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From the time of jesus and his life,
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what do we have for historic accounts?
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Dieck: This is a very sacred place.
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Normally, no one is allowed to come here.
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That's incredible.
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That person right there, they have no clue.
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Jesus could've been born right here.
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This could be it.
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Who said archaeology was boring?
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Woo-hoo!
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Downright terrifying.
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Oh, boy.
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Wow, look at that!
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It is just stacked with skulls and bones.
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♪
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♪
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jesus christ.
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Perhaps you've heard of him,
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the key figure of the largest religion on the planet,
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worshipped by more than 2 billion people.
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His story is one of miracles but also of mysteries,
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specifically the early part of his life.
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In fact, in the roughly 30 years between his birth
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and his baptism, virtually nothing is written
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about the most influential person in history.
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But now experts equipped with new technology
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are beginning to unravel the secrets of jesus.
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One archaeologist believes he's made a discovery
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that could change everything we think we know
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about his celebrated birth, and biblical historians
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believe that secrets buried in the gospels
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could shed light on the lost years of his childhood.
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I'm headed to the holy land
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on an expedition both human and divine.
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By examining clues and relics
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at the most sacred sites in christianity,
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I hope to discover the true origin story of jesus.
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My name is josh gates...
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Look! [ laughs ]
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...Explorer, adventurer...
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That is it!
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...And a guy who ends up in some very strange situations.
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Ah, ah, aah, haa!
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With a degree in archaeology
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and a passion for the unexplained,
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I travel to the ends of the earth,
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investigating the greatest legends in history.
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Okay, let's punch it.
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This is "expedition unknown."
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-- captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com
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captions paid for by discovery communications
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hi, there.
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Well, at first glance,
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I could be just about anywhere right now,
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in somebody's basement or poking around in a city sewer,
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and in a sense, that would be correct because for years,
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it was believed that the tunnels underneath me
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were just drainage for rainwater,
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but since then, archaeologists have pieced together
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a layer cake of history here,
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from biblical times all the way up to the modern world.
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There, 30 feet above us, are thousands of people
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and millions of tons of stone and marble
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as well as one of the most venerated sites in the world.
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[ choir singing in latin ]
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♪
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welcome to jerusalem's church of the holy sepulchre,
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the most hallowed christian shrine on earth.
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According to tradition, this is the very location
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where jesus died and was buried.
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The church is, in a word, breathtaking.
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The very air that hangs inside
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seems infused with something holy,
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but this is also a place of mystery
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because as sacred as this structure is,
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nothing that you see here today existed in the time of jesus.
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The bible tells us that jesus was crucified
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on a barren hill called golgotha.
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His body was then laid out on a stone
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before being placed in a rock-cut tomb.
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Over 300 years later when christianity spread to rome,
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the emperor constantine dispatched his mother, helena,
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to the holy land to identify the exact site.
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She was led here.
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The church she placed here was destroyed
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and rebuilt over the centuries as jerusalem
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changed hands between christians, moors and jews.
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This is, religiously speaking, a high-traffic area.
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Today, the top of the crucifixion hill
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is under the floor of the church.
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One can also place their hands on the stone
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where jesus' body was laid out.
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A few hundred feet away still inside the massive building
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is the tomb itself, the place where scripture says
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jesus was interred for three days
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before rising from the dead.
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With so much destruction and renovation here,
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the question has always persisted,
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was this church built in the right spot?
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Well, a recent excavation here
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might just answer that question once and for all.
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The tomb had been badly weathered by time
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and millions of visitors, so in 2016,
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scientists were called in to do an emergency restoration.
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They were given just 60 hours to peer beneath the tomb
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for the first time in centuries.
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Beneath a layer of fill, they found a piece of marble
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stamped with a cross from the time of the crusades,
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deeper down, even older marble from the time of constantine,
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and at the bottom, they found the original limestone bed,
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confirming the existence of a burial cave.
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All of this supports the claim that constantine and helena
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built on the right spot
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and that this may well have been the true tomb of jesus christ.
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♪
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♪
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I spill out into the labyrinth of the old city,
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beyond the throngs of pilgrims on the via dolorosa.
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Having seen how archaeology is helping us
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understand christ's death,
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I'm moving on to my investigation of his birth
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by meeting hebrew university teacher
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and guide danny "the digger" herman.
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When you walk around this part of the old city,
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everywhere you go, you're confronted
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with these images of christ
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from the last days of his life.
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Let's talk about his birth.
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From the time of jesus in his life,
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what do we have for historic accounts?
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We have none. Nothing?
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No. What we have is the gospels.
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Okay.
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These are the four books from the new testament --
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matthew, mark, luke and john.
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Yes.
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The gospels are the, and I do mean the, source
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of all of our historic knowledge of the life and times of jesus.
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It's basically a biography of one man
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from four different writers.
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This is where we get the story of the holy birth,
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and with sincere apologies to my old Sunday-school teacher,
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this is how I remember it.
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A little over 2,000 years ago in nazareth,
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a virgin named mary is awakened in the middle of the night
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by the angel gabriel,
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the biblical version of maury povich,
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who tells her she's pregnant and the father is, you know, god.
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She takes the news surprisingly well
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as does her very understanding husband,
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a guy named joseph.
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Unfortunately, the timing stinks.
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Right around the baby's due date,
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the roman emperor, caesar augustus,
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orders a tax census to be held,
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requiring all citizens to be counted in their hometowns.
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Stupid taxes.
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Since joseph was from the little town of bethlehem,
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he and his extremely pregnant wife
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take a road trip there by donkey,
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and you know the rest. There's no room at the inn,
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and mary gives birth to jesus in a manger
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surrounded by some seriously surprised barnyard animals
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and three kings from the east who followed a star
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and brought some super weird stuff without a gift receipt.
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This is it.
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The gospels are the primary source material for this story.
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The only source, actually, yes,
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and only two of them care to record
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his birth in bethlehem.
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Only two of the four? Only two, yes.
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So now we're down to two gospels?
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Yes.
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Yep, that's right.
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Two of the books don't even bother
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with jesus' birth story,
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and matthew and luke offer slightly different versions,
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and that's not even the strangest part.
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One of the things you need to understand,
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matthew and luke, just like mark and john,
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they were compiled some 60 to 80 years later.
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They are not from the time of jesus.
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None of the gospels were written during his life?
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No.
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Scholars largely agree that the gospels were not written
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by the people they're named after
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but rather by their followers who cobbled
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together the story decades later.
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That's kind of mind-blowing in and of itself, right?
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I mean, they're written as though
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they're firsthand accounts.
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So this would be like if I was writing about woodstock,
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and I wasn't there for it, but my dad went,
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and he told me all about it,
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and then I write it as though I was there?
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Yeah. That's incredible.
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But just because the gospels are pseudobiographical
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doesn't mean they're wrong.
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As the closest thing to contemporary history we have,
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they're invaluable sources for learning
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about the historical jesus.
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So from some of the gospels, we have the story of his birth,
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but how accurate are the details?
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And what about the date and the year?
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I mean, you know, this is the story that we hear.
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It happened at the end of December, you know?
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2,000 and somewhat years ago, yes.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Well, that date was created by a monk
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some centuries later in europe.
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What is the likelihood that he really hit
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the right year, year 1?
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Well, first of all, the text tells us when jesus is born,
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king herod is still alive. Right.
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At this time, this is a roman province.
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King herod famously is in charge of that province.
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Yeah, but he died 4 years earlier at the year 4 bce,
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according to roman historians.
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Right.
