Biblical archaeology conference highlights 'Naked Archaeologist,' lost tomb
Mike Bell and Judy Rydberg
Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: News
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The presentation was part of the 10th annual Batchelder Biblical Archaeology Conference, which featured three days of lectures on discoveries of the ancient world in and around Jerusalem.
Simcha Jacobovici, the naked archeologist himself - thankfully clothed, spoke to the crowd about his background and how he got into film.
"We came up with the idea for the show by taking after 'The Naked Chef,'" Jacobovici said. "You keep the show interesting by using very simple recipes that are very tasty. With our show, we delve into biblical history but try to inject a bit of humor and entertainment to keep the crowd awake, really."
Jacobovici, whose films include "The Exodus Decoded" and the controversial "Lost Tomb of Jesus," went on to explain that with his background as an investigative journalist, he was able to approach history in a different way than most scholars.
"By cross-examining history professors, we were able to make great progress in tracking down the Lost Tribes of Israel," Jacobovici said.
Most history documentaries, Jacobovici explained, only feature interviews from one or two experts and simply trust their opinions.
"But since we were able to gather information from forensic scientists and geological specialists, among many others, we came to find that almost 6 million people in Afghanistan claimed to be from one of the lost tribes," Jacobovici said. "How was it that we were able to find them when so many historians said that this entire culture had simply disappeared? It is because they have built up these academic walls between the fields of learning."
Jacobovici said historians rarely talk to geologists or seismologists. He said his technique allowed his team to connect dots no other researchers had managed to connect.
"By talking to many people who are from different professions, we can piece together information so that the average person can understand it," Jacobovici said. "As a filmmaker, I can contribute by connecting some dots. I've been called the Ali G of Archeology."
After the speech, the crowd viewed a new episode of "The Naked Archeologist" focused on the lost Hebrew treasure from King Solomon's second temple in Jerusalem. These treasures - including the Arc of the Covenant, the Candelabra, the Silver Trumpets of Truth and the Table of Divine Presence - were all located in the temple and considered to be the holiest of holies.
The quest for the temple and its treasure led Jacobovici and his team from Jerusalem to Rome. After the Romans sacked Jerusalem in A.D. 70, they took all of the gold, including the artifacts, and paraded them around Rome in what Jacobovici jokingly called the "Via Della Menorah," Italian for the Road of the Menorah.
The relics were then housed in the Temple of Peace, a modern day bus stop, for hundreds of years until Rome was sacked by the Visigoths. By then, most of the treasure was gone - used up to build the Roman Coliseum.
But what of the religious artifacts? After the destruction of Rome, history fails to track their whereabouts.
The ancient historian Josephus wrote that after being brought to Carthage and then Constantinople, the artifacts were returned back to Jerusalem, according to the episode. No one wanted to keep them because wherever the holy treasure went, the city was destroyed.
Finally, Jacobovici arrived at the ruins of the Church of Nea in Jerusalem. Once an incredibly large structure, it has been reduced to its foundation and is now the site of a school.
Here, according to Dan Bahat, the former chief archeologist of Jerusalem, in the sewers below are vaults holding the treasure.
"It would cost millions of dollars to excavate the ruins and find them," Bahat said. "The stone walls are over 5 meters thick and almost labyrinthine in design. But according to inscriptions found outside the building saying that the treasure resides within these walls, it is our best lead by far."
Until the team receives funding, Jacobovici said, possibly the world's greatest collection of treasure waits beneath the sewers of Jerusalem will go unfound, waiting in the cold darkness beneath the desert.
The highlight of the conference, though, was another keynote by Bahat on the ruins of Bethsaida to discuss the tomb of King Herod, which was recently discovered after a 35-year search at the dig.
Rami Arav, director of the Bethsaida expedition, spoke about the agonizing process that archeology can be.
"Archeology is not Indiana Jones," Arav said. "It is very slow moving and hard work. To bring history to the public is not an easy thing to do, but biblical archeology educates people. It shows them how science and religion function today."
After a 35-year excavation, the tomb of Herod the Great has been found. Bahat showed slides detailing the search and the clues that led them to the burial chamber.
"After finding shards of the royal sarcophagus - and only the rich and powerful were buried in sarcophagi back then - in a support wall on an outside stairwell back in 2006, we knew we were close," Bahat said.
Bahat said finding the sarcophagus jump-started the excavation.
"King Herod's palace here was built inside a dug out hill that now resembles a volcano crater," Bahat said. "Between the palace and city, we found a stretch of land originally believed to be a track for horse racing, but we discovered it was a road that had been built to serve only one purpose. It was Herod's funeral procession path that hadn't even been paved."
Bahat went on to describe the details of how they concluded it was Herod's tomb.
"After following it around the hillside by the crater, we uncovered a 10-by-10-foot podium where his funeral had most likely taken place," Bahat said. "Near there was the mausoleum and thus his tomb."
The team was disappointed to find that the tomb contained no treasure. No booby traps; no giant sarcophagus. Instead, there were just shards of masonry.
So many people hated Herod that after he died, everything with his name on it was vandalized or destroyed, Bahat said. Not a trace was left to serve as a marker.
According to the Bible, Herod tried so hard in life to make his name last by building great cities and massacring thousands of people, but he is remembered only as a bloodthirsty tyrant.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Johnnie Ivy
posted 1/15/09 @ 3:22 PM CST
Very interesting artical, need more Naked ark. programs on TV
Richard Cotton
posted 2/12/09 @ 9:29 PM CST
I love this stuff! I have recently become a real fanatic when it comes to biblical archaeology and I have learned so much from his show and different articles by Jacobovici. (Continued…)
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