The Holy Land is sacred for three major faiths; it is the setting for defining events in religious history; historians shed new light on the understanding of this area; combing through these remains; traveling deep beneath the pages of the Bible.
EPISODE 1
The Land of Canaan
What is meant by "holy land"; the difference between archeology and history; how reliable the Hebrew Bible is as a window into life in ancient Israel; answers to these and other questions; the region's earliest recorded inhabitants, the Canaanites.
EPISODE 2
The Arrival of the Israelites
What archeologists uncover about the arrival of the Israelites into Canaan; an ancient Egyptian stele with the earliest reference to Israel; the remains of Jericho's walls; a Philistine temple similar to the one Samson destroys in the book of Judges.
EPISODE 3
Jerusalem - An Introduction to the City
Surveying the topography and layout of Jerusalem; reviewing biblical accounts of Jerusalem from the arrival of David around 1,000 B.C.E. to the start of the Babylonian exile in 586 B.C.E.; the remains of an Assyrian siege on the city of Lachish.
EPISODE 4
The Jerusalem of David and Solomon
A first look at the biblical City of David; combing through the remains of a scribe's house behind a city wall; the development of biblical Hebrew script; rare examples of this script in a clay sealing, a piece of pottery and a victory stele.
EPISODE 5
Biblical Jerusalem's Ancient Water Systems
The City of David's ancient water system centered on the Gihon Spring; the three different water systems that are created due to the spring's location outside the city walls; these include Warren's Shaft, Siloam Channel and Hezekiah's Tunnel.
EPISODE 6
Samaria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel
Learning about Israel as it is ruled under the Omride dynasty between Solomon's death and the Assyrian invasion in 722 B.C.E.; exploring ruins such as the High Place at Dan; the acropolis at Samaria, which holds the remains of King Ahab's palace.
Jodi Magness
