This series just started this week. Check out the episode guide at the bottom. Looks neat-o.
Simcha Jacobovici is The Naked Archaeologist .
In this world premiere documentary series for VisionTV , the two-time Emmy Award winning producer and director shows viewers Biblical archaeology like they've never seen it before.
He dances. He raps. He clambers under barbed wire and over fences in search of the most extraordinary archaeological finds from the ancient Middle East, and crosses swords with some of the world's foremost archaeologists, historians and scientists.
Shot on location in Israel, Egypt and Greece, The Naked Archaeologist airs on Mondays, starting Sept. 5 at 9:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. ET , and repeats on Tuesdays, starting Sept. 6, at 10:30 p.m. ET .
Fast, funny and irreverent (think the Ali G. meets Indiana Jones), Jacobovici asks the questions we all want to know the answers to: Why is it so bad to be called a Philistine? Was Jezebel really that sexy? What do you do when you find a 2,000-year-old palace under your house? And where do you stop for a good falafel when you're on your way to find the real Mount Sinai?
“My goal,” says Jacobovici, “is to demystify the Bible in general, and archaeology in particular, to brush away the cobwebs and burst academic bubbles.”
Drawing on years of personal research and his experience in bringing history to life on the screen, Jacobovici fearlessly probes some of the most controversial new theories in Biblical archaeology: that an African army rescued Jerusalem in the 8th Century B.C.; that the invention of the alphabet contributed to the Biblical Exodus; and that recently discovered Bronze Age ceramic penises may explain why Delilah fell for Samson.
Says Alberta Nokes , VisionTV's Director of Independent Production and the Executive Producer of The Naked Archaeologist : “This series is a completely fresh way of looking at archaeology and history. Simcha takes the viewer to places most of us will never have access to and reveals what archaeology can – and cannot – tell us about history and the Bible. And he has great fun doing it.
“The show also helps us to see that the ancient past is still with us. Only The Naked Archaeologist could relate a history of the alphabet that brings together ancient inscriptions, the Biblical story of Exodus and the ‘tags' of modern-day graffiti artists.”
The Naked Archaeologist
The Creator
Simcha Jacobovici – Executive Producer/Host
Simcha Jacobovici has been named “Canada's top documentary filmmaker” by the Ryerson Review of Journalism . He is also a widely published writer and lecturer.
Jacobovici's most recent award is the 2005 Overseas Press Club award for Impact of Terror , a documentary report that aired internationally on CNN. He has also received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, a certificate of Special Merit from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a Genie Award, two Gemini Awards, three U.S. Cable Ace Awards, an Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia University Award, a Silver Nymph from the Monte Carlo Festival, and the Best Documentary prize from the Jerusalem International Film Festival.
His feature documentaries include: Impact of Terror (2004), James, Brother of Jesus (2003), The Struma (2001), Quest for the Lost Tribes (1999), Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies & the American Dream (1997), Deadly Currents (1991) and Falasha: Exile of the Black Jews (1983).
Jacobovici's articles have appeared in newspapers all over Canada and the U.S. – among them The Globe and Mail , The Toronto Star , The Montreal Gazette , The Ottawa Citizen , The New York Times , The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe – and have been distributed around the world through Associated Press and the International Herald Tribune . He has also published in the academic journal The Middle East Focus , and is currently writing a book on the archaeology of the Biblical Exodus, to be published in 2006 by Key Porter Books in Canada and St. Martin's Press in the U.S.
Jacobovici has been a guest speaker at many international conferences, and has lectured at universities such as UCLA, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, McGill University and York University.
An Israeli-born Canadian, Jacobovici received a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from McGill University, and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Toronto.
The Naked Archaeologist
September Episodes
Sept. 5: Delilah's People
These days, calling someone a “Philistine” is considered an insult. But archaeology suggests it should actually be taken as a compliment. The Philistines were a sophisticated, cosmopolitan and entrepreneurial people – and they left behind a rich legacy. In this episode, host Simcha Jacobovici gets the scoop on the tribe of Delilah and Goliath, learns about their fertility cults and examines a temple like the one Samson was said to have destroyed with his bare hands.
Sept. 12: Who Invented the Alphabet?
Everyone assumes the Greeks invented the alphabet. But what are its true origins? Archaeological finds tell us it originated in Egypt, where Hebrew slaves began the process of turning hieroglyphics into symbols that convey sounds and can be used to form words. Drawing a line all the way from ancient desert cave scrawlings to present-day urban graffiti, host Simcha Jacobovici traces the evolution of these simple shapes that democratized communication.
Sept. 19: Jerusalem & The Black Prince
In 701 BCE, the brutal Assyrian army stood poised outside the walls of Jerusalem, ready to sack the city. Had they succeeded, Judaism would have died and Christianity and Islam might never have evolved. But according to the Bible, “an angel of God” intervened and the Assyrians were defeated. What stopped them? Scholars have puzzled over this mystery for centuries. Now, Canadian journalist Henry Aubin thinks he has found the answer – but it's a controversial one. He believes it was an Egyptian army, led by a black Nubian pharaoh, that saved the day and helped to shape the course of history.
Sept. 26: What Killed Herod? Herod, the first century ruler of Palestine, was one of the most brilliant and brutal figures of the ancient world. And he died a mysterious and gruesome death, with worms crawling from his flesh even before he expired. Herod is famous for acts of extraordinary cruelty, like the Biblical slaughter of Israel's firstborn sons and the murder of several members of his own family. But he was also responsible for building many impressive public works and turning Jerusalem into one of the most beautiful cities of its time. Was he mad? Or did a painful illness affect his judgment? Modern medical science offers clues to Herod's behaviour, while archaeology gives us a lasting picture of his extraordinary accomplishments.