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So the year that jesus was born might not be year 1
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but somewhere a few years before that.
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Maybe.
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So we may be off by a few years in terms of his birth.
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Yeah. We should all add, like,
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4 years to the christian count.
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And what about the monk? What about, you know?
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25 of December, christmas?
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Yes. Do we at least have that?
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No. Okay.
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Boy, it's all falling apart here.
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It's all falling apart here immediately.
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That was decided also centuries later.
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In constantinople and in rome,
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it was decided to match it with some roman pagan holiday.
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Okay, so the year and the date are a little fluid,
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but in terms of the fundamentals of the birth story,
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the gospels do tell us where it happened, right?
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Bethlehem, the house of bread in hebrew.
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That's the accepted location?
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The accepted location by the gospels,
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and since we only have the gospels,
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I cannot suggest any other place.
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Do you think it is truly possible to separate
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jesus the man from jesus the religious figure?
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We have archaeology.
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We have a lot of holy places,
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and through archaeological research
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that is an ongoing process,
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we understand more and more.
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If you really want to understand the story of jesus,
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you have to start in bethlehem.
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You have to go to the church of nativity,
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to the crypt under identified
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as the very place where he was born.
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Armed with the knowledge that the gospels
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are not firsthand accounts,
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I want to see if the accepted place of jesus' birth
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is the real deal.
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I say goodbye to danny the digger
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and pick up some wheels for my short trip
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to the church of the nativity,
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but don't confuse short for easy.
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Okay, headed to bethlehem.
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00:11:32,290 --> 00:11:33,420
You know, for centuries,
265
00:11:33,420 --> 00:11:35,320
christians around the world have been taught
266
00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,530
that this is the location of the stable where jesus was born.
267
00:11:39,530 --> 00:11:41,730
It's practically an article of faith,
268
00:11:41,730 --> 00:11:44,260
and so you might think that bethlehem would be surrounded
269
00:11:44,270 --> 00:11:46,570
by hundreds of holy christian sites,
270
00:11:46,570 --> 00:11:49,000
but, in fact, that's not the case,
271
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,370
and that's because bethlehem actually sits
272
00:11:51,370 --> 00:11:55,580
in the highly controversial area known as the west bank.
273
00:11:55,580 --> 00:11:58,040
Roll the tape.
274
00:11:58,050 --> 00:12:01,680
The west bank refers to about 2,000 square miles of territory
275
00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:04,080
bordered by the west bank of the jordan river
276
00:12:04,090 --> 00:12:06,890
and extending all the way into jerusalem.
277
00:12:06,890 --> 00:12:10,060
The name, though, is the only thing people seem to agree on.
278
00:12:10,060 --> 00:12:12,260
It's the center of a decades-long conflict
279
00:12:12,260 --> 00:12:14,730
between the israelis and the palestinians,
280
00:12:14,730 --> 00:12:16,930
and since discussing the politics of the west bank
281
00:12:16,930 --> 00:12:21,000
is like wading into quicksand, I'll just say this --
282
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,340
I look forward to a day when the military checkpoint
283
00:12:23,340 --> 00:12:26,770
I'm rapidly approaching is unnecessary.
284
00:12:26,780 --> 00:12:30,610
This road is dangerous to your lives.
285
00:12:30,610 --> 00:12:32,350
Okay.
286
00:12:36,220 --> 00:12:38,820
Okay, here comes the checkpoint.
287
00:12:40,090 --> 00:12:42,790
Just a couple of nice jewish boys
288
00:12:42,790 --> 00:12:45,660
with kevlar vests, automatic weapons.
289
00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:50,160
Oh, boy.
290
00:13:02,140 --> 00:13:05,210
Gates: To find the historical truth about christ's birthplace,
291
00:13:05,210 --> 00:13:07,250
I'm approaching the hotly contested border
292
00:13:07,250 --> 00:13:09,480
between israel and the west bank.
293
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,720
Now is a good time to have the u.S. Embassy on speed dial.
294
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,590
Okay, here comes the checkpoint.
295
00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,430
Oh, boy.
296
00:13:23,430 --> 00:13:25,000
Hello.
297
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:26,900
How are you?
298
00:13:26,900 --> 00:13:28,100
I'm good.
299
00:13:28,100 --> 00:13:29,840
Everything good?
300
00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,810
Okay? Thank you very much.
301
00:13:35,810 --> 00:13:37,840
Toda.
302
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:42,850
♪ hallelujah ♪
303
00:13:42,850 --> 00:13:44,850
♪ hallelujah, hallelujah ♪
304
00:13:44,850 --> 00:13:45,920
choir: ♪ hallelujah ♪
305
00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,450
♪ hallelujah, hallelujah ♪
306
00:13:48,460 --> 00:13:49,820
gates: Well, tensions in the middle east extend
307
00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:52,330
all the way to the car-rental counter.
308
00:13:52,330 --> 00:13:53,790
One of the many peculiarities here
309
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:55,400
is that israeli car-rental companies
310
00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,030
will not let you take one of their vehicles
311
00:13:58,030 --> 00:14:00,500
into parts of the west bank that are under palestinian control.
312
00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:02,740
There's actually a chip in this car
313
00:14:02,740 --> 00:14:04,940
that tells them if I do so, so I need to pull over
314
00:14:04,940 --> 00:14:07,170
and switch to a palestinian taxi.
315
00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:15,520
♪
316
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:16,650
hey. -Hi.
317
00:14:16,650 --> 00:14:17,750
-Bethlehem? -Yes, welcome.
318
00:14:17,750 --> 00:14:20,850
All right. Great.
319
00:14:20,860 --> 00:14:22,460
Okay.
320
00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:26,930
[ both speak arabic ]
321
00:14:26,930 --> 00:14:28,030
what's your name?
322
00:14:28,030 --> 00:14:29,930
My name is osama.
323
00:14:29,930 --> 00:14:32,430
Great.
324
00:14:32,430 --> 00:14:34,170
Here we go.
325
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:39,940
It's a quick ride to the middle of bethlehem,
326
00:14:39,940 --> 00:14:42,610
and my cab drops me at the church of the nativity,
327
00:14:42,610 --> 00:14:44,040
where I've arranged a meeting
328
00:14:44,050 --> 00:14:47,110
with biblical historian haytham dieck.
329
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:48,410
Haytham. Hey, how are you?
330
00:14:48,420 --> 00:14:49,780
Hey, I'm josh. Hi, josh. How are you?
331
00:14:49,780 --> 00:14:51,050
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
332
00:14:51,050 --> 00:14:52,190
First of all, I love that this
333
00:14:52,190 --> 00:14:53,490
is the main entrance to the church.
334
00:14:53,490 --> 00:14:56,020
That's right. The smallest door ever.
335
00:14:56,020 --> 00:14:57,660
We call it the door of humility.
336
00:14:57,660 --> 00:14:58,730
Door of humility, yeah.
337
00:14:58,730 --> 00:15:00,490
What could be more humble than this?
338
00:15:00,500 --> 00:15:01,960
Exactly. The most important church
339
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:03,830
in the world with the smallest door ever.
340
00:15:03,830 --> 00:15:05,160
Right. Should we go inside?
341
00:15:05,170 --> 00:15:06,370
Absolutely, please. Please.
342
00:15:06,370 --> 00:15:07,900
After you. Thank you.
343
00:15:07,900 --> 00:15:15,010
♪
344
00:15:15,010 --> 00:15:18,410
so beautiful.
