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00:00Is this it? Do you think this could be the tomb?
00:04Jesus of Nazareth is the most famous man of all time,
00:08but so much of his actual life remains a mystery.
00:11The Rolling Stone? Jesus.
00:14But that's about to change.
00:16Thank God.
00:25I'm Jeff Rose. I'm an archaeologist and I'm an anthropologist.
00:28I've always been fascinated by the stories of the Bible
00:31and the archaeology of those stories and where they come from.
00:33Behind every legend, there's a compelling true story.
00:37My mission is to discover the evidence that brings this truth to life.
00:41You can call me the legend hunter.
00:43And I'm here in Jerusalem at the confluence of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
00:49How can the latest discoveries in archaeology show us what the life of Jesus was really like?
00:55Jesus is one of the most important historical figures ever.
00:59Over half the world's population venerates this man.
01:02Now, whether you're a Christian and you think he's the son of God,
01:04or you're Muslim and you think he's a prophet,
01:06he has had an absolutely essential role in our human history.
01:12Almost everything we know about Jesus comes just from the Bible.
01:15It's not surprising that the question of historical Jesus has been raging for 2,000 years,
01:22because as an archaeologist, you don't see an individual in the archaeological record.
01:26You see large-scale civilizations.
01:29So it's looking for Jesus is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
01:32But recently, archaeologists have unearthed new evidence throughout Israel.
01:38In Nazareth, in the Galilee, and here in Jerusalem,
01:42this trail of new evidence touches the most important events of his life.
01:46I'm going to look at the archaeological evidence,
01:48which helps build the picture of the life of Jesus and the world he lived in.
01:52Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived in Nazareth with her husband Joseph.
01:56The New Testament mentions that Jesus himself grew up in Nazareth.
01:59So my starting point, obviously, is Nazareth.
02:03This is Jesus' childhood home.
02:05Today, Nazareth is Israel's largest Arab city.
02:12During the first century A.D., when Jesus was a boy,
02:16Nazareth was a small Jewish village.
02:20I'm just walking into the souk here in Nazareth.
02:23The souk is a marketplace, and there's always the most fun parts of the Middle East,
02:26because you never know what you're going to find in the marketplace.
02:29Here we go. Let's give it a shot.
02:35Nothing.
02:37Until recently, there was no physical evidence that a Jewish settlement
02:40even existed here during Jesus' lifetime.
02:45Then, just a few years ago, an amazing find.
02:49Archaeologist Yardena Alexander uncovered the remains of a house from the time of Jesus.
02:54How did you guys find this site?
02:57How did you know to start digging here?
02:58Well, it was absolutely by chance.
03:01We saw that archaeological remains being damaged, so we started excavation.
03:07This is the original wall of the first century house.
03:11What were these used for?
03:13Well, this was actually a room, and on this specific floor,
03:18we found pottery dating to the first century BCE, first century CE.
03:24She also recovered fragments from chalkstone vessels,
03:28domestic tableware used only by Jewish families.
03:31Now, who lived here? Is it a rich family, a poor family, can we say?
03:35It's a simple house. It probably had several small rooms and an inner courtyard.
03:41Nothing elaborate about it at all. I would say just a simple family.
03:46Imagine if this Jewish family was Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.
03:50In a tiny village like this, it could very well have been their home or one just like it.
03:56Outside of the Gospels, there really isn't a whole lot of evidence
04:00for there being anybody here in the first century,
04:02so that's one of the reasons this is so spectacular.
04:05Yerdena says the house has another, more shocking surprise.
04:08And just take a look in here.
04:14So I can just climb down into here?
04:17I'll follow you.
04:18Okay. Good I didn't have a big breakfast.
04:21We're descending into a 2,000-year-old stone pit that looks like a storage area.
04:29Some archaeologists have said these bell-shaped pits
04:34were actually silos for storage.
04:37Now, this is possible, but again, as you see,
04:41we climbed down here with quite a bit of difficulty.
04:44Now, that was the last thing that the woman of the house was prepared to do,
04:48come down here just to get a packet of flour.
04:52So they were purposely built to hide something.
04:57What do you think they had to hide?
04:58These pits were prepared for the time of war.
05:04When Jesus was a boy, this was a remote Jewish outpost in the vast Roman Empire,
05:09a place that knew destruction and conflict.
05:11So where was the safest place for women and children and boys like young Jesus?
05:16Underground.
05:18It's better to be hiding in these pits than to be in danger from the Roman army.
05:24So I think this is what they were doing here.
05:26It does drive with the New Testament.
05:28We have this picture of this oppressive Roman regime weighing down on the Jewish community,
05:34and we're sitting here in a bunker that they were using to hide it.
05:39We know from the Bible that the Romans put Jesus to death,
05:42and now we can see, even in his childhood, he had reason to fear them.
05:48God, I can't imagine, you know, huddling down here in fear,
05:52with stuffy air and kind of hot and really unpleasant.
05:57Imagine Roman centurions walking around upstairs.
06:00You'd be terrified.
06:03I have to ask this.
06:05What actual physical evidence do we have up here for the historic Jesus?
06:09We have learned a lot about first century Galilee.
06:14The villages of which Nazareth was one were small, and they were only Jewish.
06:20We know that also from the written sources.
06:23I think it's safe.
06:24The Romans are gone.
06:25Let's get out of here.
06:25Okay, let's get out of here.
06:27Air.
