ALPHA · Alpha — these are Hathor's first documentaries, made on our own servers. She is still being trained, and the videos she makes next are expected to be much better and more accurate.

← All documentaries

The Horse: Time‑Mapped – Rise and Fall

From the first domesticated herds on the Eurasian steppe to the horse’s re‑introduction in the Americas and its decline by 1900, this ten‑minute film follows the animal’s pivotal role in human history.

Chapters

0:07 Birth of the Horse Partnership
1:52 Horse in the Classical World
3:19 From Eurasia to the New World
5:22 The Horse in Modern Times

On-screen text

0:07 Birth of the Horse Partnership
0:14 Birth of the Horse Partnership
0:31 Botai horses show early milking, 3500 BC Historical record · Botai culture horse burials, Kazakhstan, Nature 2009
0:49 Sintashta chariot graves, 2000 BC Historical record · Sintashta archaeological site, Russia, chariot burials, 2002 excavation report
1:07 Horse‑drawn vehicle on Standard of Ur, 2600 BC Historical record · Standard of Ur, Louvre Museum, c. 2600 BC Sumerian artifact
1:25 Four‑horse chariot in Tutankhamun’s tomb, 1330 BC Historical record · Tomb of Tutankhamun, Egyptian Museum, Cairo, wall paintings of chariot, c. 1332 BC
1:43 Homeric heroes prized swift war horses Tradition / scripture · Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, 8th century BC
1:52 Horse in the Classical World
1:59 Horse in the Classical World
2:16 Herodotus on Scythian horse riding, 5th BC Historical record · Herodotus, Histories 4.84, 5th century BC
2:34 Xenophon’s manual on horse training, 350 BC Historical record · Xenophon, Hipparchikós (On Horsemanship), c. 350 BC
2:52 Augustus reforms Roman cavalry, 1 AD Historical record · Res Gestae Divi Augusti, inscription 1 AD
3:10 Parthian shot described by Plutarch, 1st AD Historical record · Plutarch, Life of Crassus 23, 1st century AD
3:19 From Eurasia to the New World
3:26 From Eurasia to the New World
3:43 Mongol horse culture in Secret History, 1240 AD Historical record · The Secret History of the Mongols, circa 1240 AD
4:01 Columbus records horses on Hispaniola, 1493 Historical record · Christopher Columbus, Diario de a bordo, 1493
4:19 Cortés praises cavalry in Tenochtitlán, 1521 Historical record · Hernán Cortés, Cartas de Relación, 1521
4:37 Codex Mendoza shows Spanish horses, 1541 Historical record · Codex Mendoza, Biblioteca Nacional de México, circa 1541
4:55 No pre‑Columbian horse bones in Americas The Institute's interpretation · Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, study of pre‑Columbian fauna (2005)
5:13 Jesuits note horse adoption by Illinois, 1640s Historical record · Jesuit Relations, North American missions, 1640s
5:22 The Horse in Modern Times
5:29 The Horse in Modern Times
5:46 Lewis and Clark acquire Shoshone horses, 1804 Historical record · Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804‑1806, University of Nebraska Press
6:04 Union cavalry fields 200,000 horses, 1865 Historical record · War Department, Report of the Secretary of War, 1865
6:22 U.S. Army horse inventory, 1900 Historical record · Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1900

Sources

Historical record: Botai culture horse burials, Kazakhstan, Nature 2009 · Sintashta archaeological site, Russia, chariot burials, 2002 excavation report · Standard of Ur, Louvre Museum, c. 2600 BC Sumerian artifact · Tomb of Tutankhamun, Egyptian Museum, Cairo, wall paintings of chariot, c. 1332 BC · Herodotus, Histories 4.84, 5th century BC · Xenophon, Hipparchikós (On Horsemanship), c. 350 BC · Res Gestae Divi Augusti, inscription 1 AD · Plutarch, Life of Crassus 23, 1st century AD · The Secret History of the Mongols, circa 1240 AD · Christopher Columbus, Diario de a bordo, 1493 · Hernán Cortés, Cartas de Relación, 1521 · Codex Mendoza, Biblioteca Nacional de México, circa 1541 · Jesuit Relations, North American missions, 1640s · Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804‑1806, University of Nebraska Press · War Department, Report of the Secretary of War, 1865 · Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1900

Tradition / scripture: Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, 8th century BC

The Institute's interpretation: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, study of pre‑Columbian fauna (2005)

Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 87 s of CPU.

Scenes Hathor has no parts for yet (5) — the next things to make

Steppe camp; Scythian riders on light horses, rope harnesses visible.
Mongol riders on swift horses crossing the steppes, arrows drawn.
Columbus’s crew unloading a small herd of horses onto a Caribbean shore.
Columbus’s crew unloading a small herd of horses onto a Caribbean shore.
Spanish horsemen charging through the streets of Tenochtitlán, Aztecs reacting.