345
00:15:18,410 --> 00:15:20,710
Gates: This is the oldest-standing church
346
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:21,850
in the holy land,
347
00:15:21,850 --> 00:15:23,820
said to have been built on the exact spot
348
00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:25,520
of jesus christ's birth.
349
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,590
And like the holy sepulchre in jerusalem,
350
00:15:27,590 --> 00:15:30,760
we have the emperor constantine to thank for it.
351
00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,060
After he made christianity the official religion
352
00:15:33,060 --> 00:15:36,000
of the roman empire in the year 325,
353
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,030
he sent his mother, helena, here to preserve
354
00:15:38,030 --> 00:15:41,100
and memorialize the events of jesus' life,
355
00:15:41,100 --> 00:15:44,240
and this was one of the first places she found.
356
00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,340
After his mother, helena, was at the site here
357
00:15:46,340 --> 00:15:48,410
and discovered the site of the birth.
358
00:15:48,410 --> 00:15:50,710
And according to tradition, this miraculous birth
359
00:15:50,710 --> 00:15:52,510
happened underneath us, right?
360
00:15:52,510 --> 00:15:55,210
Yes. Happened underneath us, exactly, just there.
361
00:15:55,220 --> 00:15:56,250
Down the stairs?
362
00:15:56,250 --> 00:15:57,320
Would you like to come and see it?
363
00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:59,550
Yes. Let's go.
364
00:15:59,550 --> 00:16:00,920
Such a mysterious entrance.
365
00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:02,360
Oh, yes.
366
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,990
Haytham brings me down ancient stone steps
367
00:16:04,990 --> 00:16:07,430
to the place helena discovered,
368
00:16:07,430 --> 00:16:10,100
the purported location of the nativity.
369
00:16:12,730 --> 00:16:14,500
Absolutely stunning, look at this.
370
00:16:14,500 --> 00:16:15,700
Here we are, right? And this is it?
371
00:16:15,700 --> 00:16:17,600
That's it. This is the spot, yes?
372
00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:19,340
It's the spot.
373
00:16:22,140 --> 00:16:25,240
The accepted birthplace of jesus christ.
374
00:16:25,250 --> 00:16:27,610
Yes. The star of bethlehem.
375
00:16:27,620 --> 00:16:29,320
Absolutely amazing,
376
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,720
and, you know, what's so remarkable about this
377
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,550
is that it's not at all what most people,
378
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:36,160
I think, would expect. That's right.
379
00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,020
I think of this story from Sunday school.
380
00:16:38,030 --> 00:16:39,160
Mm-hmm.
381
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,190
And I remember there was no room at the inn,
382
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,060
and so mary and joseph, they stay in a manger,
383
00:16:44,070 --> 00:16:45,470
and there's hay on the ground,
384
00:16:45,470 --> 00:16:47,200
and there's donkeys, and there's animals.
385
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,600
This feels more like we're in a cave.
386
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,770
In fact, it is a cave. It is?
387
00:16:51,770 --> 00:16:53,270
This idea that they went to the inn,
388
00:16:53,270 --> 00:16:55,640
and they didn't find any space, actually,
389
00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:57,010
the inn is the guest room.
390
00:16:57,010 --> 00:16:58,010
So this is not an inn
391
00:16:58,010 --> 00:16:59,710
like they were going to the motel 6,
392
00:16:59,710 --> 00:17:00,680
and they were sold out?
393
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,050
Not at all. Absolutely...
394
00:17:02,050 --> 00:17:03,220
That's how people think about it, though, I think...
395
00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:04,350
Exactly.
396
00:17:04,350 --> 00:17:05,490
...Like it was some sort of guest lodging,
397
00:17:05,490 --> 00:17:06,650
but this would probably have been
398
00:17:06,650 --> 00:17:07,990
one of their relatives' or friends' homes?
399
00:17:07,990 --> 00:17:09,620
Absolutely, one of their relatives', friends' home,
400
00:17:09,620 --> 00:17:12,460
and they found the guest room occupied,
401
00:17:12,460 --> 00:17:14,890
so they had to go down into a cave
402
00:17:14,900 --> 00:17:17,930
in order to give birth here in this place.
403
00:17:17,930 --> 00:17:19,600
Many people back in the 1st century
404
00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:24,070
would use caves or grottos for protecting their animals.
405
00:17:24,070 --> 00:17:25,570
Early paintings of the nativity,
406
00:17:25,570 --> 00:17:28,240
like this one, depict the birth in a cave,
407
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,910
not away in a manger as later illustrations
408
00:17:30,910 --> 00:17:33,380
and christmas carols would have us believe.
409
00:17:33,380 --> 00:17:35,580
In a sense, this is a manger... -This is a manger.
410
00:17:35,580 --> 00:17:36,850
...Just maybe not the one we picture.
411
00:17:36,850 --> 00:17:38,020
Exactly.
412
00:17:38,020 --> 00:17:39,850
And so what evidence do we have that the church
413
00:17:39,850 --> 00:17:42,160
was constructed in the correct place?
414
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:44,860
We have lots of evidence from the early christian witnesses.
415
00:17:44,860 --> 00:17:47,030
Back in the 2nd and the 3rd century,
416
00:17:47,030 --> 00:17:49,300
local people were showing the pilgrims
417
00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:52,400
and people coming to visit the place where jesus was born,
418
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,630
which means we have a very high authenticity.
419
00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,170
And what about archaeologically?
420
00:17:56,170 --> 00:17:58,740
Do we have any evidence, any bones,
421
00:17:58,740 --> 00:18:01,210
any pottery from this time period
422
00:18:01,210 --> 00:18:03,210
when jesus was born that's been found down here?
423
00:18:03,210 --> 00:18:04,680
So far, we have not found
424
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:06,850
any archaeological remains to that period,
425
00:18:06,850 --> 00:18:09,220
but close by, there's a place I'm going to show you,
426
00:18:09,220 --> 00:18:12,220
a secret place where we might have that evidence.
427
00:18:12,220 --> 00:18:13,220
Yeah? Let's see it.
428
00:18:13,220 --> 00:18:15,120
Let's see it. Okay, please.
429
00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,490
So though the manger itself is sacred,
430
00:18:17,490 --> 00:18:21,360
it doesn't offer us any archaeological evidence,
431
00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:24,460
but nearby is another chamber,
432
00:18:24,470 --> 00:18:27,300
one that most pilgrims aren't even aware exists,
433
00:18:27,300 --> 00:18:29,800
which might tell a different story.
434
00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,610
I don't know what to expect at the end of this dark tunnel,
435
00:18:32,610 --> 00:18:36,740
but I'm pretty sure it isn't this.
436
00:18:36,740 --> 00:18:38,040
Oh, my word.
437
00:18:38,050 --> 00:18:41,110
These are tombs.
438
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,220
So these are bench-style rock-cut tombs?
439
00:18:43,220 --> 00:18:44,350
Yes, exactly.
440
00:18:44,350 --> 00:18:47,890
Wow, look at this.
441
00:18:47,890 --> 00:18:50,720
And if you look down, you can see some remains.
442
00:18:50,730 --> 00:18:51,690
Wow.
443
00:18:51,690 --> 00:18:54,330
This is a very sacred place.
444
00:18:54,330 --> 00:18:57,000
Normally, no one is allowed to come here.
445
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,930
That's incredible.
446
00:18:59,930 --> 00:19:01,800
And the big question...
447
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:03,670
When do the bones date from?
448
00:19:03,670 --> 00:19:05,510
From the time of jesus, the 1st century.
449
00:19:05,510 --> 00:19:07,240
So this brings us back to the 1st century?
450
00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,540
Exactly.