06:29You know, that's fine for a few minutes,
06:32but I would hate to be down there for a few hours or a few days.
06:37Jesus' formative years are still a mystery.
06:40I'm hoping my next stop fills in some details about his young life and trade.
06:45It's not going to be such a straightforward hunt.
06:47I'm going to have to look for clues all over the place, like a puzzle.
06:51Try to put it all together and see what picture emerges.
06:58Mon Shufani is an expert in what day-to-day life in Jesus' time was like.
07:03I'm here at Nazareth Village,
07:04which is a completely reconstructed ancient village from the first century A.D.
07:09We try and bring to life as much as possible of the first century life,
07:12because the more you know about that,
07:14the more you understand of the parables that Jesus used.
07:16So, here we have sheep.
07:18We have one goat left.
07:20Some people, though, ask me,
07:21how can you tell which one is a sheep, which one is a goat?
07:23I say, look at the tail.
07:25See, tail is up, it's a goat.
07:26Tail down is a sheep.
07:27And that's a line from the New Testament.
07:30He will separate the people from one another
07:32as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
07:35It's a character difference.
07:36See, goats are very independent, and they are leaders by nature.
07:39Sheep are exactly the opposite.
07:41You see, they're sticking together like this,
07:43and they're followers by nature.
07:44They're very dependent.
07:46Now, if they're...
07:46This is actually perfect.
07:47I mean, to illustrate your point,
07:49they're all clustered here,
07:50and then this guy's off doing his own thing.
07:52Yeah.
07:53This fits what you were saying earlier,
07:54but Jesus is, he's preaching using metaphors that he knows.
07:58He's like sheep, goats, being a shepherd,
08:02you know, all these things.
08:02This is his world.
08:03This is what he was used to.
08:04Olive oil played a key role in Jesus' life.
08:10The Bible says,
08:12then you shall take the anointing oil
08:13and pour it on his head and anoint him.
08:17You usually have a donkey walking this,
08:19but, you know, it's very essential
08:21if you want to press olives.
08:22You have to go around a lot of times?
08:24Yeah, quite a few times, yes.
08:26So that's where the donkey comes in helpful.
08:28Yeah.
08:28So I've just done the job of an ass.
08:30Jesus is known as a carpenter,
08:34but he would have had other skills as well.
08:36In the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark,
08:39he's referred to as tecton, which means builder.
08:42So he would have been proficient in both wood and stone.
08:47Can you tell me what you're doing?
08:48What I'm doing now is making this piece of stone for the window.
08:52Can I give you a hand?
08:54Yeah, sure. I will be happy.
08:55You promised me you won't get mad if I ruin this.
08:58Remember, I'll be holding the weapons.
09:00I'm going to break it, so.
09:04The Bible says Jesus learned this trade from his father, Joseph,
09:07but I want to know where he worked.
09:10Ancient Nazareth is four miles away from Sepphoris,
09:13a wealthy city.
09:14So it's spitting distance.
09:16You could probably commute that in one, one and a half hours.
09:19Sepphoris is relevant because it's the major capital of Galilee.
09:22It's a Roman city right next door
09:25to this tiny little Jewish village.
09:26And in Jesus' time, it's undergoing a massive Roman-style renovation.
09:32So Jesus is probably going there every day
09:35and working as a tecton, as a builder, to rebuild the city.
09:39How might this wealthy, cosmopolitan city next door have influenced Jesus?
09:45Archaeologist Modi Aviam has been excavating here for nearly 40 years.
09:49We are walking here on the, one of the main streets of ancient Tzipori, Sepphoris.
09:56The classic grid design is a telltale sign of Roman influence.
10:00And as I understand it, we're on a major trading route from the Mediterranean to Damascus.
10:04Yes.
10:04So presumably there's lots of goods coming up through here,
10:07lots of, and with those trade goods, ideas.
10:10Yes.
10:10Tzipori, Sepphoris is in the center of lower Galilee.
10:14And only logical then that Jesus is working here.
10:18So here's the million-dollar question that I've got.
10:20Is Nazareth just over there, Jesus is a tectone, he's a builder.
10:26Would he have been employed here to work on these building projects?
10:29No reason to say no.
10:30No reason.
10:31So I'm wondering, I guess all of this is to figure out,
10:35would this experience here have opened his eyes to a larger world?
10:38Of course, ideas, perspectives, the way people look, the way people dress.
10:44This is one of the largest residential areas that was excavated.
10:48So we are now within a house.
10:51So this is a big house, top of the hill.
10:53He's got his own water source.
10:55Each one.
10:55This is somebody wealthy.
10:57We can assume so.
11:00I wonder if Jesus himself might have worked on building this house.
11:04Over here is a cistern.
11:06It's still covered with this.
11:08I'm starting to get a picture of a rich Roman-style city
11:11where a poor Jewish kid from Nazareth would have been exposed to wealth and greed.
11:16Could that have inspired his compassion for the poor?
11:20Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,
11:23and he will repay him for his deed.
11:24So Jesus is probably working here for years, building, cutting stones for these rich men,
11:31and seeing the social inequality firsthand and getting fired up about it.
11:36And I'm guessing at some point, he must have been so upset and so impassioned by this cause
11:40that he heads on down to the Sea of Galilee and begins his ministry there.
11:43Recently at the Sea of Galilee, one of the most amazing biblical discoveries was found,
11:51directly linking to the life of Jesus.
11:55So this is it.
11:572,000 years old both.
