Plot Synopsis

SECRETS is a one-hour series that follows a team of investigators around the globe, who use modern science and technology to uncover ancient mysteries surrounding these and other puzzles from the past. By examining these relics and legends, they hope to gain insights into who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. Typical stories include: a monument that may explain why the people of a thriving ancient city vanished from Earth; a tablet that reveals a towering truth about one of the Bible's strangest stories; and evidence that the 10 plagues of Egypt were real natural phenomena.

SECRETS returned for a new season on Monday, April 24, 2017 at 8pm ET on Smithsonian. In the season opener, "Tower of Babel," new evidence is revealing that the biblical Tower of Babel may have actually existed even though it was once dismissed as fable. Other topics in the new season include: riddle of Petra; Stonehenge; headless gladiators of York; plagues of Egypt; and shrunken heads.

On Monday, September 24, 2018 at 8pm ET/PT, Smithsonian Channel premiered the fifth season of SECRETS. Archaeologists investigating a site in Iraq destroyed by ISIS have discovered a 2,700-year-old temple that reveals new insights into one of the Bible's most famous stories, "Jonah and the Whale." That's just one of the revelations explored in the new season of Smithsonian Channel's popular series SECRETS, which follows the world's leading archaeologists as they use modern technologies to solve some of history's oldest riddles. A mysterious tomb from the final days of the Vikings, a forgotten princess of Egypt and the true origin of King Solomon's mines are among other startling finds in the new season. In the season opener, "Jonah and the Whale," ISIS fighters in Iraq detonate explosives under the shrine of "Nebi Yunus" - the Tomb of Jonah - destroying a site sacred to three religions. But when ISIS flees, archaeologists discover that beneath the rubble lies a 2,700-year-old temple complex, an ancient Assyrian palace previously unknown to history. Dr. Katharyn Hanson is an archaeologist with the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute. She was relieved to discover that ISIS' destruction wasn't complete: "The archaeological artifacts are still there," she explains in the film. "That's the part that gives me hope." Massive sculptures, cryptic inscriptions and mysterious figures reveal the story of a cruel despot, a dark fertility cult and a character who may have inspired one of the Bible's best-known tales. Other Season 5 episodes feature the stories of: the 2012 discovery of a Viking tomb in suburban Denmark; a colossal stone head of an ancient pharaoh is uncovered by a forklift in March 2017 during construction work in Cairo's urban outskirts; archaeologists in the Valley of the Kings in 2011 discover a sealed entrance to a previously undiscovered tomb -- the first sealed tomb found in 100 years; archaeologists were shocked to find the carefully buried corpses of baboons, jackals, leopards and even a hippopotamus, which were not native to Egypt; and new discoveries in the remote Israeli desert finally reveal the truth behind the legend of King Solomon's mines.

Season 6 of SECRETS premiered on Monday, November 18, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel. The season opener, "Tut's Last Mission," features Tutankhamun's tomb, which remains the greatest archaeological find of all time. For almost a century, its dazzling treasures have told the story of the Boy King's short life. As all 5,000 artifacts from his tomb are being brought together at the Grand Egyptian Museum, a far stranger tale is emerging of the young pharaoh's supernatural experiences after death. Join Egyptologists as they gather evidence and attempt to decode the secrets of Tut's underworld adventure.
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SECRETS returned for its seventh season on Monday, August 9, 2021 at 8pm ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel. In the season opener, "Cleopatra's Lost City," cutting-edge technology and dedicated digging have unearthed new secrets about ancient Egypt's fabled sunken city.