Season 1

The World's first great civilization, Egypt's Old Kingdom lasted for 1,000 years before coming to an abrupt end. Here Professor Fekri Hassan uses archaeological and geological finds to back up his theory that a climatic catastrophe, rather than political conflict, was to blame.

Three and a half thousand years ago, the Minoan civilisation, situated on the Mediterranean island of Crete, was wiped out. The culprit was one of the biggest volcanoes since the Ice Age on the nearby island of Thira.

This program unravels the causes of the disappearance of the Maya civilization, in Central America and southern Mexico. Millions died and great cities were abandoned to the jungle.

In this edition - did the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah really exist, and was the wrath of God believed to have destroyed them really an earthquake that triggered a landslide capable of sweeping away entire cities?