11:58I'm in Israel piecing together the real life of Jesus.
12:09I now believe that Jesus likely spent his formative years
12:13as an apprentice and builder with his family in and around Nazareth.
12:16We pick up Jesus' life story as he arrives in the Galilee to teach.
12:21I'm looking for any physical clues to place him here.
12:25It's here the scriptures say he walked on water,
12:28healed the sick, and found his earliest followers.
12:32Great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God.
12:37Among them, two brothers who fished these waters.
12:40I'm here on the shores of the beautiful Sea of Galilee to meet the Lufon brothers.
12:48They made a one-in-a-million discovery while out fishing one day from the time of Jesus.
12:54Nice to meet you guys.
12:56Permission to come aboard?
12:57Okay, come on.
13:00The story starts in 1986.
13:03The Galilee is in the midst of a long drought
13:05that causes the water level to drop dramatically.
13:07And one day we are seeing a nail, Roman nail, very old.
13:12And Timothy, another one, and another one.
13:15And these were square, not round, so you knew it was something interesting.
13:18Yes.
13:19We are saying, wow, maybe it's a boat.
13:21We are jumping in the air.
13:22We are dancing.
13:23We are crazy.
13:25The brothers discover an ancient wooden boat
13:27very similar to the one the Bible says Jesus and his disciples used.
13:33So they pulled their boats up on shore,
13:35left everything, and followed him.
13:39When they lift it from the mud, preserving it for 2,000 years,
13:43the boat is exposed to air and crumbles.
13:46Scientists race to cover it in foam to save it.
13:50Its potential connection to Jesus and his disciples is astounding.
13:54And after a 17-year restoration project,
13:58the so-called Jesus boat is unveiled to the public
14:01who come from all corners of the earth to see it.
14:04This is it.
14:05Yeah, 2,000 years old boat.
14:07Orna Cohen is the boat's conservator.
14:10The wood is like yesterday.
14:12Orna gives me special access to take a closer look.
14:15Very careful with these glasses.
14:18The boat is 27 feet long and 7 1⁄2 feet wide,
14:23large enough to fit a dozen disciples.
14:26The preservation is just mind-blowing here.
14:29This is all still intact.
14:30This boat survived 2,000 years, but it's nothing fancy.
14:34It looks like it's made from a patchwork of spare parts.
14:36We believe that this part of the keel is reused from earlier boat.
14:43So I wonder whether the boat's ancient owners
14:45were common folk, like Jesus' followers.
14:49They were farmers and fishermen, simple people.
14:53So they used whatever source they could.
14:55Everybody loves to call this the Jesus boat.
14:58What is the actual association between Jesus and this boat?
15:01As we say, it's from the time of Jesus.
15:03That's definitely.
15:04And anyway, everyone knows Jesus didn't owe anything.
15:09This boat is just the kind of physical evidence
15:11that I've been looking for.
15:12Given the location where the boat was found in its age,
15:15it's as if it came right from one of the best-known stories
15:18in the New Testament.
15:19The Bible says it was here Jesus saw two men casting their nets,
15:23much like I'm doing now.
15:25And he said to them,
15:27Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
15:29I can see firsthand the influence of the sea in Jesus' metaphors.
15:35Well, I've got the boat.
15:36I'm on the Sea of Galilee.
15:38The crew's here.
15:39So I might as well try my hand at fishing.
15:42But this wasn't the only place he gathered his flocks.
15:45The Bible tells us Jesus preached in synagogues
15:50all along the shores of the Galilee.
15:52Jesus went throughout Galilee,
15:54teaching in their synagogues,
15:55proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.
15:57What I really need now
16:02is to get a sense of where would he have preached.
16:05So I'm going to go to see
16:06one of the oldest synagogues in the world
16:08at a site called Gamla.
16:09And I'm going to meet a guy called Danny Sion
16:11who excavated the site.
16:12Hopefully he's got some clues for me.
16:16The synagogue is located
16:18on the northern shores of the Galilee
16:20in the Golan Heights.
16:22The Bible describes what Jesus preached,
16:24but I want to see where he preached.
16:27It's pushing 100 degrees here,
16:31but Danny Sion still takes me
16:32on a one-hour hike down a stony slope.
16:36Gosh, that's a mountain goat.
16:44Wow.
16:45So this is one of the oldest synagogues in Israel.
16:47Exactly.
16:48So I've got to ask you,
16:49you know, here we are, we're in the Galilee,
16:51we're in a synagogue.
16:52This is the kind of place Jesus would have come
16:54to address his congregation,
16:56address his people.
16:57We know of just only a few places
17:00where he went and preached,
17:01according to the New Testament.
17:03There is a chance that he might have come here.
17:05Next, Danny shows me a strange hole in the wall.
17:09What's this all about?
17:11This is actually a plastered water channel.
17:13See the plaster here?
17:14It's coming into the synagogue
17:15from a water cistern that's outside the town.
17:18And the channel went on along the wall,
17:22through that wall and into the mikveh.
17:26The mikveh Danny mentions
17:28is a ritual purification bath
17:29popular during the time of Jesus.
17:32And that water is a picture of baptism,
17:35which now saves you.
17:37There seems to be a definite connection
17:38between the Jewish mikveh and early baptisms,
17:41which soon becomes central to the Christian faith.
17:43So within a hundred years of John the Baptist
17:46going around baptizing people,
17:48you see at the same time
17:49this ritual bath phenomenon appearing all over.
