The Kings: From Babylon To Baghdad
The region now known as Iraq has always been, in many ways, world history's ground zero. From this rich territory sprang the earliest cities and empires, earliest armies, and earliest tyrants.
The Kings: From Babylon To Baghdad tells the story of Iraq through the history of its rulers, from Sargon the Great to Saddam Hussein. This feature-length documentary explores the connections and relevance between ancient and modern Iraq and between Iraq and the rest of the planet.
Using dialogue drawn directly from primary sources - original texts of ancient records - it depicts events in dramatic, living reenactments. Lush cinematography filmed on location frames the dramatizations and contemporary reportage. And interviews with the world's leading experts on the historical and current relevance of Iraq complete this authoritative portrait of the men who brought this fabled land glory and despair.
Today, as it has been many times in the past, understanding Iraq is central to the world's well-being. This documentary offers a thorough, thought-provoking view into the politics, personalities, government, geography, culture and religion of this all-important region.
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Though all the comments ring true , I personally am exhausted of looking for non bias non political information from the beginning of the “Cradle of Civilization - Modern day Iraq” For all of it. Including all the beginning spiritual beliefs to how it currently is today. I will say this ... It is very much a US occupied Iraq . However if anyone has any helpful information on the type of documentaries or books do let me know. Thank you
Interesting doco, little bit of American propaganda at the end there though!
Iraq -espacilay -Assyria -meaning the north part today will stay by it is name and its 4 million people abroad are going back and -Assyria regon through federal united Iraq is commong soon and we hope TOP DOCUMENTARIES will help in this matter and that direcation .Thanks in advance.
I think between two videos something is missing. Was it full documentary?
This was a good documentary and I learned a good deal from watching it, though, it appears to have a Western (and specifically American) bias. In the very beginning you can hear it when the narrator describes the old European nations and modern America doing the exact same thing in the Middle East yet for the former it's Imperialism and for the later it's just foreign policy. It also side steps mentioning the role the Western powers played (particularly the US) in strengthening the Baath party and supporting their coup. This is particularly irritating since it goes on and on about how vicious and cruel they were.
lol I knew all of this by reading the Bible, they missed out on some facts and forgot to mention in the beginning that it was all accurately recorded in the Bible before the events even happened. And that they though Babylon was a myth.
recorded in the bible before the events even happened?? how old is your bible??
the Bible prophets prophesied about them before they happened. When Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, it foretold of future kingdoms.
I'd be interested to see how you know this, considering that cuniform was the only written language at the time, and the texts about these events are NOT written in cuniform but in much later languages. And even then, I can write a great story about how I prophesied about 9/11, it doesn't mean sh*t.
Dude, you have a cuneiform Bible too?! I thought I was the only one.
The Bible was written much later after these events happened and still gets a lot of it wrong. 95% of it does not match up with archeological evidence and other documents...That's probably why they "forgot to mention it". You can believe in whatever gods you want but don't fool yourself into thinking theres anything special about your particular choice.
that woman,towards the enf of the doc, is she serious while telling'' these countries were almost ready for independence but they will gone need help from foreign powers to prepare them for independence. nation building...'' imperialist bitch..who does she think she is..
A fantastic documentary that is educational and based on most of the facts yet it does not reveal the part of western powers especially Britain played in carving conspiracies against the ottomans and the later governments, it also does not reveal the ferocity of an American assault which probably has killed and destroyed and looted the country and its people more than the Halaku Khan. The region however has lot more than economic or political strengths, being the origin center of the three most popular religions of the world, the middle east, especially the regions of today's Iraq, Palestine, Israel and Saudi Arabia have a potential of mobilizing and involving almost 70% of the worlds population( directly or otherwise) in a conflict.
they've briefed an important era in the history of IRAQ in this report but the , all i can add is that they missed to say that in all the times the Iraqis (whom got all the natural resources ) were in a defendant situation against their greedy neighbor the iranians ( persians ) whom were poor in natural resources and we can notice that the persians copied the Babylonian civilization refined it and made the persian civilization
Interesting.. no mention of 8 years of war that Saddam had with Iran and lost in the end but left 1 million Iranians and Iraqis dead.
It is all sad. Unfortunately, it is this way all over the world through out mans time on earth. It doesn't matter the color of your skin, your geography, or your religion, or gender or financial status..."the inclination of man is bad...all the time". Unfortunately, most of our (what ever country you live in) historical accounts are biased, because humans as a whole are selfish. Unless you were there it is very difficult to sort fact from fiction.
George W Bush has something to hide from the civilized world (he doesn't know how to spell civilized)
I need more information about the secret history of Iraq and about the new government of Iraq.
jibreel,
the US Constitution forbids American armies to get involved in overseas wars, unless the security of the US state is threatened. Illegality One.