451
00:19:09,540 --> 00:19:10,680
It's not just this room.
452
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:12,510
There are other chambers I want to show you also.
453
00:19:12,510 --> 00:19:13,480
There's more?
454
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,350
Yes. There's more. Come with me.
455
00:19:19,790 --> 00:19:21,420
Josh, come and see here.
456
00:19:21,420 --> 00:19:23,660
Whoa, unbelievable.
457
00:19:23,660 --> 00:19:26,330
It is just stacked with skulls and bones.
458
00:19:40,210 --> 00:19:42,980
Gates: Deep beneath the church of the nativity in bethlehem,
459
00:19:42,980 --> 00:19:46,050
biblical scholar haytham dieck believes he can prove
460
00:19:46,050 --> 00:19:49,680
that this is the site of jesus' true birthplace.
461
00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:51,620
No definitive archaeological evidence
462
00:19:51,620 --> 00:19:54,550
has been found to date the nativity site itself,
463
00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,060
but deeper in the complex,
464
00:19:56,060 --> 00:19:58,220
he brings me through a restricted area
465
00:19:58,230 --> 00:20:00,760
and to a shocking site.
466
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,960
Unbelievable. Look at this.
467
00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,730
It is just stacked with skulls and bones.
468
00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:10,970
How many people are in here?
469
00:20:10,970 --> 00:20:12,410
As many as 2,000.
470
00:20:12,410 --> 00:20:13,910
As many as 2,000 people.
471
00:20:13,910 --> 00:20:15,340
Yes.
472
00:20:15,340 --> 00:20:17,380
The cave here is called the cave of the holy innocents.
473
00:20:17,380 --> 00:20:19,250
Many believe it's the evidence
474
00:20:19,250 --> 00:20:21,910
of the massacre by herod.
475
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,750
Okay, so this story comes from the book of matthew.
476
00:20:24,750 --> 00:20:27,450
Herod, who was the king in this region for the romans,
477
00:20:27,460 --> 00:20:29,820
was nervous about an old testament prophecy
478
00:20:29,820 --> 00:20:31,520
about a child from bethlehem
479
00:20:31,530 --> 00:20:34,590
who would grow up to be the true king of the jews.
480
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:36,630
So to deal with this future threat,
481
00:20:36,630 --> 00:20:39,930
herod has his soldiers kill all male children in bethlehem
482
00:20:39,930 --> 00:20:42,030
who are younger than 2 years old.
483
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:43,600
The resulting slaughter is known
484
00:20:43,610 --> 00:20:47,410
as the massacre of the innocents.
485
00:20:47,410 --> 00:20:51,010
Though horrific to contemplate, many historians doubt the story
486
00:20:51,010 --> 00:20:52,950
because the only source yet to be found
487
00:20:52,950 --> 00:20:55,880
for such a notable event is the book of matthew.
488
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:57,980
Even roman historians make no mention
489
00:20:57,990 --> 00:21:00,650
of what would be an unprecedented bloodbath,
490
00:21:00,660 --> 00:21:02,150
and some contend the bones
491
00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,660
are simply the remains of early christian worshippers.
492
00:21:05,660 --> 00:21:07,630
Haytham and other biblical scholars, though,
493
00:21:07,630 --> 00:21:10,700
believe these bones are the victims of the massacre
494
00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:15,100
and proof that matthew's gospel is historical fact.
495
00:21:15,100 --> 00:21:17,440
They are the first christian martyrs
496
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,410
ever that were killed for the blood of jesus.
497
00:21:20,410 --> 00:21:22,480
It's a really kind of disturbing sight,
498
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:23,740
but it is extraordinary.
499
00:21:23,750 --> 00:21:25,040
Thank you so much, haytham. You're welcome, josh.
500
00:21:25,050 --> 00:21:26,350
I appreciate it. It's a real pleasure.
501
00:21:26,350 --> 00:21:29,580
Thank you. Okay. Back to the surface.
502
00:21:29,580 --> 00:21:31,150
The church of the nativity has offered
503
00:21:31,150 --> 00:21:33,790
tantalizing connections to the 1st century,
504
00:21:33,790 --> 00:21:37,090
but there are no artifacts that tie it directly to jesus,
505
00:21:37,090 --> 00:21:41,030
and the human remains nearby are unsettled as evidence.
506
00:21:41,030 --> 00:21:43,260
Haytham's belief, however, is as constant
507
00:21:43,260 --> 00:21:46,970
as the star the three kings followed 2,000 years ago.
508
00:21:46,970 --> 00:21:52,510
♪
509
00:21:52,510 --> 00:21:55,410
leaving bethlehem, I decide to saddle up
510
00:21:55,410 --> 00:21:58,540
to put the nativity story through a test of my own.
511
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:03,850
Now, 2,000 years later, it is, of course,
512
00:22:03,850 --> 00:22:06,390
impossible to scientifically test
513
00:22:06,390 --> 00:22:08,650
every element of the nativity story,
514
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:11,290
but we can certainly take some educated guesses.
515
00:22:11,290 --> 00:22:14,590
Now, I am not, nor have I ever been, 9 months pregnant,
516
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,330
but I've been sitting on this donkey for about a mile now,
517
00:22:17,330 --> 00:22:19,930
and I can tell you, my butt is already killing me.
518
00:22:19,930 --> 00:22:22,400
The idea that a woman who is so pregnant
519
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,740
she's within a day of giving birth
520
00:22:24,740 --> 00:22:28,510
riding close to 100 miles from her hometown on a donkey
521
00:22:28,510 --> 00:22:32,180
does seem, well, let's use the word unlikely.
522
00:22:32,180 --> 00:22:34,810
Now, that doesn't mean the event didn't take place,
523
00:22:34,820 --> 00:22:37,780
but some archaeologists and historians have begun to suspect
524
00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:40,290
that maybe the most famous birth in history
525
00:22:40,290 --> 00:22:42,720
took place somewhere else.
526
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:44,660
My car is just up here.
527
00:22:44,660 --> 00:22:45,730
Come on.
528
00:22:45,730 --> 00:22:48,760
I haul my sore ass back to my rental
529
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:50,260
and drive back into israel
530
00:22:50,260 --> 00:22:52,870
to find archaeologist aviram oshri.
531
00:22:52,870 --> 00:22:55,400
For some reason, in a country where you can drive end-to-end
532
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,770
in less than 4 hours, he's asked me to meet him
533
00:22:57,770 --> 00:22:58,870
at an airport.
534
00:22:58,870 --> 00:23:00,210
So I've just come from the church
535
00:23:00,210 --> 00:23:02,140
of the nativity in bethlehem,
536
00:23:02,140 --> 00:23:04,580
and I take it that you do not think
537
00:23:04,580 --> 00:23:06,010
this is where jesus was born.
538
00:23:06,010 --> 00:23:08,250
No, absolutely not. Why?
539
00:23:08,250 --> 00:23:10,450
One of the reason is the complete lack
540
00:23:10,450 --> 00:23:13,450
of the archaeological evidence of inhabitants
541
00:23:13,450 --> 00:23:14,920
in bethlehem, judea.
542
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:16,890
Yeah. I mean, I was struck by the fact
543
00:23:16,890 --> 00:23:19,130
that there doesn't seem to be a lot of material there.
544
00:23:19,130 --> 00:23:20,030
Exactly.
545
00:23:20,030 --> 00:23:21,460
So you don't accept this idea
546
00:23:21,460 --> 00:23:23,300
that jesus was born in bethlehem.
547
00:23:23,300 --> 00:23:24,460
No.
