All language subtitles for Lost.Treasures.of.the.Bible.Secrets.of.Faith.S01E01.720p.WEB.H264-SHIIIT_track4_[eng]

[Archaeologist] Coin!

[beeping]

[Narrator] On the shores
of the Sea of Galilee,

a team of archaeologists
investigates

the ruins of an ancient town.

Very beautiful.

Come on, come on.

Careful!

[Narrator] Among
the 2,000-year-old treasures...

Motti, come over.

[Narrator]
...they brush the dust

from a mysterious inscription.

[Archaeologist] I don't think it
is rare; I think it is unique.

I don’t know any other
inscription that is even close.

This is the first one,
and the only one.

[Narrator] It's an ancient text
that sheds light on the truth

behind the life and death
of Jesus Christ.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

The stories in the Bible
are famous across the world.

They tell of great battles
between good and evil,

earth-shaking catastrophes

and epic heroes.

Now, new archaeological
discoveries

buried in the Middle East
for thousands of years

shed light on the real events
that inspired these legends.

For millions, Jesus is
both the son of God

and an actual
historical figure.

According to the Gospels,
he was a spiritual leader

who performed miracles
before being put on trial

for blasphemy,
executed and buried.

Christians believe
he rose again to save humanity.

But what historical
evidence exists

about the real people,
places and events

that shaped Jesus’ existence?

Today, international teams
of archaeologists are digging

the ancient lands
where he lived

for new clues about
the story of Jesus,

and the final tumultuous
days of his life.

They battle
challenging conditions.

[Archaeologist]
We couldn't start working

because the big trees
were still on fire.

[Narrator] And investigate
hidden locations.

[Historian] This is one
of the most surprising finds

of the church.

[Narrator] To unlock the secrets
of the man whose life and death

gave rise to a whole
new religion:

Christianity.

In the holy ancient city
of Jerusalem

lies for many the most sacred
Christian basilica

in the world.

Yisca Harani, an expert
in Christian history,

has studied the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre for decades.

[Yisca] This is fascinating
and exciting,

the longest surviving and
operating place of worship

in the city of Jerusalem.

[Narrator] The church is
said to be built

on what the Bible calls
the Hill of Golgotha,

the place where Jesus was
crucified and buried nearby.

The New Testament says that
after his death on the cross,

Jesus' followers took his body
to a nearby rock-cut tomb

where he was laid to rest

before rising again
three days later.

Over the centuries, the church
has been damaged and rebuilt

many times,
burying potential evidence

of the original landscape and
Jesus’ tomb deep underneath.

But stepping inside, Yisca
finds the church still follows

the contours of
the biblical landscape.

[Yisca] So we are
ascending perhaps

the holiest mountain
in Jerusalem.

[Narrator] At the top of
the stairs is a sacred shrine.

[Yisca] It is here
that you see an altar,

raised above the place where the
cross was stuck into the ground.

[Narrator] Glass cases reveal
the bedrock of Golgotha below.

[Yisca] You go down to
the roots of this church,

stratigraphically, the roots are
the topography of Jerusalem

in Jesus’ times.

[Narrator] Finally, in
the center of the church,

Yisca reaches the Edicule.

[Yisca] This is the most
prominent structure

to signify here is
the tomb of Jesus.

♪ ♪

So we have entered
the Chapel of the Angel.

According to the New Testament,

an angel was there
when the tomb opened.

Here, where you see this altar,

that's a remnant
of the rolling stone

that was closing
the chamber of the burial.

[Narrator] A narrow entranceway
leads into the chamber

of the most Holy Sepulchre,
the closest visitors can get

to what is believed to be
Jesus’ burial place.

[Yisca] It is here that
you see the marble stone

protecting the place
where the body was laid.

[Narrator] For many Christians,

this is the most sacred site
in the world.

But archaeologists want to know
if this is the real

burial place of Jesus.

It's a quest for truth that
began over 1,600 years ago.

Around 325 CE, Rome's first
Christian emperor Constantine,

sent his mother to Jerusalem
to find physical traces

of the life and death of Jesus.

It was believed his tomb lay
buried under a pagan temple

honoring Venus, which she
ordered to be demolished.

As workers excavated
the ground,

they unearthed a cave
with an intact tomb.

