episode of Ancient Discoveries ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Ancient Discoveries!
The remarkable story of Ancient inventions.
#1 - Guns n' Ammo
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/12/2009
Some of the strangest and deadliest weapons ever built were prototypes of the modern gun. ANCIENT DISCOVERIES finds out whether a simple bamboo tube could have been the world's first gun. Hidden in an ancient manuscript lays a secret recipe for ancient tracer fire, but does it really work? How far and how high could the mega-mortar "Roaring Meg" have fired its shots to take out a Royalist stronghold? Can a team of experts discover the truth behind the bizarre battlefield phenomena of “wind of the cannonball,” when men were seen to drop dead without apparently having been touched by a shot? And did a nine-barreled medieval volleygun mark the birth of the modern machine gun?
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#2 - Ancient Tank Tech
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/6/2008
The history of the elephant as the ancient tank, right up to the addition by the Indian emperors of a fully rotational cannon. The ancient battering ram - the king of siege machines - how did it work, and could the ancients have really discovered the secrets of chemical fire-proofing? The amazing flexibility of the medieval fully armoured cavalry knight. An investigation into English civil war bullet-proof armour. Anti elephant rockets - how the rocket ended the elephants 2000 year domination of the battlefield.
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#3 - Death Weapons of the East
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/23/2008
Comparison test between a shotgun and a staff, the oldest known weapon; the deadly Chinese ermei underwater attack weapon; examining whether Chi warriors can really kill a man with a single touch; ancient Chinese crossbows.
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#5 - Lost Science of the Bible
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/15/2008
Might the stories of the Bible have their basis in ancient scientific fact? How big was the giant Goliath, and what was the tech of the sling that brought him down? We'll demonstrate that the tower of Babel could have been as tall as two miles in height, create fire from water as Elijah may have done, and in a never before attempted investigation, watch as archeologists fully levitate a replica of the Ark of the Covenant.
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#7 - Impossible Army Machines
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/1/2008
The amazing successes and stunning failures of ancient military engineers influence today's weapons and tactics; an ancient Greek weapon is still used on aircraft carriers; rapid-firing Chinese catapult; Hannibal crosses the Alps.
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#8 - Ancient Commandos
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/18/2009
Ancient commandos fought deep behind enemy lines in some of the harshest terrains know to man. The show examines such exploits through storms and snowdrifts, revealing the tech and truth behind the world earliest known ski commandos. A journey to the deserts of Egypt reveals how a tiny army beat off a major invasion force using deception and a bunch of farm animals. The Bayeux tapestry is featured as well as one of the ancient worlds most feared and successful commando units, the Naftun.
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#9 - Ancient Special Forces
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/18/2009
The show reviews ancient Roman navy SEAL techniques of capturing enemy ships from underwater and replicates the feat. The tactics of ancient Roman war dog units are explored including a historically savage breed of dog, the Mastiff. Finally, the secrets of the samurai sword and how it was made is reviewed and they build and test an ancient Horro, a Japanese device that could protect a galloping cavalryman from arrow fire using thin silk.
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#10 - Mega Ocean Conquest
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/22/2009
From conquering the depths of the oceans to defending the freedoms of the seas--ancient man pushed the technological boundaries to the limits in the mega battle for the oceans. New discoveries will reveal how an ancient destroyer rammed its way to victory in one of the most significant battles in human history. In Denmark, a team of divers build and test the world's first ever deep sea diving suit that was designed 350 years before the history books tell us it was possible to walk along the seabed. Can CSI science unravel the mystery of a time traveling ghost ship? And in a groundbreaking sea cannon experiment, naval experts will discover how a 16th century war fleet blasted their way to victory against an enemy armada seven miles wide, without the loss of a single ship.
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#11 - Airborne Assault
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/5/2009
Assault from the air didn't begin with the era of the airplane. The kite bomb was a medieval siege weapon that dropped bombs from a kite over cities. Ancient bouncing bombs that actually skipped across water terrorized shipping in Turkey in 1453. Ancient China's whistling arrows, the world's earliest rocket-powered explosive missile, and the earliest known successful parachute, are also examined.
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#13 - Machines of the Gods
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/6/2007
With so many gods to choose from and so many temples vying for the average worshiper's fidelity, Ancient Greece and Rome was a buyer's market for religions. Priests were desperate to demonstrate the supremacy of their particular god and his or her personal involvement in their temple. To that end, Wonders of the Ancient World were constructed, iron chariots were suspended in mid-air, and automatic soap dispensers were installed.
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#15 - Secret Science of the Occult
Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/28/2009
In Mexico, explorers use a sacred ancient Mayan temple code to search for an occult underworld engineered in the depths of the earth--a mysterious site where no TV cameras have ever ventured. In Britain, investigators uncover the secret technologies behind a life size statue of Jesus Christ that miraculously came to life. Weapons experts reveal the science that saved a holy military order from certain annihilation in the bloodiest siege in history. In Greece, archaeologists solve the mystery of the oracle of the dead; an eerie sanctuary where flying ghosts appeared from the depths of hell.
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#16 - Ancient Death Machines
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/25/2008
ANCIENT DISCOVERIES digs for the roots of today's war machinery. Throughout history, military requirements — killing more effectively than the enemy — have driven the leading edge of technological innovation. Almost all technology on the planet today owes its origins to inventions driven by the imperatives of war. This episode surveys the ANCIENT DEATH MACHINES that have left a legacy on today's battlefield. From apocalyptic skyscraper siege machines to ancient landmines and flamethrowers which had the potential to extinguish hundreds of lives in minutes, ANCIENT DISCOVERIES puts the lethal tech of yesterday to the test.
