Treasures with Bettany Hughes

The magical landscape of the Arabian Peninsula, featuring stunning weathered rocks and deep desert sands, was once the frontier of mighty empires. Bettany discovers messages from the past all around her, from rock etchings from ancient inhabitants to other markings that lead to the present day.

In this fascinating ancient hub of the Ottoman and Byzantine empires, Bettany is allowed access to digs at Besiktas Metro Station, where a multi-layered Iron Age burial site has been discovered. A coin of Emperor Justinian (the husband of Bettany’s all-time history heroine Theodora) emerges from the Earth. This dig will finally reveal the identity of Istanbul's original inhabitants.

The Mediterranean Sea, the lifeblood of civilizations across millennia, has been known by many names. This one body of water has experienced more interaction throughout history than any other on the planet.

There are few places on Earth with as much of an outsize influence on world history as the small British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The peninsula may just be 2.5 square miles, but this iconic rock has loomed large in the human imagination since prehistory.

In this episode, Bettany discovers Malta as a cultural hub laden with some of the world's most precious treasures, where civilizations from East, West, North, and South have met and combined.

Greece is the birthplace of an astonishing culture that changed the way the world thinks. Bettany starts her journey in Athens, the crowning achievement of ancient Greek civilization and a symbol of intellect and democracy the world over.