548
00:23:24,470 --> 00:23:25,660
I do believe jesus was born in bethlehem,
549
00:23:25,670 --> 00:23:27,300
but there is a second bethlehem.
550
00:23:27,300 --> 00:23:29,270
There's a second bethlehem?
551
00:23:29,270 --> 00:23:30,440
Exactly.
552
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,070
I didn't know there was another bethlehem.
553
00:23:32,070 --> 00:23:34,210
There is a second one in the galilee.
554
00:23:34,210 --> 00:23:36,210
In galilee.
555
00:23:36,210 --> 00:23:38,640
Galilee is in the northern region of israel
556
00:23:38,650 --> 00:23:40,550
and the place where jesus would eventually
557
00:23:40,550 --> 00:23:42,250
establish his ministry.
558
00:23:42,250 --> 00:23:46,150
It also contains mary and joseph's hometown of nazareth.
559
00:23:46,150 --> 00:23:48,950
So what if instead of traveling nearly 100 miles
560
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,020
to the accepted site of bethlehem,
561
00:23:51,030 --> 00:23:54,290
they traveled only a few miles to a lesser-known settlement
562
00:23:54,300 --> 00:23:56,860
by the same name?
563
00:23:56,860 --> 00:23:58,200
Bethlehem of galilee,
564
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,130
and did both of those exist at the same time?
565
00:24:00,130 --> 00:24:01,630
At the same time, yeah.
566
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:02,640
How confident are you
567
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:04,170
that he's from this other bethlehem?
568
00:24:04,170 --> 00:24:05,870
I'm 100% convinced.
569
00:24:05,870 --> 00:24:07,110
-100%? -Yeah.
570
00:24:07,110 --> 00:24:10,010
The question is, how do you prove it?
571
00:24:10,010 --> 00:24:11,580
Well, for that reason, we have the plane,
572
00:24:11,580 --> 00:24:13,910
so let's get airborne, and I'll show you.
573
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:15,920
All right. After you, please.
574
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,420
Aviram intends to scan bethlehem of galilee
575
00:24:18,420 --> 00:24:20,620
for proof that he's right.
576
00:24:20,620 --> 00:24:24,420
We board a cessna grand caravan where robin terry is waiting.
577
00:24:24,430 --> 00:24:25,420
-Hi. -I'm josh.
578
00:24:25,430 --> 00:24:26,560
Josh, hi. I'm robin.
579
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:27,790
Robin, nice to meet you.
580
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,100
I'm the leader-operator for this flight today.
581
00:24:30,100 --> 00:24:31,800
Terrific.
582
00:24:35,070 --> 00:24:36,470
Aviram, you look nervous.
583
00:24:39,340 --> 00:24:40,640
Pilot: Me too.
584
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,680
Who said, "me too"?
585
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,950
The pilot is not allowed to say that.
586
00:24:46,950 --> 00:24:48,580
Everybody else is allowed to be afraid.
587
00:24:48,580 --> 00:24:51,420
That's good. That's reassuring.
588
00:24:51,420 --> 00:24:53,690
Gates: Our cessna is cleared for the runway.
589
00:24:53,690 --> 00:24:58,790
The pilot hits the gas, and our 675-horsepower engine kicks in.
590
00:24:58,790 --> 00:25:00,260
We lift off.
591
00:25:00,260 --> 00:25:02,900
Next stop...The new bethlehem.
592
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:10,570
Now, this dangerous-looking box back here, robin,
593
00:25:10,570 --> 00:25:12,570
I assume this has something to do with you.
594
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,440
Okay, so we're gonna be doing some laser mapping.
595
00:25:17,610 --> 00:25:19,810
Lidar technology uses lasers
596
00:25:19,810 --> 00:25:22,210
to map billions of points of data.
597
00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:25,180
Then robin can strip away surface layers of vegetation
598
00:25:25,190 --> 00:25:28,550
from the image to show the true terrain underneath.
599
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:30,990
So, aviram, what's the hope here?
600
00:25:30,990 --> 00:25:33,090
What do you want the lidar to reveal?
601
00:25:36,030 --> 00:25:38,060
A wall? So why would that be significant?
602
00:25:46,970 --> 00:25:48,810
And is there a fortification wall
603
00:25:48,810 --> 00:25:51,240
at the bethlehem that I've been to?
604
00:25:51,250 --> 00:25:52,650
No? No.
605
00:25:52,650 --> 00:25:54,450
So if there's a wall at your site,
606
00:25:54,450 --> 00:25:56,450
that could be the real bethlehem.
607
00:25:57,350 --> 00:26:00,450
I got it, makes sense.
608
00:26:00,450 --> 00:26:02,520
Do we have any historical evidence
609
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:04,320
or anything from the bible that indicates
610
00:26:04,330 --> 00:26:06,490
that jesus may have been born here?
611
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:15,970
It says he was born in galilee?
612
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:18,700
When exploring mysteries about jesus,
613
00:26:18,710 --> 00:26:21,610
I make it a policy to always carry a bible with me,
614
00:26:21,610 --> 00:26:23,710
and in this case, it pays off.
615
00:26:23,710 --> 00:26:25,810
Verse 40, "some of the people were saying,
616
00:26:25,810 --> 00:26:27,550
'this is certainly the prophet.'
617
00:26:27,550 --> 00:26:29,680
others were saying, 'this is the christ.'
618
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:31,850
others were saying, 'but surely the christ
619
00:26:31,850 --> 00:26:34,050
is not going to come from galilee, is he?'"
620
00:26:34,060 --> 00:26:38,260
this literally says that jesus is from galilee.
621
00:26:38,260 --> 00:26:39,390
Wow.
622
00:26:39,390 --> 00:26:42,030
I had no idea that was even in the bible.
623
00:26:42,030 --> 00:26:45,200
Different gospels telling slightly different stories,
624
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,200
but which one is correct?
625
00:26:52,110 --> 00:26:54,270
Right down there?
626
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,110
Robin, your move.
627
00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:05,620
We need to cover the site in strips, like mowing a lawn.
628
00:27:09,490 --> 00:27:11,190
But the plane doesn't handle as well
629
00:27:11,190 --> 00:27:13,090
as your average john deere.
630
00:27:16,330 --> 00:27:17,500
Woo-hoo!
631
00:27:28,310 --> 00:27:31,210
Gates: I'm in israel with archaeologist aviram oshri,
632
00:27:31,210 --> 00:27:33,250
who thinks that the little town of bethlehem
633
00:27:33,250 --> 00:27:34,810
from jesus' birth story
634
00:27:34,820 --> 00:27:37,350
isn't the one most of the world accepts
635
00:27:37,350 --> 00:27:40,190
but, instead, a different city by the same name
636
00:27:40,190 --> 00:27:44,620
located in the northern region of galilee.
637
00:27:44,630 --> 00:27:47,260
Now, we're performing a lidar scan to see
638
00:27:47,260 --> 00:27:50,730
if a telltale fortification wall surrounds the site.
639
00:27:55,700 --> 00:27:58,340
But our plane does not turn on a dime.
640
00:28:02,510 --> 00:28:06,050
Gates: Woo-hoo!
641
00:28:06,050 --> 00:28:08,050
Who said archaeology was boring?
642
00:28:08,050 --> 00:28:09,720
It's downright terrifying.
643
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:11,480
[ laughter ]
644
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:15,950
terry: Okay, guys.
645
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:17,260
It looks like the scan is complete.