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#17 - Ancient Super Ballistics
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/11/2008
Since the first time a rock was thrown in anger, mankind has endeavored to deliver larger, deadlier payloads further and faster. ANCIENT DISCOVERIES reveals how the science and technology of ballistics — a seemingly modern, cutting edge technology — actually dates back thousands of years to the ancient world. Using state of the art forensic techniques and the world's leading firearms experts, this groundbreaking show reveals the accuracy, power and range of ancient bullets, rockets and bombs.
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#18 - Riots and Revolution
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/18/2009
The show tracks down the secret manual that explained how the Vietnamese defeated not only the US in the 20th century, but the Mongols 700 years earlier. It reveals the largest booby trap in history, one that snagged an entire battle fleet, how king Mithridates used a substance called burning mud in his revolt against Rome, and how the terrorist booby-traps and letter bombs of today were invented hundreds of years ago.
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#19 - Rituals of Death
Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/2009
Travel to Egypt to discover the mysteries of the mummified crocodiles of Kom Ombo. We'll x-ray an ancient mummy that has held a secret for 2000 years, and reveal the lengths that people will go to to ritualize death. New discoveries at the site of the world famous terracotta army in China reveal incredible insights into the mind-state of the great first emperor of China and his people; and what they believed about death. In Britain, forensic scientists solve a year old murder using 15th century forensic science, as well as hundreds of mini-detectives--blowflies. And using virtual reality techniques doctors will now look inside the body of a victim during a live crucifixion to discover horrific new truths about the suffering on the cross.
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#20 - Ancient Record Breakers
Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/22/2009
This episode explores some ancient world records that still stand today. The most valuable thing in the ancient world is still the most valuable thing today at 2000 dollars per gram. A replica of a 2000 year old jet engine is built and a weapons team finally reveals the only weapon in history that can shoot around corners. They review what was the fastest thing in the ancient world and explosives experts reveal that the first gun was made of fruit.
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#21 - Twisted Weapons of the East
Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/18/2009
The show travels first to India where they encounter martial artists wielding terrifying 6-foot-long (1.8 m) swords, a projectile that can sever the limbs of any enemies, and an ancient Indian booby trap which impales its victims as they sleep. In Egypt, how camels were turned into weapons of war are explored. Finally, through painstaking research, they construct the world's first unmanned weapon that went onto the battlefield over 2000 years ago.
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#22 - Machines III (China)
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/27/2007
For the first time, this program unveils the remarkable story of how China created a myriad of ingenious devices including cosmic machines able to collect data on the stars, hydraulic hammers, water-controlled clocks and even paper. We discover that ancient China was an industrial superpower, armed with devices such as heaven carts' able to drill down deep underground, geared milling machines and mass production plants powered by water. Incredibly, unlike the ancient Egyptians, the Chinese developed their inventions with an eye for safety. Sophisticated mining props were designed to prevent cave-ins; ancient "carburetors" to control volatile natural gas; they even managed to design the world's first earthquake detector. Setting out on an epic journey across all of China, we meet leading historians and model-makers who keep tales of ancient China alive. We visit a reconstruction of an ancient Chinese iron furnace to unravel insights into how the Chinese created a forty-ton iron artefact five centuries before the West discovered cast-iron technology. Most impressive of all, we meet the leading clay expert Professor Ye Hongming who has spent a lifetime seeking to discover the secrets of how the ancient Chinese created their vast terracotta army. This pioneering documentary seeks to lift the centuries-old veil on China's greatest inventions, revealing how many of the West's modern-day inventions owe an extraordinary debt to ancient China's greatest minds.
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#23 - Superships
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/13/2007
SUPERSHIPS reveals recent, extraordinary discoveries of ships from the ancient world. New scholarship and breakthroughs in underwater archaeology have vastly increased our store of knowledge regarding ancient navies. But with new information comes many questions. What do these finds say about the societies which created them, and the techniques they used in their construction? Who could have mustered the resources and know-how to construct such impressive nautical marvels? How did they build such remarkable ships? And, most intriguingly, why? Travel back to ancient Egypt and learn about the "Khufu Boat" which had not one metal nail in its construction, and uncover huge sailing vessels, dating from 3000 B.C., in Abydos near the Nile. Some of the most exciting discoveries that have been made include ancient warships, some massive enough to carry a crew of 7000.
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#24 - The Ancient Mega-Fort
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/4/2009
Explore the defenses of ancient forts and cities. Discover the invisible underground defensive systems of Cappadocia and how they proved so successful. Test the ancient Mayan killer bee castle defenses, and release bees in an attack. A replica section of the ancient Roman fort of Alesia is built. And the most impregnable walls in history - the multi-layered defenses of Constantinople are investigated and along with the type of cannon that destroyed them in 1453.
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#25 - Siege of Troy
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/23/2007
In this episode, journey to the site in Turkey believed to be the location of the real Troy as ANCIENT DISCOVERIES analyzes one of the world's greatest historical battlegrounds for new clues. Uncover fascinating evidence illuminating Achilles' duel against Hector, the sailing of the vast Mycenaean fleet and the great wooden ship of Troy. Watch as we apply modern technology, archaeology and engineering to uncover the real story behind this legendary war.
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