The Allies seized Iraq's oil industry & auctioned it off to their energy corps. By international law, this is looting. Illegality Two.
Iraqi people happier now? Does that include the votes of the tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of dead civilians, plus their relatives?
As with most wars, the end result is mass death, misery, & destruction. Still we can't get enuf. OGT
this doccumentry is completely biest its disgusting. it sows how up until it was taken over by the us iraq has been under mostly opressive rule. and when the americans have come the people are happy and now free after thousands of years. makes me wana thow up how whipped the history channel is.
Abu Jasim,
I agree with much of your post. But don't hate 'America'. George Bush II was a poisonous, ignorant, mentally-diseased runt, like the rest of this present Obanana government. They are the face of conservatism, the rule by those who inherit billions & stamp down on the progress of ordinary people with the military jackboot. But then, that is why American pols are/were such pals with the Saudi Arabian regime, which includes the Bin Laden family.
'America' also includes great & courageous fighters for democracy, against the mass murder of imperialism. Some are Jewish, some are scholars - eg., Noam Chomsky.
Humanity's problems come from a deeper level than America. The great & golden Abbasid empire was destroyed from within. It is no secret that Islam is split into two warring camps. "The scholar's ink - - - - ". It delineates the truth under appearances. OGT
OGT,
Prior to the US invasions, death, destruction and occupation of Iraq, Baghdad had more people with PhDs than any city in America. The American outlaws & gangsters has to destroy any nation that has the capacity to have a higher standard of living than Americans. The Americans would like other nations to depend on them in every field and even running the affairs of their countries. These fools can't get it; the world is tired of America and the Americans.
Fifty years ago, the Americans were the most loved people in the world; today, America is the most hated nation on the planet. America's serious problems are just beginning. Wait until the world oil production reach the Peak in 2015 then watch the Christianists, Judistanists, Europeans, China men, Japs and nearly every country that is hungry for fuel start fighting each other over the finite source of oil. I hate to describe what earth will be like 20 or 25 years from now.
Yeah, but have you formed an opinion yet, lol? Sheesh! Don't hate on us for what our government does! We didn't ask to invade or do anything to Iraq or any other country. You don't know us just like we don't know you. I'll tell you one thing though, at least I'm not judging YOU Abu and calling you an uncivilized P*g from that armpit of a sandbox you might be from. Do you think we trust our own government these days or that we wanted women, children, innocent people to die? The only deaths I'm happy about are those of Saddam, Uday and Qusay Hussein. They were some of the most evil men in the world so sweep up your own back porch before you start on ours. Do the Kurds remind you of anything, perhaps? Iraq's invasion of Iran? Kuwait, Chemical Ali? Don't preach about evil to us, you hypocrite.
The war reenactments are really weak I agree...great insightful doc though.
Abu Jasim,
I would be happier if ignorance were only an American problem!
Alas, it is far more widespread. I was always greatly moved by the words of Mohammed. "The scholar's ink is more precious than the martyr's blood". That great lesson spread slowly from Moslem Spain to northern Europe. If only more people would learn it. OGT
OGT
I know lots of people that get their history lessons from movies. The greatest number of Americans are lazy to think or research when it involves cultures and nationalities outside of the European theatre. Yes, Europeans are more educated but less than 10% of Americans fall in the category of Educated as you are alluding to. Americans are insufficiently schooled about the world but are rampantly ignorant of Arabs and Muslims. They are pathetic. This ignorance will eventually bring the American empire down.
Abu Jasim
Abu Jasim,
there is a lot of truth in what you say, but you overstate the case. Please remember movies are mainly entertainment, not serious history. There is a growing attention in the West on the major inputs of Islamic civilization to the European Renaissances (2). Educated people in the West are much more aware of this today. As you suggest, the Crusaders were an unclean, ugly & murderous army of thieves. Alas, their modern counterparts share some of those characteristics. Let's fight prejudice & ignorance. OGT
While there are some facts in the story, the documentary contains war scenes from older films to demonize all the people east of the European theater. Throughout Hollywood history, notice how the Christianists and Judistanists always show Arabs, Persians, Mongols, Turks, etc. as filthy looking people but show Europeans as "civilized" people if they ever were. Just compare the helmets (hammered tin) while the Greeks appear typical clean Hollywood style of Greeks and Romans with shiny armors.
Muslims at the height of their faith always wore clean white cloths - symbol of purity and cleanliness) but notice how the Christianists and Judistanists produced films show Arabs wearing rags. Yet, in other films the Christianists produce films on the filthy Crusaders (with half their teeth missing) as clean Europeans wearing a white cloak with a red Cross on the back. In reality they were filthy people who never took baths because they were superstitious people. They never knew why they died if they fell in water or took bath as they caught pneumonia in cold freezing weather of Europe. They were so primitive they never knew why they died until the Muslims showed them Turkish baths, bathing and healthcare. Crusaders went to the Middle East smelling like pigs but went back to Europe wearing cotton, silk and perfume, etc. The Christianists and Judistanists would never have gone through the period of renaissance if it was not for the Muslims civilizing these savages.