646
00:28:17,260 --> 00:28:18,990
Okay. Let's get back on the ground
647
00:28:18,990 --> 00:28:20,530
and take a look at the data.
648
00:28:23,230 --> 00:28:25,100
We touch down, and I'm grateful
649
00:28:25,100 --> 00:28:26,930
to see israel at eye level again.
650
00:28:26,930 --> 00:28:28,200
Okay, wheels down.
651
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:32,270
Robin brings the lidar data to his lab for analysis.
652
00:28:32,270 --> 00:28:34,270
While we anxiously wait for the results,
653
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,610
aviram brings me to the site that we just scanned from above,
654
00:28:37,610 --> 00:28:40,510
what he believes is bethlehem 2.0.
655
00:28:43,980 --> 00:28:46,520
Okay, josh, pull in here.
656
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,290
Over a decade ago, aviram dug in this area
657
00:28:49,290 --> 00:28:52,690
and found the remains of a huge byzantine-era church
658
00:28:52,690 --> 00:28:55,860
that he thinks was built over a significant site,
659
00:28:55,860 --> 00:28:59,200
but he was forced to backfill his excavation to preserve it.
660
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,370
Now a busy street is running right through
661
00:29:01,370 --> 00:29:04,200
the footprint of the building that he thinks could be on top
662
00:29:04,210 --> 00:29:06,840
of the true site of the nativity.
663
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,780
Okay, this is where the church was, here.
664
00:29:09,780 --> 00:29:11,280
Okay, above us? Above us.
665
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,150
So this was higher then? Yeah.
666
00:29:13,150 --> 00:29:15,810
And during those excavations, what did you find?
667
00:29:15,820 --> 00:29:20,920
I found on the northern side the remains of northern hole
668
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:22,220
and the baptistery hole,
669
00:29:22,220 --> 00:29:26,060
one paved with a beautiful mosaic floor.
670
00:29:26,060 --> 00:29:28,690
It's an ornate structure for such a small village,
671
00:29:28,700 --> 00:29:32,360
so its very presence may be an indicator of an important site.
672
00:29:32,370 --> 00:29:34,070
And so in terms of today,
673
00:29:34,070 --> 00:29:35,830
can any of this church be seen still?
674
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,140
Is any of it exposed?
675
00:29:37,140 --> 00:29:42,110
There is maybe only few stones that we can detect.
676
00:29:42,110 --> 00:29:44,440
Oh, look at that.
677
00:29:44,450 --> 00:29:47,180
There's stones here and here.
678
00:29:47,180 --> 00:29:49,380
This would have continued up and over the road...
679
00:29:49,380 --> 00:29:50,420
Yeah. ...And back this way?
680
00:29:50,420 --> 00:29:51,720
Mm-hmm.
681
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:53,950
But the church by itself wouldn't be enough to prove
682
00:29:53,950 --> 00:29:55,620
that this was the birthplace.
683
00:29:55,620 --> 00:29:57,790
The cave that served as jesus' manger
684
00:29:57,790 --> 00:29:59,860
would have to be here as well.
685
00:29:59,860 --> 00:30:02,630
Well, aviram's found that, too.
686
00:30:02,630 --> 00:30:03,600
Gates: Right in here?
687
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:05,330
Oshri: That's the place.
688
00:30:05,330 --> 00:30:06,570
It wasn't big. Uh-huh.
689
00:30:06,570 --> 00:30:09,270
It was just the remains of the cave.
690
00:30:09,270 --> 00:30:11,070
And so if you're right, hundreds of people
691
00:30:11,070 --> 00:30:12,670
a day are driving by here
692
00:30:12,670 --> 00:30:14,440
who have no idea that this could be
693
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,380
one of the most significant sites in the world.
694
00:30:16,380 --> 00:30:17,480
Yeah.
695
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,380
That person right there, they have no clue.
696
00:30:19,380 --> 00:30:20,450
Jesus could have been born right here.
697
00:30:20,450 --> 00:30:21,550
They don't know. This could be it.
698
00:30:21,550 --> 00:30:22,850
Yeah.
699
00:30:22,850 --> 00:30:23,880
-Please. -Let's go.
700
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,880
Which brings us back to the wall.
701
00:30:25,890 --> 00:30:28,550
Historical sources tell us that the right bethlehem
702
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,560
was surrounded by a large fortification wall.
703
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,390
Aviram contends that the other bethlehem lacks this wall,
704
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,230
and while the lidar will tell us more about this place,
705
00:30:38,230 --> 00:30:40,930
aviram has already found an intriguing hint.
706
00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:43,600
This is a part of the wall we've found.
707
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,040
Aha! Look at that, amazing!
708
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:47,410
I mean, a proper wall,
709
00:30:47,410 --> 00:30:49,680
really well-preserved in here, too.
710
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:51,210
This is from the right time, you think?
711
00:30:51,210 --> 00:30:53,750
Yeah. It's byzantine.
712
00:30:53,750 --> 00:30:56,520
Gates: There's no doubt this is an impressive wall,
713
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:58,550
but is it our fortification wall,
714
00:30:58,550 --> 00:31:02,290
and did it surround the one true bethlehem?
715
00:31:02,290 --> 00:31:04,790
More wall, and it keeps going through here.
716
00:31:04,790 --> 00:31:06,990
[ cellphone rings ] uh-huh.
717
00:31:06,990 --> 00:31:08,190
They have the lidar results.
718
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:09,360
They have them? Yeah, they have them.
719
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:11,230
Yeah, okay. Come on. Let's go.
720
00:31:13,570 --> 00:31:16,170
We peel out of the site and speed toward the lab
721
00:31:16,170 --> 00:31:19,400
where robin's team has analyzed the lidar data.
722
00:31:21,210 --> 00:31:24,010
What we're seeing here is the topography
723
00:31:24,010 --> 00:31:25,440
plus the vegetation.
724
00:31:25,450 --> 00:31:26,680
So with the vegetation,
725
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,550
it's very hard to detect anything.
726
00:31:28,550 --> 00:31:31,150
Now, let's just take the vegetation off.
727
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,190
Oh ho! Look at that!
728
00:31:34,190 --> 00:31:36,020
That is a wall right there,
729
00:31:36,020 --> 00:31:38,690
and so we were able to see part of that in the field.
730
00:31:38,690 --> 00:31:40,930
The question is, how big it is.
731
00:31:40,930 --> 00:31:42,860
Could it be a fortification wall?
732
00:31:42,860 --> 00:31:45,530
So can we see if it continues to the north or the south?
733
00:31:45,530 --> 00:31:48,700
Yeah. It goes on down south.
734
00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:50,840
And then what happens to it?
735
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:51,800
There is something here.
736
00:31:51,810 --> 00:31:53,310
We see something here. What is this?
737
00:31:53,310 --> 00:31:55,410
I think the wall continues here.
738
00:31:55,410 --> 00:31:57,340
You think it turns. It keeps going to the east.
739
00:31:57,340 --> 00:31:58,510
Yeah.
740
00:31:58,510 --> 00:32:02,310
I think this is where the gate of the city was.
741
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:04,620
It may be that it turned there.
742
00:32:04,620 --> 00:32:07,090
It does look like the same stone piles
743
00:32:07,090 --> 00:32:08,650
we're seeing in the wall.
744
00:32:08,660 --> 00:32:10,590
So there's some evidence on here
745
00:32:10,590 --> 00:32:12,390
that it might go to the east,
746
00:32:12,390 --> 00:32:15,130
but the whole thing has been leveled and built over.
747
00:32:15,130 --> 00:32:16,960
So final analysis, what do you think?
