History: Science or Fiction? Do we know our history? Film 1 of 24

From childhood, we perceive history as an exact science of past events. Scientific books, museum exhibitions, historical novels and films convince us that almost everything is known about these and other epochs, and historians will definitely have an answer prepared for almost any question from an inquisitive mind.
However, if we take a closer look at our past, we will find many oddities and inconsistencies. Why did painters of the Middle Ages, who were usually very attentive to historical details, portray biblical and ancient characters as their contemporaries? How could ancient warriors cut their enemies with bronze swords, if there was no bronze in those days? And where did iron weapons come from in ancient Egypt? Why are so few monuments of the early Middle Ages preserved, and so many of much more ancient antiquity? After all, logically it should be the other way around. And on what basis did Ivan the Terrible call himself a direct descendant of the Roman Emperor Augustus? It seems that these and many other mysteries should have prompted historians to study our past more closely. But this has not yet happened, so the question naturally arises: do we really know our history?