If the Christianists and Judistanists believe that using Christianists and Judistanists is silly so Islamists and Islamism. It is time for the Christianists and Judistanists to wise up; The Arabs & Muslims will not roll over for these outlaws & gangsters. The Christianists and Judistanists could keep on killing millions more but eventually they will pack up their bags & leave just like the previous empires that came and went.
How come this film did not show the savage behavior of the evil American Christanists and Judistanists in Iraq? I mean the death, destruction, rape and plunder of Museums and libraries like the Monguls did in 1258 AD
The documentary is a Hollywood farce!
Rene,
the US did a peace deal with the Shia section of Iraq, those with many sympathies with the Shia regime in Iran. Generous? Hardly, since the Iraq'a oil fields have been stolen with violence & handed to the oil corps - quite illegal, but what the war was really about. As said earlier, there remains a huge US military garrison force, which guarantees 'freedom', as long as the Iraqis do as Uncle Sam says.
As for Afghan, when the Russians were doing what the Allies are doing, the media of the West was screaming blue murder. That was when Bin Laden was an ally. Remember? OGT
It will be interesting to see how this turns out. The U.S. has already handed the rulership of Iraq back to it's people like Afhanistan. It will probably be like S.Korea/Japan in a 40-60 years. It will be a great balncer concerning Russian/Sino interests/power.
Very well done documentary. I agree that the 1900-2010 period needs to revised properly by future historians who funding won't depend on today's power brokers.
I guess some people never change ............
Hamza,
I think we broadly see eye to eye.
But, history & Nebuchadnezzar: it seems the conquering Babylonions only took the leading citizens of Jerusalem home with them, not all the population.
In Babylon, the miserable, ungrateful sods got good treatment, including government jobs, their own city quarter, & the right to follow their religion. Ie., they were political hostages to ensure no rebellion in Jerusalem.
The stories about Nebuchadnezzar were largely invented by Judean nationalists years after.
When the grizzling expats eventually returned to Jerusalem, their first deed was to clear Jerusalem of all people not considered pure 'Jews' (whatever that means). They had obviously learned none of Babylon's liberalism. This tradition of fanatical, intolerant racism rules Israel today. OGT
from the story of this documentery, the cowboyes not staying in iraq for long, even they have bigest embassy in the world, or even they have largest military base, iraq is not like marshal islands or virgin island, revise the documentry and you will see why. even if they kiked out five million of iraqi pepole exactly what did nabukhdnaser did to the jiwes in palastine. us army is not stronger than britsh army in the 19th century, and after 50 years they been kicked out of iraq, and that will happen to us aramy too very soon, may be sooner than some to expect. this history not scines fiction
khadijah
"Iraq is now a US possession - - - - - - It’s obvious we are there to stay!"
I expect the Romans thought the same! OGT
Iraq is now a US possession, just like American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Guam, Marshal Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau,.
We have in Iraq, three of the largest military bases in the world (In case some other country decides it wants Iraq's oil for itself) and the world's largest embassy (larger the Vatican City).
It's obvious we are there to stay!
For modern Iraq history, this is the usual BBC/Brit crapola.
The oil corps & CIA got rid of Iraq's ruler, Abdul Karim Kassem (variously, Kassim or Qassim), because he broke Iraq from the UK-US backed Baghdad Pact, an anti-Soviet alliance in the Middle East. In 1961 he nationalized part of the UK-controlled Iraq Petroleum company. Then he helped found the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). To further strengthen defences against Western control of Arab oil, he joined Abdul Nasser’s pan-Arabian United Arab Republic (UAR). Finally, he wanted a bigger cut of the exported oil money.
According to Ba'ath party leader, Hani Fkaiki, the man who orchestrated the coup action was William Lakeland, the US assistant military attaché in Baghdad.
The aim was not merely to murder the popular Kassem. It was to stamp out democracy in the country. To this end, all non-US/UK-friendly activists in Iraqi politics must be liquidated. So, socialists, communists, liberals, journalists, democrats, teachers & intellectuals were slaughtered – the usual suspects - anyone who represented self-determination for Iraq.
The lists of victims were allegedly compiled in CIA stations throughout the Middle East & radioed to Ba’ath butchers. Allegedly, the longest list was supplied by spook William McHale, who masqueraded as a news correspondent for Time magazine.
Victims were routinely tortured before murder, sometimes en famille, sometimes buried alive. Baghdad crowds protesting in favor of Kassem were crushed by tanks. No Tiananmen Square-style Western outrage followed. Kassem himself was tortured, then his execution was televised in Baghdad.