748
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:19,970
So I think we have a lot of reasons to dig here.
749
00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:23,770
Now we have to excavate.
750
00:32:23,770 --> 00:32:27,170
Okay, well, I look forward to coming back
751
00:32:27,170 --> 00:32:29,110
and seeing what's under the ground here.
752
00:32:29,110 --> 00:32:30,980
Me too. Thanks very much, aviram.
753
00:32:30,980 --> 00:32:31,980
Thank you, guys, so much.
754
00:32:31,980 --> 00:32:34,080
I really appreciate it.
755
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:35,650
Gates: Aviram is dead sure he's found
756
00:32:35,650 --> 00:32:37,820
the genuine site of the nativity,
757
00:32:37,820 --> 00:32:39,990
and though it will take a lot more investigating,
758
00:32:39,990 --> 00:32:44,160
the proof he's searching for might only be one shovel away.
759
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,430
I wish him luck and make my way back to the car to investigate
760
00:32:47,430 --> 00:32:49,490
a third and final contender
761
00:32:49,500 --> 00:32:52,660
for the true birthplace of jesus.
762
00:32:52,670 --> 00:32:56,200
Aviram's theory about bethlehem 2.0 is intriguing,
763
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,400
but the fact is, for as famous a name as bethlehem is,
764
00:32:59,410 --> 00:33:02,240
it's only mentioned twice in the entire new testament.
765
00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,280
Two of the gospels don't mention it at all,
766
00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:07,350
but there is another town that's mentioned a lot in the bible,
767
00:33:07,350 --> 00:33:09,780
a place that is so associated with christ
768
00:33:09,780 --> 00:33:12,420
that it's practically attached to his name.
769
00:33:12,420 --> 00:33:13,720
He's not just jesus.
770
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:15,490
He's jesus of...
771
00:33:19,390 --> 00:33:22,490
I pull into nazareth feeling about half past dead,
772
00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:24,530
but instead of taking a load off,
773
00:33:24,530 --> 00:33:26,800
I take a walk around the remarkable city
774
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:30,170
where jesus grew up.
775
00:33:30,170 --> 00:33:33,270
Nazareth is where jesus spent his childhood years.
776
00:33:33,270 --> 00:33:35,810
In fact, it may be one of the only things that we can say
777
00:33:35,810 --> 00:33:39,540
for sure about his early life, but modern nazareth
778
00:33:39,550 --> 00:33:41,850
probably isn't anything like you'd expect.
779
00:33:41,850 --> 00:33:43,350
Sure, it has old-world markets,
780
00:33:43,350 --> 00:33:46,250
but, really, this is a modern, bustling city
781
00:33:46,250 --> 00:33:48,990
with a population of 75,000 people
782
00:33:48,990 --> 00:33:52,120
and the largest arab population in all of israel.
783
00:33:52,130 --> 00:33:54,430
Now, if you want to see the nazareth of the bible,
784
00:33:54,430 --> 00:33:57,730
you need to look down.
785
00:33:57,730 --> 00:34:02,130
The nazareth of jesus' time sits on solid bedrock,
786
00:34:02,140 --> 00:34:04,940
buried about 10 feet underground,
787
00:34:04,940 --> 00:34:06,170
but a few years ago,
788
00:34:06,170 --> 00:34:09,540
archaeologists discovered something extraordinary.
789
00:34:09,540 --> 00:34:11,440
I'm inside an ancient silo,
790
00:34:11,450 --> 00:34:14,510
a rock-cut chamber used for storing food
791
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:16,850
and above it... Check it out.
792
00:34:16,850 --> 00:34:22,490
♪
793
00:34:22,490 --> 00:34:26,960
this subterranean room opens up into the basement of a dwelling
794
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,830
but not just any dwelling -- the very first home in nazareth
795
00:34:29,830 --> 00:34:32,900
ever excavated from the time of jesus.
796
00:34:45,250 --> 00:34:48,880
Gates: The markets of jerusalem cater to pilgrims of all faiths,
797
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,080
but what if I'm shopping for a new career?
798
00:34:51,090 --> 00:34:53,920
Well, turns out they've got me covered.
799
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:55,520
Hello. This is your shop?
800
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:57,620
This is my shop. All of these shops?
801
00:34:57,620 --> 00:34:59,290
Yes, all of it. Terrific.
802
00:34:59,290 --> 00:35:00,360
Where do you come from, sir?
803
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:02,290
I come from usa. Usa?
804
00:35:02,300 --> 00:35:03,730
Can I be an actor one day, maybe?
805
00:35:03,730 --> 00:35:04,930
You want to be an actor?
806
00:35:04,930 --> 00:35:07,200
Well, my friend, they say I'm a good actor.
807
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:08,530
Really? Yeah.
808
00:35:08,540 --> 00:35:11,540
Let me see sad.
809
00:35:11,540 --> 00:35:15,170
Let me see scared.
810
00:35:15,180 --> 00:35:16,210
You got the part.
811
00:35:16,210 --> 00:35:17,710
You've won a job hosting the show.
812
00:35:17,710 --> 00:35:19,110
I take it as a compliment.
813
00:35:19,110 --> 00:35:20,480
I'm going to work here now, and you'll do this.
814
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:21,780
Good luck. Thank you.
815
00:35:21,780 --> 00:35:22,980
You can have the hat. Here you go.
816
00:35:22,980 --> 00:35:25,420
All right. And let me see how it looks.
817
00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:30,390
I'll just be here at the shop. Good luck.
818
00:35:30,390 --> 00:35:31,490
All right. Thank you.
819
00:35:31,490 --> 00:35:32,560
Good luck. Follow him around now, guys.
820
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:34,530
That way.
821
00:35:34,530 --> 00:35:37,530
I'll just be here.
822
00:35:37,530 --> 00:35:39,730
Half off, everything is half off!
823
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:51,810
Gates: In search of the truth
824
00:35:51,810 --> 00:35:53,610
behind the story of jesus' birth,
825
00:35:53,610 --> 00:35:56,480
I've examined the church of the nativity in bethlehem
826
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,150
and scanned a second site
827
00:35:58,150 --> 00:36:01,490
purported to be the real place where he was born.
828
00:36:01,490 --> 00:36:04,290
Now I'm exploring his hometown of nazareth,
829
00:36:04,290 --> 00:36:08,030
where archaeologists recently unearthed a unique dwelling.
830
00:36:08,030 --> 00:36:10,760
But not just any dwelling -- the very first home in nazareth
831
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,870
ever excavated from the time of jesus.
832
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:20,270
The find revealed for the first time
833
00:36:20,270 --> 00:36:22,940
what life might have been like for the young family of three
834
00:36:22,940 --> 00:36:24,980
that came home from that manger.
835
00:36:24,980 --> 00:36:27,910
Archaeologists found pottery and other artifacts,
836
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:29,810
a portrait of this modest village
837
00:36:29,820 --> 00:36:32,920
that had a very special kid playing in its streets.
838
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:35,520
What's truly incredible about this place
839
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,920
isn't its grandeur but rather its modesty.
840
00:36:38,930 --> 00:36:41,830
The real nazareth was a tiny jewish village,
841
00:36:41,830 --> 00:36:46,930
probably 40 or 50 small brick-lined houses like this.
842
00:36:46,930 --> 00:36:48,870
Nazareth doesn't even show up on a proper map
843
00:36:48,870 --> 00:36:52,040
until 300 years after jesus dies.