17:53St. John did exactly what one does in the mikveh,
17:56but in the Jordan River.
17:58The New Testament says
18:02Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan
18:05to be baptized by John.
18:08Pilgrims believe this is the very site
18:11that John the Baptist performed this ritual
18:132,000 years ago.
18:16Do you believe in Jesus with all your heart?
18:21Here, the faithful walk in the footsteps of the holy.
18:28It's moving to see the raw emotions they experience.
18:31In the time of Jesus,
18:33the Jordan River would have been a logical stop
18:35on the road to Jerusalem.
18:37And like any journey,
18:39food is part of the experience.
18:40Those are seriously sharp knives.
18:42It makes one wonder,
18:44what did Jesus eat?
18:46I had no idea.
18:47Biblical bars were so well-stocked.
18:51Jesus made the trek from Galilee to Jerusalem
18:54several times.
18:55And while it takes me about two hours to drive there,
18:58it probably would have taken him four days to walk.
19:02I've seen his home in Nazareth.
19:04I've seen Jesus' work in Sepphoris,
19:06his ministry in Galilee.
19:07And I've come here to Jerusalem
19:08where he was crucified and laid to rest.
19:11Imagine how weary Jesus would have been
19:13and how hungry.
19:16I'm making a quick stop for a meal
19:18inspired by the Bible.
19:20Here outside the walls of the old city,
19:22they've got this biblical foods restaurant
19:23that specializes in foods of the Old Testament.
19:26So I'm going to go check it out.
19:28I meet with restaurant manager,
19:30Charbel Ishak.
19:32Tonight you're going to eat the food
19:34that the kings and prophets used
19:36to eat before thousands of years.
19:38So let's go inside.
19:41You're welcome to my kitchen.
19:43As he puts me to work in his modern kitchen,
19:46Charbel walks me through
19:47what the Old Testament called
19:48the seven species,
19:50likely staples in Jesus' diet.
19:54A land of wheat and barley,
19:57vines and fig trees,
19:58pomegranates, olive oil and honey.
20:03We'll use a few of the ingredients
20:05in a dish called risotto friche,
20:07which is a cereal grain mentioned in the Bible.
20:09You know why it's called friche?
20:11No idea.
20:12No idea.
20:12Because before 2,000 years,
20:14there was no machines
20:16to separate between the shell and the seed.
20:19So people usually use their hands.
20:22Yeah.
20:22And the sound that...
20:25from it...
20:25It's friche.
20:26It's friche.
20:27It's an onomatopoeia.
20:28Yeah.
20:28Cool.
20:29So...
20:30I like how you went right for the wine.
20:33Yeah.
20:34So the grapes for this are locally grown?
20:36Yeah.
20:37In that case, lechaim.
20:38Lechaim.
20:40You're going to put me to work, huh?
20:41Yeah.
20:41At least the knives are sharp.
20:43Now we're cooking.
20:44So we've got olive oil.
20:45So we've got olive oil from...
20:46Very authentic.
20:48Chef Panache.
20:51While the onions caramelize,
20:52we prepare the mushroom caps.
20:54All right, a little bit of oil.
20:57Okay.
20:59Here we go, cooking with Jeff.
21:01Then we add the next set of ingredients.
21:03Carrots, zucchini, mushrooms,
21:06and this one is pumpkin.
21:07Moment of truth.
21:09Here we go.
21:13Oh, that's really good.
21:22So here it is,
21:22a nearly complete biblical meal.
21:26It's a meal fit for a king.
21:28My biblical cocktail is chilled
21:30and my fork is ready to go.
21:31How do I say cheers in Aramaic?
21:34Chobo.
21:34Chobo.
21:35This is Jerusalem's old city,
21:40the heart of religious life in the Holy Land.
21:43There's the Dome of the Rock.
21:44There's the Alaks of Mosque.
21:45There's the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
21:48The faithful believe the Holy Sepulchre is the site
21:50where Jesus was crucified and buried.
21:53It's the last stop of the pilgrimage
21:55known as the Via Dolorosa or Way of Suffering.
21:58We walk the paths of loneliness
22:00and the paths of suffering,
22:01the paths of anxiety.
22:03There's nothing that he went through
22:04that he doesn't share with us.
22:05So for you, it's not a literal path.
22:07It's a mystical path or it's a symbolic path.
22:10You've got to let go of the literal path.
22:12It's the spiritual path.
22:14I believe that he once walked for all of us.
22:17The walk is short,
22:18but a profound religious experience
22:20for millions of Christian pilgrims
22:22from all over the world.
22:23It was amazing.
22:24Words really couldn't describe it, actually.
22:26Especially from station to station
22:27and the prayers and all the languages, too,
22:29and the crowd.
22:30You could feel the energy.
22:32These ancient stones have been here
22:34since the time of Jesus.
22:37We know from the Bible
22:39Jesus is no stranger to Jerusalem,
22:41having visited several times since his childhood.
22:44But on Jesus' final trip,
22:46the Bible tells us there's trouble.
22:49He arrives for the Passover holiday
22:50with an entourage
22:51and takes on the authorities
22:53in front of stunned onlookers.
22:56When Jesus entered Jerusalem,
22:57the whole city was stirred and asked,
22:59Who is this?
23:01Ultimately, he's betrayed by Judas,
23:03arrested, and brought before
23:05the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.
23:08He's sentenced to death
23:10and begins his torturous walk
23:12to the site of his crucifixion.