Allegedly around 5,000 Iraqis died. These were the building blocks of Iraq’s democracy. The nazis & Stalin used the same methods, which is no coincidence. The then head of the CIA, Richard Helms, had worked extensively with ex-Hitler spook, Reinhard Gehlen.
An Armin Meyer was director of the CIA Office of Near Eastern Affairs. At a meeting with Allen Dulles concerning Kassem, where assassination was proposed. Dulles grew very stern. He emphasized that the US, including the CIA, did not murder its opponents. What he meant was that murder must not be openly admitted. By this code, our ruling mafiosi can euphemistically & deniably order the dirty work. The knuckledraggers do the deed, & observe omerta. Thus, hired historians & journo hacks can find no evidence, & tell us all we are paranoid fantasists.
Saddam Hussein also assisted the AM by helping to destroy the pan-Arabic UAR. The US oil corps did not want to deal with a powerful, united Arab federation – divide & rule was much better. Plus ca change. OGT
Howcome the movie missed a great part that put the base of ruining Iraq? It is the 8 year war that Saddam ignited it with the help of the God damn Arabs whom they still sending their suicidal jiadist animals in the name of Islam.
Why don't the Arab invaders pack up and go back to Saudi Arabia where they came from. They only brought destruction and misrey to Mesopotamia where the worlds first civilization sprinter from. Their bedouin culture was so primitive that they could'nt borrow other people's civilization and learn from it properly.
A little bit to objective for my taste..
and those battle scene's are ridiculous !!
So now the power of the country is back in an Iraqi hands? Really? that is just hilarious! Just a western mind to create such a fable. People who wrote it are probably alienated by western tales or maybe they are those dumb students that have been told to be amazing by their "brilliant" ideas, anyway you all involved in such story should feel ashamed of yourselves.
I was saddened by this movie: so much killing for so many millenia and it is still the same, in Iraq and all over the world. Will this ever change?
This doc was historically interesting but now after reading Murad's comment I will do more research.
The majority of this movie presents Iraq's history before appox 1500 BCE then speeds into the past couple of centuries and races through them. From here on the doc looses objectivity, I found this last quarter especially biased particularly when the English and Americans became involved. No mention of any exploitation or warring behaviour on their part towards the Iraqi people. As this was made in Britian I'm sure there must be political bias involved.
I did not like the way Sadaam Hussien was portrayed, it appeared to be more terrorism propaganda. I am not saying he was perfect. I did not live there but lets have some balance. What a strategically placed bit of info that he was a bully that played with guns etc. How about the drunken Bush or the non inhaling Clinton etc etc? I'm tired of being emotionally manipulated by political agendas.
It was a sad day for the world when Hussein was executed because it was done by hypocrites with bloodied hands.
Bush was portrayed as being righteous in invading Iraq, no mention that this was an illegal action nor that the evidence they had to justify the invasion of Iraq was fictitious. Then the ending implied that Iraq has now been liberated and democratized due to this intervention. Guess who the puppet masters are now?
One can only expect lies from the western story tellers. The Main culprits are still behind curtains enjoying their trillions over the blood of millions innocent Muslims. The unsuspecting masses of western citizen are due for a huge unpleasant surprise by the same evil culprits that has already taken control of their government, country by country.
There are too many lies in this video. Alexander was defeated at the Indian front, where he himself was stabbed by a Sindhi fighter with poisonous dagger, he got sick and retreated back to Baghdad. He recovered and planned to invade Mecca. God sent a mosquito that stinged him making him sick and died within 7 days.
The Mongols were defeated at the Egypt front by Berbers, where the retreated back to Baghdad and reverted to Islam thereafter joining hands with Turkey and creating mess in Europe. In the mean time the Turkish masses and Clergy arose against the Sultan and accused him of war of aggression that is prohibited in Sharia. That was the reason from Vienna retreat and it was not the cold or the Kosack that defeated the invading Turks.
It was not the Abbasid that moved the capital from Medina to Baghdad. It was Ali that moved the capital from Medina to Kufa in Iraq. There was no Shia at the time of Ali. Ali had opposition, from Kharijites who later assassinated Ali.
Too many fibs and mere western tales.
One thing to note, the Impact of Islam on invading forces of Mongols, even though Muslims were defeated in Iraq, but the Mongols adapted the religion of captives and moved on to merge with Turks at the North and occupying India as Mughals at the east. One of them (Shah Jehan) Built Taj Mahal.
being an iraqi, i really enjoyed this documentary. 5 stars! but i do agree that the battles were a bit corney.
SO at one point some Arab had the chance to get rid of Jews and Muslims in one shot..... Damn that was a knife edge decision. Imagine the world today without just ONE of em. WTB tardis!
Pretty good documentary, but man, the reenactments of the battles are completely ridiculous!