Originally produced as a television series in 1995.

The ninth and tenth episodes of a ten episode program series.

Director of photography, Mike Coles, Alphonse Roy ; opening theme by Joe Delia ; music and sound design, Skip SoRelle ; editors, Tony Black, Michelle Green ; series editor, Tony Black ; series consultant, Brian M. Fagan.

Africa: Narrated by Sam Waterston ; with Ali A. Mazrui, Peter Garlake, Stan Mudenge, Mark Horton.

Tibet: Narrated by Sam Waterston ; with Richard Gere, Jamyang Norbu, Robert Thurman, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tashi Tsering, Ani Panchen.

Africa: White colonists in Africa couldn't believe that natives were responsible for the extensive kingdoms of Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili Coast, and thus credited the achievements of these ancient cultures to wandering Phoenicians, the Queen of Sheba, or Arab travelers. Cecil Rhodes 'explorations' destroyed portions of Great Zimbabwe, but Gertrude Caton Thompson found, excavated, and first asserted that the ruins were of African origin. Their descendants are now reclaiming the legacy of these advanced, lost cultures, with the glories of their accomplishments acknowledged.

Tibet: From the 7th to the 11th centuries, Tibetan warrior clans ruled large sections of Central Asia. Travelers on the Silk Road feared them, for their archers and cavalry were fierce and effective. The warriors were in turn conquered by Buddhism, which arrived in the 8th century. In 1642, Tibet became a theocracy as a monk took the throne of the nation, militarism was phased out, and three centuries of relative peace ensued. In the aftermath of the Chinese invasion and the exile of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan culture, and its unique quest for peace, inner knowledge, and nirvana may cease to exist.

DVD, Dolby digital.

Closed-captioned.