23:15So wherever Jesus was imprisoned
23:16and put on trial
23:17would be the starting point
23:19for the Via Dolorosa.
23:20For 1,000 years,
23:22the trial was thought
23:22to have taken place
23:23at the Antonia Fortress,
23:25the Roman army barracks.
23:26But very recently,
23:28local archaeologists
23:29have dug up startling new evidence
23:31that might prove
23:32he was tried here instead.
23:34And that would change everything.
23:37Can we pinpoint the route
23:38Jesus walked to his crucifixion?
23:40I'm here on the western side
23:42of the Old City,
23:43which is the opposite end of town
23:44from the Via Dolorosa.
23:46I've come to meet an archaeologist
23:47who's made a discovery
23:48that turns the traditional pilgrimage route
23:50upside down.
23:53Amit Rehm gives me special access
23:55to his recent archaeological discovery
23:57at the Tower of David,
23:59the remains of King Herod's lost palace.
24:02So where are we?
24:03What is this building?
24:05Actually, we are standing
24:06in a part of a compound.
24:10His name is the Kishli.
24:12The Kishli was used
24:13as a Turkish prison
24:14in the 19th century
24:15and a British prison
24:16during World War I.
24:17But deep beneath those layers,
24:20Amit uncovered a treasure
24:21lost to history
24:22for 2,000 years.
24:24We started to excavate.
24:25We removed the floor
24:27of the British prison
24:29and the Turkish building.
24:33Amit has uncovered
24:33the foundation stones
24:35of King Herod's lost palace.
24:37It was an enormous palace.
24:40It's magnificent.
24:42A lot of gold, silver,
24:45lavishly decorated.
24:46Here's the connection.
24:48The Roman governor,
24:49Pontius Pilate,
24:50the man who condemned Jesus to death,
24:52often stayed at Herod's palaces.
24:54Amit and other archaeologists
24:55believe that Pilate
24:56would have stayed
24:57and held court here.
24:58So some people have claimed
25:00that this would be
25:01where the trial of Jesus took place.
25:03What do you think about that?
25:04In that way,
25:05probably this was the place
25:09of the trial.
25:11So instead of receiving
25:12his death sentence
25:13at the Antonia Fortress,
25:14it seems much more likely
25:16it happened here
25:17at the Tower of David.
25:18And if so,
25:19we'd be standing
25:20very near the spot
25:21where Jesus was condemned to death.
25:24Jeff, I'm an archaeologist.
25:27I'm dealing only
25:29with the hard physical evidence.
25:32This is the place
25:33where you can feel
25:34those events.
25:36This is the story
25:37of Jerusalem.
25:38Living history.
25:39Yes, living history.
25:40This is magic.
25:43Now that I've seen
25:45new evidence
25:45of Herod's palace,
25:46I must be close
25:47to the exact spot
25:49where Jesus
25:49was sentenced to death.
25:50Cutting through the marketplace
25:55is the best way
25:55to get around the old city.
25:57I'm heading to a site
25:58one expert believes
25:59is the place of the trial.
26:03Here in the old city,
26:04they take their hummus
26:05very seriously.
26:10I'm going to go duck
26:11into one of these shops now
26:12and check out some kafiyas,
26:13which are the famous
26:14Palestinian headscarves.
26:15It's impossible
26:19to resist all
26:20the local goods
26:21and I can't go home
26:22empty-handed.
26:23Or Jeff in English.
26:25Can I see some kafiyas?
26:27Yes.
26:27Which color do I think?
26:28So do these mean anything?
26:30The different colors?
26:31This is the black
26:32Palestinian.
26:33This is the red one,
26:34Jordan.
26:35I would hope
26:36Jesus had one of these,
26:37braving the long,
26:38hot pilgrimage
26:38to Jerusalem.
26:39Here.
26:40This is the best one.
26:41I'll show you
26:42how can you
26:42wear this one.
26:44Yes.
26:44Oh, sorry.
26:49How do I look?
26:50It's gorgeous.
26:51How's that?
26:52Gorgeous.
26:53How much would you
26:54like for this?
26:55I love it.
26:55I make a good deal
26:56for you.
26:57Give me a good one.
26:57Because you are not rich.
26:58Yeah, exactly.
27:00I say 100.
27:01I make it for this one
27:02only 100.
27:02100?
27:03It's special for the board.
27:04Halas, 100.
27:05You got it.
27:06And I got myself
27:07a new kafiyah.
27:12Somewhere around
27:13Herod's palace,
27:14Jesus stood trial
27:15and began his
27:16grueling walk
27:17to his crucifixion.
27:19But I want to know
27:20exactly where
27:21this all happened.
27:23This is where
27:24all judgments
27:24were passed.
27:25We're standing
27:25on the spot
27:27where he stood
27:28the last morning
27:28of his life.
27:29I'm here just outside
27:35the walls of the Tower
27:36of David Museum
27:37in Jerusalem
27:37with archaeologist
27:38James Tabor
27:39to figure out
27:41what really happened
27:42on Jesus' last days.
27:44King Herod's palace
27:45will be just over
27:46these walls
27:47adjacent to the
27:48Kishle prison site
27:49we visited.
27:50James says
27:50this is the very spot
27:52where Jesus stood
27:53when he was sentenced
27:53to death.
27:54Herod's palace
27:56is inside this wall
27:57and this was
27:59the grand entrance
28:00into the praetorium.
