Naked Archeology

A few weeks back, I somehow stumbled upon an entertaining and unusual show on the History Channel called Naked Archaeologist. I found I enjoyed it so much that I watch an episode every night just before bed, thanks to the convenience of Comcast taping capabilities. Harry falls asleep in his chair without fail the minute the show begins. In fact, when he feels sleepy, but not tired enough to go to bed, he asks me to turn the show on. This predictable behavior makes it difficult to have a discussion on the wide variety of interesting topics which the show explores.

Naked Archaeologist is a creation of Simcha Jacobovici, an investigative Canadian journalist/film maker and two-time Emmy award winner. In 2007, Jacobovici collaborated with director James Cameron in the making of the film The Jesus Tomb, which aired on the Discovery Channel. The book of the same title, written by Jacobovici, was released the same year. Jacobovici contends that a construction project in Jerusalem back in the early 80s accidentally unearthed Jesus's tomb and that of his family. The archaeological evidence led Jacobovici to his world-shocking theories about the tomb, and, as we used to say back in the 60s, it was all rather mind blowing. After the initial uproar, many in the world of archeology now say the site and its contents deserve more study.

Jesus 'Tomb' Controversy Reopened
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1704299,00.html?artId=1704299?contType=article?chn=world


Naked Archaeology studies stories from the Torah and the Bible, attempting to find archaeological evidence which corroborates the texts. Jacobovici interviews scholars in a wide variety of fields and specialties as he travels around Israel and the world. He articulates his goal as being to "demystify the Bible and archeology in particular by brushing away the cobwebs and being unafraid of bursting academic bubbles." Academic and religious bubbles pop with consistency on the program. The Torah and Old Testament stories seem to hold up better from an archaeological standpoint than do the stories of the New Testament, which may have something to do with his Jewish identity. Christianity's historic tendency to lure the faithful with reliance on relics makes for some real ridiculousness. The body parts of St. Peter, for instance, can be found in countries all over the world. One Naked Archaeologist episode, The Search for St. Peter, focused on tracking the distribution of these alleged remains all over the globe.

The off-beat wackiness of each episode is grounded in current archaeological science. Jacobovici has a good sense of humor. He cleverly intersperses funny old movie clips in each episode alongside his visits to ancient archaeological sites and interviews with scholars. The pace can be a bit fast as complex history zips by too quickly to follow, at least for someone like me, who does not have a very good education in ancient history or the Bible. Jacobovici does a good job of trying to look at all sides of controversial and interesting issues, and has a way of interviewing scholars respectfully even when what they are saying is obviously absurd. He doesn't argue: he just listens, letting people hang themselves.

Cultural anthropology and linguistics were my two favorite undergraduate college classes, and this program can be better than a college course in these subjects (no homework either). Jacobovici speaks several languages, at least according to the Internet. I have heard him use his Hebrew and Arabic on the show and his Canadian is pretty good too. Eh? His knowledge of these languages, and ancient languages such as Aramaic and Egyptian hieroglyphs, adds a nice touch, as does the hat he never fails to wear (and which was much discussed on a show where he answered viewers' questions). He knows much about Israeli and Middle East culture, which helps him get in and out of difficult situations as he tries to access the archaeological evidence.

I had a smattering of the usual Bible-story education in Sunday School as a child, so I know enough to find the stories investigated on the show somewhat familiar. Last night's Biblical story was about Joseph and his coat of many colors. I saw the Broadway play, so I knew the gist of the story. Jacobovici looked at the coat from all angles, which included finding a breed of spotted sheep, native to Israel, that may have been used to make such a coat thousands of years ago. He found a farm in Israel that still uses the native dyes that were used thousands of years ago, and ended the show with a visit to a textile museum in Jerusalem that had a 4,000-year-old piece of cloth that looked as Joseph's coat may have done.

Jacobovici was born in Israel of Romanian parents who escaped the Holocaust. His father actually survived a mass slaughter of Jews in Romania by the Nazis. This obviously is the root of some of his journalistic passion. When he was nine, his parents moved from Israel to Canada. He majored in philosophy and political science at McGill and stopped just short of a PhD. to spend a year in the Israeli army. His documentary film career began after his stint in the military. He began by receiving a grant from the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees to produce a documentary on the oppression of Ethiopian Jews. The documentary, Exile of the Black Jews, made political waves throughout the world. He won the prestigious Canadian Genie Award for his Middle East documentary called Deadly Currents.

The most recent series of his documentaries, The Jesus Tomb, John the Brother of Jesus, The Exodus Decoded, and Nails of the Cross, have raised enough controversy to last him a lifetime. Theologians and academic scholars fill the Internet with page after page of scholarly and hostile reactions to these films. I have only seen the television program and the film on the Jesus tomb, but look forward to seeing more of his documentaries, some of which are on Netflix. His work is thought provoking to say the least. Some people may not like having the Biblical stories of their childhood examined with 21st-century scholarship, archeology and science, but I enjoy it. For me, faith only goes so far. Jacobovici can be very provocative, and obviously has strong political and religious views, but I don't find him or his ideas offensive because I feel he does his homework. Offensive to me is listening to unsubstantiated dogma.

The Naked Archaeologist covers serious topics, such as A Nabatean by Any Other Name, which is a look at the mysteries of Petra, and not so serious topics, such as Beauty Secrets of the Bible. It is all fun and interesting, sometimes so much so that I watch two episodes, turning up the sound so that I can hear over the snoring coming from the chair next to me.