When the Sahara Was Green (Full Sahara Desert Documentary)

For over ten thousand years, the largest hot desert on Earth was not a desert at all. This is the complete story of the Green Sahara — the African Humid Period — told through the science, the art, and the people who lived it. Ancient rock art scattered across the Sahara shows something the desert cannot: hippos wallowing in open water, giraffes browsing on green trees, herds of cattle driven by human hands. For over a century, explorers, geologists, and archaeologists have pieced together how this was possible — from deep-sea sediment cores off the coast of Mauritania to a vast forgotten cemetery uncovered by accident in the sands of Niger. This documentary follows the entire arc of that discovery. We explain the slow orbital "wobble" of the Earth that drives the monsoon rains north on a 21,000-year cycle. We trace the rise and fall of Lake Megachad, a freshwater sea once larger than the Caspian. We follow the hidden Kufra and Wadi Sahabi river systems, buried for thousands of years beneath the sand. And at the heart of it all, we meet the people of Gobero — the Kiffian fishermen and Tenerian herders who lived, loved, and were buried along its shores, including the unforgettable grave of a mother and two children, laid to rest hand in hand. The Sahara has turned green more than 230 times across the last 8 million years. We are simply living in one of its dry chapters. This is the story of the last time it breathed — and what it left behind. Settle in, and let the story of the Green Sahara carry you through the night. ⏱ Chapters 00:00:00 — Introduction: The Sahara's Hidden Past 00:01:31 — Chapter One: The Desert You Know 00:09:17 — Chapter Two: The First Witnesses 00:18:49 — Chapter Three: The Turning of the World 00:28:56 — Chapter Four: Reading the Deep 00:37:48 — Chapter Five: When the Rains Came 00:47:57 — Chapter Six: The Hidden Rivers 00:58:14 — Chapter Seven: The People of the Green 01:10:36 — Chapter Eight: Their World Up Close 01:23:57 — Chapter Nine: The Tide Goes Out 🎵 Music Credits Gymnopedie No. 1 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100787 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Healing by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200048 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/ Fluidscape by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100393 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Cylinder Five by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/cylinders/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/ Sovereign by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100411 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist: http://audionautix.com/ Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100261 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ #SaharaDesert #Historyforsleep #Documentaryforsleep