28:02So this is one
28:03of the gates
28:04of the Herodian city.
28:06The praetorium
28:07mentioned in the Bible
28:08was the headquarters
28:09for the Roman military
28:10and the governor.
28:12The soldiers
28:12led Jesus away
28:13into the palace
28:14that is the praetorium.
28:16And these stones
28:18here on each side
28:19and also these stones
28:20you know how people
28:21want to walk
28:22where Jesus walked?
28:23This, beyond any doubt
28:25Jesus walked up
28:27these stones
28:27up the stairs
28:28but it was on
28:30the last morning
28:30of his life.
28:31And the steps
28:32themselves have
28:33a haunting name.
28:34The famous
28:34steps to nowhere.
28:36Now that's the foundation
28:38of a walkway
28:40going up
28:40there was an entranceway
28:41there going into
28:42Herod's palace
28:43into the praetorium.
28:45And Jesus walked up
28:46these 2,000 year old steps
28:48as we're doing now
28:49to where Pontius Pilate sat.
28:52And this is where
28:53he would have had
28:54his judgment seat.
28:55This is the official
28:56seat of Roman government
28:58in the province of Judea.
28:59This is where
29:00all judgments were passed.
29:01You hit the gavel
29:02so to speak
29:03you stamp your papers.
29:04Let me just read you
29:05the one verse.
29:06When Pilate heard
29:07these words
29:08he brought Jesus
29:09outside and sat
29:10on the judge's bench
29:11at a place called
29:13the stone pavement
29:14or in Hebrew
29:15Gabbatha.
29:17And the crowds
29:17that see
29:18look behind you
29:19are down below
29:19and they're yelling
29:21crucify him
29:22crucify him
29:23and it says
29:23and he delivered him
29:25over to be crucified.
29:27But it always got me
29:29every time I've been here
29:30look
29:31these thorns growing
29:32and it reminds you
29:33of a key part
29:35of the story
29:35Jesus is kept
29:37all night
29:38inside the wall
29:39and they make
29:40the crown of thorns.
29:41There's thorns
29:41all over this place
29:43still today
29:432,000 years later.
29:45Just as the Bible says
29:46they put a purple robe
29:47on him
29:48then twisted together
29:49a crown of thorns
29:50and set it on him.
29:52So this is what
29:53the crown of thorns
29:54was made out of?
29:54Something like that.
29:55I think there's a sense
29:56in which this would be
29:58the holiest spot
29:59in Jerusalem
30:01for Christians.
30:02You know
30:02we can debate
30:03where was the crucifixion
30:05and where was Jesus
30:06buried
30:07and all of that
30:08but as far as
30:09this judgment
30:10seat of Pilate
30:11I think we've
30:12got it.
30:13This is it.
30:13We're standing
30:14on the spot
30:16where he stood
30:17the last morning
30:17of his life.
30:19I'm following
30:20Jesus' life story
30:21from Nazareth
30:22to the Galilee
30:23and now walking
30:24the path
30:24of his final day.
30:26This brings me
30:27back to the
30:28Via de la Rosa
30:29the way of the cross.
30:33We're following
30:34the stations
30:34of the cross
30:35along this
30:35Via de la Rosa
30:36so this is the third
30:37and the fourth
30:38stations here.
30:40The third station
30:41is where Jesus
30:42falls the first time
30:43and the fourth
30:44is where he meets
30:45his mother Mary.
30:47The seventh station
30:48here Jesus falls
30:49the second time.
30:51And this is the church
30:52of the Holy Sepulchre
30:53the final stop.
31:01So this is now
31:02the tradition says
31:03Jesus' clothes
31:04were ripped off of him
31:04and then he was brought
31:05up onto the cross
31:06to be crucified.
31:09Here Jesus dies
31:10and his body
31:11is laid in the tomb
31:12the Holy Sepulchre
31:13itself.
31:14But where is he buried?
31:16That's the big question.
31:23James Tabor
31:23asked me to meet him
31:24in an area
31:25on the outskirts
31:25of Jerusalem
31:26called Bethphage
31:27a place the Bible
31:28says Jesus visited
31:30during his final days.
31:32As they approached
31:33Jerusalem
31:33who came to Bethphage
31:35and the Mount of Olives
31:36Jesus sent two disciples.
31:38So 2,000 years ago
31:40this was somebody's property
31:42probably a farm
31:44it's rural
31:45by the village
31:46of Bethphage
31:47mentioned in the Gospels.
31:48Here you've got
31:49three tombs lined up.
31:51You see how they're cut
31:51out of the solid bedrock?
31:53Yep.
31:53You can see this one
31:54particularly
31:55look what it has
31:56in the entrance.
31:57A rolling stone.
31:59Yeah.
31:59How common is that?
32:01It's rare.
32:01This is amazing.
32:03A hand-cut tomb
32:04with a rolling stone
32:05covering its opening
32:06just like the New Testament
32:09describes.
32:10They found the stone
32:11rolled away from the tomb.
32:14So to put you on the spot
32:16do you think
32:17this could be
32:18the tomb?
32:24Bible scholar
32:25and archaeologist
32:26James Tabor
32:27is leading me
32:28through a pair
32:28of ancient tombs
32:29that shed light
32:30on Jesus' death
32:31and burial.
32:33And when Joseph
32:34had taken the body
32:35he wrapped it
32:36in a clean linen cloth
32:38and laid it
32:38in his own new tomb.
