S01E01 Delilah's People
The Philistines were a highly cultured people who left behind a rich legacy. We examine the tribe of Delilah and Goliath, their fertility cults, a temple like the one Samson may have destroyed with his...
The Naked Archaeologist
S01E21: Holy Hot Spot
For Jews, Christians and Muslims the Temple Mount or Al-Haram al-Sharif, is one of the holiest places on the planet. What does archaeology reveal about this holiest piece of the Holy Land?
Overview
The Naked Archaeologist is a television show produced for VisionTV in Canada and History International in the US that is hosted and prepared by the Emmy Award–winning journalist Simcha Jacobovici together with Avri Gilad. The show ultimately reviews Biblical stories, then tries to find proof for them by exploring the Holy Land looking for archaeological evidence, personal inferences, deductions, and interviews with scholars and experts.
Subsequent to its original run on VisionTV, it was picked up in the U.S. by The History Channel and its sister network, History International.
The third season began airing on Vision TV on March 22, 2010 and on History International on November 8, 2010.
Episodes
S01E02 Who Invented the Alphabet?
Everyone assumes the Greeks invented the alphabet, but what are its real origins? Archaeological finds tell us that it originated in Egypt where Hebrew slaves began the process of turning hieroglyphics into a series of...
S01E03 Jerusalem and The Black Prince
It's been an enduring mystery for two thousand years; what stopped the brutal Assyrian army from sacking Jerusalem in 701 BCE? The army was poised outside the walls of Jerusalem - imagine the US Army...
S01E04 What Killed Herod?
One of the most brutal and brilliant leaders of ancient times, the first century King died with worms crawling from his flesh before he expired. On the one hand he was famous for impressive public...
S01E05 Real or Fake? and Fame & Forgery? - Part One
The antiquities market has always been plagued by fakes and forgeries. But current controversies over the James Ossuary and Jehoash Stone are plagued by politics, making a proper assessment of their authenticity nearly impossible. Can...
S01E06 Real or Fake? and Fame & Forgery? - Part Two
The antiquities market has always been plagued by fakes and forgeries. But current controversies over the James Ossuary and Jehoash Stone are plagued by politics, making a proper assessment of their authenticity nearly impossible. Can...
S01E07 Accidental Archaeology
In North America it would be pretty unusual to have a bulldozer hit anything besides a hidden gas line or cable...but in Israel the cumbersome building tool often unearths ancient treasure. While digging a foundation...
S01E08 Biblical Food
The Bible is full of references to the kinds of food ancients ate - but there are no recipes. Simcha learns what archaeology tells us about what people ate in ancient times; shops in Jerusalem...
S01E09 Jesus: The Early Years
The Gospels sometimes contradict each other in their descriptions of Jesus' early years and not much is known about how he spent his childhood. Now archaeology can help uncover some clues about his early influences...
S01E10 John the Baptist
New archaeology has revealed what may be the cave where St. John baptized new converts to Christianity.
S01E11 True Blue and Return of the Hillazon - Part One
Why is a debate about a color so intensely important to some Orthodox Jews? How did the recipe for the true Royal Blue become lost? What is the Hillazon Does archaeology have the answers?
S01E12 True Blue and Return of the Hillazon - Part Two
Why is a debate about a color so intensely important to some Orthodox Jews? How did the recipe for the true Royal Blue become lost? What is the Hillazon Does archaeology have the answers?
S01E13 The Last Man Standing
The first century historian, Flavius Josephus, is the most frequently quoted scholar when it comes to the history of Jesus' time. But are his views accurate? We get a profile of the controversial historian.
S01E14 Crucifixion
In ancient times, thousands of people's lives ended, excruciatingly, on the cross. Despite the fact that so many were crucified, little physical evidence of it remains. We investigate why there is so little archaeological proof...
S01E15 King David
The Bible paints a picture of King David as a mighty hero, but for decades archaeologists have been struggling to find evidence of David's mighty kingdom.
S01E16 Jezebel: Bible Bad Girl
How did this Phoenician princess become one of the Bible's best, or worst, femme fatales? Jezebel married Israelite King Ahab. But the Israelites new queen didn't move into the bridal chamber alone.
S01E17 The Oldest Leper
Ancients suffered from hundreds of ailments, some of which still plague us today. Leprosy is mentioned in the Bible frequently, and now archaeology has uncovered what may be the bones of the oldest leper. Scientists...
S01E18 Joshua
Joshua is one of the Bible's greatest generals who conquered Canaan, the land God promised the Israelites. From Joshua came Israel, from Israel Jesus, from Jesus, Christianity and much of the Western World. But did...
S01E19 Masada
After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, legend has it that a group of about 1,000 politicized Jews committed suicide rather than be taken into slavery by Rome. Archaeological evidence has proven the legend...
S01E20 Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
n the 1950s a Bedouin shepherd's sheep stumbled upon some ancient scrolls in a cave on the shores of the Dead Sea. This accidental find would prove to be the greatest archaeological discovery of the...
S01E21 Holy Hot Spot
For Jews, Christians and Muslims the Temple Mount or Al-Haram al-Sharif, is one of the holiest places on the planet. What does archaeology reveal about this holiest piece of the Holy Land?
S01E22 Biblical Epicenter
For Jews, Christians and Muslims the Temple Mount or Al-Haram al-Sharif, is one of the holiest places on the planet. What does archaeology reveal about this holiest piece of the Holy Land?
S01E23 The Mother of Archaeology
St. Helena was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine. She convinced him to establish Christianity as the official state religion in the 4th century. She was also the first Christian pilgrim. Simcha visits some...
S01E24 Who Wrote the Bible?
The Bible is made up of dozens of books, but tradition has it that the first five books were dictated to Moses, by God. But could Moses have really written down the words that God...
S01E25 Where is The Real Mount Sinai? - Part One
For thousands of years people have wondered which peak in the Sinai Peninsula is the legendary mountain where Moses is supposed to have received the 10 commandments.
S01E26 Where is The Real Mount Sinai? - Part Two
For thousands of years people have wondered which peak in the Sinai Peninsula is the legendary mountain where Moses is supposed to have received the 10 commandments.