844
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:53,840
In a town that small, for all we know,
845
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,240
jesus himself could have walked inside this very house,
846
00:36:57,240 --> 00:36:58,880
but the more that you learn
847
00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:01,110
about the real, historic nazareth,
848
00:37:01,110 --> 00:37:03,620
the more that the mysteries about the birth of jesus
849
00:37:03,620 --> 00:37:05,280
come into focus.
850
00:37:05,290 --> 00:37:10,620
♪
851
00:37:10,620 --> 00:37:13,530
the story of jesus doesn't actually begin with his birth.
852
00:37:13,530 --> 00:37:16,130
It begins when the angel gabriel informs mary
853
00:37:16,130 --> 00:37:19,000
that she's carrying the child of god.
854
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,100
This is known as the annunciation,
855
00:37:21,100 --> 00:37:22,770
and not only is there a church here to mark
856
00:37:22,770 --> 00:37:24,670
the occasion, there are two.
857
00:37:24,670 --> 00:37:26,540
There's a huge basilica at the site
858
00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:29,040
where helena believed it took place,
859
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:30,440
and if that's not to your liking,
860
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:33,080
there's a second shrine where the greek orthodox church
861
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,950
holds that the blessed event really happened,
862
00:37:35,950 --> 00:37:38,580
and that's where I meet dr. Uzi dahari...
863
00:37:38,590 --> 00:37:39,850
Dr. Dahari. Hi.
864
00:37:39,850 --> 00:37:41,390
Nice to meet you.
865
00:37:41,390 --> 00:37:43,290
...An archaeologist who thinks that nazareth
866
00:37:43,290 --> 00:37:46,890
was the site of more than just the annunciation.
867
00:37:46,890 --> 00:37:48,930
So let's talk about the birth of jesus.
868
00:37:48,930 --> 00:37:51,300
I've been to not one but two bethlehems now,
869
00:37:51,300 --> 00:37:52,860
and what do you make of this idea
870
00:37:52,870 --> 00:37:54,670
that jesus was born in bethlehem?
871
00:37:54,670 --> 00:37:57,500
Do you think there's any history to support that?
872
00:37:57,500 --> 00:37:58,400
No. You don't?
873
00:37:58,410 --> 00:37:59,370
No. I don't think so.
874
00:37:59,370 --> 00:38:00,640
Where do you think he was born?
875
00:38:02,710 --> 00:38:05,010
Somewhere in nazareth?
876
00:38:05,010 --> 00:38:07,710
Okay. We're going to need a bigger headline.
877
00:38:07,710 --> 00:38:10,050
Unlike the other archaeologists I've met with,
878
00:38:10,050 --> 00:38:13,290
dr. Dahari doesn't believe jesus was born in bethlehem
879
00:38:13,290 --> 00:38:16,820
at all, not the one in judea, not the one in galilee
880
00:38:16,820 --> 00:38:19,090
but right here in nazareth.
881
00:38:29,100 --> 00:38:31,200
Right, and one of the other stories
882
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,670
that I think so many of us know
883
00:38:33,670 --> 00:38:36,940
is the idea that the reason that he's born in bethlehem
884
00:38:36,940 --> 00:38:39,140
is because there's this tax census.
885
00:38:39,150 --> 00:38:40,910
Is there any evidence that a census like this
886
00:38:40,910 --> 00:38:42,150
ever took place?
887
00:38:46,490 --> 00:38:50,390
The only known census in that time was around 6 ad,
888
00:38:50,390 --> 00:38:52,720
well after the birth of jesus.
889
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,300
The idea that everybody would have to go back
890
00:39:00,300 --> 00:39:02,600
to the place they were born to be taxed
891
00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:04,470
seems like a pretty crazy system.
892
00:39:05,710 --> 00:39:08,240
There's no real evidence that romans ever required
893
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:11,410
people to road-trip to their hometowns to be taxed.
894
00:39:11,410 --> 00:39:14,450
Instead, dr. Dahari believes that the tax census
895
00:39:14,450 --> 00:39:16,950
was a kind of plot device by later authors
896
00:39:16,950 --> 00:39:19,680
who were trying to reconcile jesus' birth story
897
00:39:19,690 --> 00:39:23,860
with old testament prophecies of who the messiah needed to be.
898
00:39:23,860 --> 00:39:26,260
For example, the messiah was thought to be from the house
899
00:39:26,260 --> 00:39:28,790
of the great jewish leader king david
900
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,930
who was born in, you guessed it, bethlehem.
901
00:39:31,930 --> 00:39:34,300
If we can connect him to david,
902
00:39:34,300 --> 00:39:37,540
then he is the sort of rightful heir.
903
00:39:40,510 --> 00:39:42,510
When you think about what a kind of humble place
904
00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:45,880
nazareth was, the idea that he was born here
905
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:47,680
does make the most sense.
906
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:50,450
Right.
907
00:39:55,620 --> 00:39:59,220
Consider this -- from the time of his birth until his baptism
908
00:39:59,230 --> 00:40:04,000
by john around 30 years later, jesus lived here in nazareth
909
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,500
all but the last three years of his life,
910
00:40:06,500 --> 00:40:08,930
and the only thing the bible tells us
911
00:40:08,940 --> 00:40:11,340
about this entire period is one story
912
00:40:11,340 --> 00:40:15,570
of a teenage jesus getting lost on a trip to jerusalem.
913
00:40:15,580 --> 00:40:17,110
That's it.
914
00:40:17,110 --> 00:40:18,540
It's the humbleness of jesus
915
00:40:18,550 --> 00:40:20,080
and the simplicity of his life
916
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:24,320
that causes this mystery because nobody really,
917
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,890
in his time, wrote down anything about him.
918
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:33,160
Right.
919
00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:37,230
Right.
920
00:40:40,170 --> 00:40:41,730
With dr. Dahari's words,
921
00:40:41,740 --> 00:40:44,670
I'm once again reminded of the remarkable fact
922
00:40:44,670 --> 00:40:48,740
that jesus, the central figure in 2 millennia of human history,
923
00:40:48,740 --> 00:40:52,680
was, in his own time, simply a man among men.
924
00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:56,010
When that changed, many of the details of his early life
925
00:40:56,020 --> 00:40:59,120
had already been lost.
926
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:00,790
Having heard three different theories
927
00:41:00,790 --> 00:41:02,990
about the location of jesus' birth,
928
00:41:02,990 --> 00:41:06,320
it does seem that the simplest story is the likeliest,
929
00:41:06,330 --> 00:41:08,160
that he was born where he grew up --
930
00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:09,890
here in nazareth.
931
00:41:11,870 --> 00:41:14,630
The search for the historic truth around jesus' birth
932
00:41:14,630 --> 00:41:18,400
and early life has turned up sincere differences of opinion
933
00:41:18,410 --> 00:41:20,570
and some contradicting liturgy.
934
00:41:22,710 --> 00:41:25,540
But what's remarkable is the universal desire,
935
00:41:25,550 --> 00:41:27,710
even after 2,000 years,
936
00:41:27,710 --> 00:41:30,950
to know more about the man named jesus christ.
937
00:41:30,950 --> 00:41:34,750
His history may always remain something of a mystery,
938
00:41:34,750 --> 00:41:37,590
but the most fundamental of his teachings are as clear
939
00:41:37,590 --> 00:41:41,160
as when they were first written down here in the 1st century --
940
00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:45,560
love thy neighbor as thyself, care for the weakest among us
941
00:41:45,570 --> 00:41:48,400
and stand for the dignity of all.
942
00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:51,870
Whether historic or divine,
943
00:41:51,870 --> 00:41:54,570
it's a message that's worth following.
71668
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