32:41So to put you
32:42on the spot
32:42do you think
32:43this could be
32:44the tomb?
32:46Well I mean
32:47it could be
32:48but it depends
32:49on where the crucifixion
32:50was and lots
32:51of other questions.
32:52But there's something
32:53more about this tomb.
32:54Okay.
32:54You're going to get
32:55a real surprise.
32:57You have to squeeze through.
32:59We'll need a flashlight.
33:00Can I just roll
33:01that stone back?
33:02Well you could
33:03give it a try.
33:04It's not too hard.
33:06Just kind of
33:07sneak on down now.
33:09Jesus.
33:11You can squeeze through
33:12I think.
33:13It's not too hard.
33:14It's kind of
33:23a tight squeeze.
33:25Okay.
33:26But the reason
33:27I brought you here
33:28is this
33:29this is a plastered wall.
33:31Look at this.
33:32I've never seen this
33:33in any tomb.
33:35So this isn't a bedrock.
33:36Somebody's covered this
33:37with a lime plaster.
33:39And your eyes
33:40have to kind of adjust.
33:41But look right here.
33:42Look at this.
33:44You've got Greek letters.
33:47You've got a
33:48God.
33:49Like a tree of life.
33:50Yeah.
33:51Symbol.
33:52You've got like
33:53the infinity type sign.
33:55Can you see that?
33:57Yeah.
33:57So what does this mean?
33:59Someone is coming here
34:01in a tomb
34:02putting mystical symbols
34:04that I think
34:05probably have to do
34:06with Jesus
34:07praising God
34:09maybe resurrection
34:10whatever all of these mean.
34:13nobody's actually
34:14figured it out.
34:15The exact meaning
34:16of the graffiti
34:17in this tomb
34:18is still a mystery.
34:19But the symbols
34:20appear to have
34:20Judeo-Christian overtones.
34:22And many of the tomb's details
34:24the hand cutting
34:25the rolling stone
34:26echo what's described
34:28in the gospels.
34:29I want to walk around here
34:31and down
34:32because we've got
34:34this other tomb
34:35that we can really
34:36just walk in.
34:37So squeeze on in
34:39and this is the first chamber.
34:43Wow you can see
34:44the chisel marks.
34:45Yeah.
34:45It's just cut out
34:46of solid rock.
34:48You've got the shafts
34:49you've got the benches
34:50where they would put
34:51the body.
34:52It's huge.
34:53Look there's another chamber.
34:54Let's go in here.
34:55Hundreds of tombs
34:56like this one
34:57have been found
34:57around Jerusalem
34:58but fewer
34:59in his pristine shape.
35:01Here we can see
35:02how Jews
35:02in the time of Jesus
35:03buried their dead.
35:05And the style
35:06is just a dead giveaway.
35:07So it's only
35:08in the first century
35:09that they're cutting
35:10these tomb
35:10into the rock.
35:11This style
35:12of with the shafts
35:14you see the shafts
35:15behind you
35:15and behind me
35:16and that's where
35:17you would put
35:18the body
35:19and when the body
35:21sort of desiccated
35:22and so forth
35:22they would gather
35:23the bones
35:24and actually
35:25put them
35:25into these boxes.
35:27What's compelling here
35:28is these bone boxes
35:29or ossuaries
35:30are mostly found
35:31around Jerusalem
35:32during a short period
35:33surrounding the decades
35:34when Jesus lived.
35:37The most famous ossuaries
35:39were discovered
35:39at the Talpio tomb
35:40the location
35:42Tabor believes
35:43is the tomb of Jesus.
35:45So tell me about
35:46the discovery
35:46of the Talpio tombs.
35:48Well,
35:49imagine a tomb
35:50like this.
35:50It was found
35:51in 1980
35:52by a construction blast
35:54so the whole front part
35:56of it was blown off
35:57but the inner chamber
35:59like the one
36:00we're sitting in
36:00is still intact.
36:03Inside the Talpio tomb
36:04in shafts like these
36:06archaeologists
36:07found ten ossuaries
36:08six of which
36:10James says
36:10are inscribed
36:11with some very familiar
36:13biblical names.
36:15Of course
36:15the main one
36:16everybody knows
36:17is Jesus
36:17son of Joseph
36:18but it's the other names
36:20besides that
36:21that really give it
36:23a context
36:24that might refer
36:25to Jesus of Nazareth.
36:27Those names
36:27also include
36:28a Maria
36:29or Mary
36:30and one more
36:31that's astonishing.
36:33Very explosive.
36:34There's a Jude
36:35son of Jesus.
36:36Son of?
36:37Yeah.
36:38So whoever
36:38this Jesus is
36:40he had a kid
36:42named Jude.
36:44Of course
36:44I have to remember
36:45the Bible
36:45never mentions
36:46Jesus being married
36:47or having a child.
36:48I don't think
36:49you could find
36:50anything more
36:51controversial.
36:52You know
36:52but if you go back
36:53to the first century
36:54it's not controversy
36:55at all.
36:56A Jewish man
36:57being married
36:57and having a child
36:58that would be
36:59not only expected
37:01it would be
37:02almost obligated.
37:03It's a shocking idea
37:04but James has some evidence
37:06to back up
37:07his provocative theory
37:08at the world famous
37:09Israel Museum.
37:12This is a treasure trove
37:14of the most significant
37:15archaeological discoveries
37:16in the history
37:17of the Holy Land.
37:20So now look
37:20here we are.
37:22What we're looking at
37:22are the actual
37:23ossuaries discovered
37:24in the Talpiot tomb
37:26but these are some
37:27very special ones.
37:30So this is the actual
37:32ossuary from Talpiot?
37:33It's not a reproduction
37:34it's the real thing.
37:35And who's this?
37:37Read it.
37:39Yehudah bar Yeshua
37:41son of Jesus.
37:43Yeah.
37:44It's an explosive idea
37:45and I'm not yet convinced.
37:50I need a bit more
37:51of a debate with James
37:52to hash it out.
37:54A great excuse
37:54to grab some Turkish coffee.
37:57For you.
37:58James you've made
37:59some extraordinary claims
38:00here about the Talpiot tomb
38:01but I can think of a lot
38:02of problems with this theory.
38:03So first of all
38:04these names seem to be
38:06pretty common
38:07in the first century
38:07right?
38:08It's absolutely
38:09the most common objection.
38:12So common names
38:13is a common objection.
38:15Jesus was a fairly
38:16common name back then
38:17and Joseph was
38:18even more common
38:19but the nickname used
38:20on one of the ossuaries
38:21Yose is rare.
38:24And yet Jesus' brother
38:25had the nickname Yose
38:26and so you've got to
38:28put the whole cluster together.
38:30If you think of
38:31our Beatles
38:32the famous music group
38:33and George and Paul
38:35and John
38:36are really common
38:37British names
38:38but Ringo's not.
38:40Yose is our Ringo
38:41in the tomb.
38:43James' theory
38:44raises one more
38:45major controversy.
38:46If Jesus' remains
38:47were found
38:48in the Talpiot tomb
38:49as he claims
38:50what about the resurrection?
38:52According to the Bible
38:52when they entered
38:54they did not find
38:55the body of the Lord Jesus.
38:57There are two possibilities.
38:59Jesus was crucified.
39:01He's dead.
39:02He's buried.
39:03If the tomb is empty
39:05either is taken bodily
39:07into heaven
39:07and you'll never
39:09find a body
39:09or he was reburied
39:12somewhere else.
39:14Tabor is not giving up
39:15on his theory
39:16that the Talpiot tomb
39:17was Jesus'
39:18final resting place.
39:20As an archaeologist
39:21I need to see
39:22the Talpiot tomb
39:23for myself.
39:23So I've just been
39:26dropped off
39:26in this neighborhood
39:27called Talpiot
39:28in Jerusalem.
39:30Supposedly
39:30the tomb is here.
39:32I have no idea
39:33where though
39:33and there doesn't seem
39:34to be any signs
39:35tourists don't come here.
39:36It's not really
39:37a destination
39:38so I'm just going to
39:40have to work my way
39:41around and figure it out.
39:44I'm not really sure
39:45where I'm going
39:45so
39:46I don't want to ask
39:48for directions.
39:50Jeff?
39:51Fortunately
39:52my crew's on the case
39:53as well.
39:55This way?
40:02I have no idea
40:03what I'm looking at.
40:04Is this it?
40:06I mean it was described
40:07to me as a sealed
40:08concrete chunk
40:09with this number
40:11005 on it
40:12so
40:13that must be
40:14from the Antiquities
40:14Authority.
40:16But this is it.
40:21This is the Talpiot tomb
40:25and you know
40:26I'm just here
40:27in the middle
40:27of a nondescript
40:28residential neighborhood.
40:30No plaques,
40:30no signs,
40:31no markings.
40:33What James calls
40:34the family tomb of Jesus
40:35probably the most
40:36contentious archaeological
40:37find in the Holy Land
40:38now hides
40:40under a plain
40:40concrete slab.
40:42It's surreal
40:43looking at this
40:43because
40:44if I hadn't been told
40:45about this specifically
40:46I'd have no idea
40:47what this was.
40:48You know
40:48I'd think it was
40:49a utility chamber
40:51you know
40:51phone lines
40:52coming through here
40:52water lines
40:53coming through here
40:54so
40:54it's surreal.
40:56And permanently sealed.
40:58One of the reasons
40:59for that is
40:59in Israeli law.
41:00All bones
41:01have to be collected
41:02and reburied elsewhere
41:03because they can't
41:04be desecrated.
41:05So regardless
41:05of who was buried
41:06in here
41:07we will never know
41:08more than the
41:08ossuaries tell us.
41:10I've talked to
41:11all these experts
41:11nobody agrees
41:12so it's kind of
41:14like the gospels
41:14themselves
41:15it comes down
41:15to a question of faith.
41:18I've followed
41:19in the footsteps
41:20of Jesus' life.
41:23I see how
41:24a boy's upbringing
41:25during times of turmoil
41:26may have influenced
41:27his beliefs.
41:28I've been to Nazareth
41:29his hometown
41:30I've seen where
41:30Jesus worked
41:31in Seferus
41:32I've seen where
41:32he preached
41:33in the Galilee
41:34and here in Jerusalem
41:35where he was crucified
41:36and laid to rest.
41:37There is enough
41:38evidence to suggest
41:39that there was
41:40a radical rabbi
41:42a teacher
41:43a wise man
41:44from the Galilee
41:45who came down
41:46to Jerusalem
41:47with this movement
41:47and was crucified
41:49for it.
41:502,000 years later
41:51he's still
41:52one of the most
41:53important historical
41:54figures that ever lived.
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