Emperor Constantine built a
majestic church above the tomb

to honor the place
where he believed

Jesus came back to life.

Today, the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre still stands

on the site of Constantine's
original church,

and is run by several
Christian communities

including the Greek Orthodox,
the Roman Catholic,

and the Armenian
Apostolic Churches.

But today's experts
are intrigued

by how Constantine's mother
could have been so sure

about the location
of Jesus’ tomb.

Yisca notes
a puzzling contradiction.

According to the Bible,
Jesus was crucified

outside of Jerusalem’s
city walls.

[Yisca] Jews would not
bury their dead

inside the city walls.

That's why cemeteries
throughout the Jewish world

are always outside the walls.

[Narrator] Yet the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre,

under which Jesus was said
to be crucified and buried,

sits firmly within
the ancient city walls.

Yisca will need
to investigate further

to make sense of this mystery.

Most historians believe
a person called Jesus

really lived and was
crucified by the Romans,

with around three to four
independent sources

from within a century
of his death.

So how close can we get

to the real historical
figure of Jesus?

The investigation moves to the
shores of the Sea of Galilee.

80 miles north of Jerusalem,

at a site called El Araj,

a team of archaeologists
is beginning

an ambitious excavation

that could reveal clues
about Jesus’ life.

Archaeologist
Mordechai "Motti" Aviam

is in charge of the dig.

[Mordechai "Motti" Aviam] Open
your eyes and take all pottery

that you see,
that’s very important.

I enjoy every dig.

I enjoy excavating everywhere.

But digging here, this site
became very interesting for me.

Good jobs you are doing here.
Good luck.

[Worker] Thank you.

[Narrator] Motti and the team
believe this area could be

hiding the remains of one of
the most famous miracle sites

in the New Testament:

an ancient fishing settlement
called Bethsaida.

[Motti] Bethsaida, the meaning
is "the house of the fishermen."

[Narrator] It was a place
that played

a central role in Jesus’ life.

[Motti] It was the home place
of three of Jesus' disciples.

And Jesus himself,
according to the New Testament,

visited the site
and made miracles at the site,

and it was very,
it was well known.

[Narrator] Almost no other place
features in the Gospels,

the Books of Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John,

as much as Bethsaida.

But for many centuries,
its location has been lost.

Motti and the team
want to find out

if this could be the famous
biblical village.

First, the team begins
scouring the ground

for any signs of ancient metal
to date the site.

[Archaeologist] Coin!

[beeping]

Coin.

[Motti]
Ring the bell, ring the bell.

[bell rings]

A tiny, small coin from
the Byzantine period,

mainly 5th century.

[Narrator] The small coin is
over 1,500 years old,

but the team needs evidence
from at least 2,000 years ago

if they are to link this site
to biblical Bethsaida

where Jesus is said
to have performed

two of his most
famous miracles.

The Bible says thousands
of people came to Bethsaida

to listen to Jesus.

And as the evening drew near,
they grew hungry.

The only food
the disciples could find

were two fish and
five loaves of bread.

So they wanted to send
the crowd away.

But after Jesus
blessed the food,

it was enough to feed everyone,
with 12 baskets left over.

And that same night as
the disciples hit a storm

on Lake Galilee,
Jesus walked on water

to come to their rescue.

So far, the site has revealed
a puzzling mix of artifacts

from many different eras.

Motti decides to take over
duties with the metal detector.

[beeping]

[Motti] Ah, something
is beeping here.

[Narrator] And he makes
a tantalizing find.

[Motti] Aha! Here is something
that we like very much.

Ring the bell!

[bell rings]

This is a lead weight
for a fishing net.

I think it’s also
a decorated one.

People on the lake
were mostly fishermen,

and that goes very well
with the description

in the New Testament.

That’s nice.

[Narrator] The decorated
lead weight indicates

that fishing took place
from this site.

But is this the real
biblical Bethsaida?

[Narrator] In search of more
evidence for the village

where the Bible says
Jesus fed the 5,000,

Motti widens his search
at El Araj

to the surrounding area.

A recent disaster
has transformed

the site beyond recognition.

[Motti] Just two days
before we started excavating

this season, there was
a huge wildfire here,

which burned down our container
with all our equipment

and also burned down this area
of the site of El Araj.

[Narrator] For at least
the past century,

the area had been overgrown
with thick vegetation

and often flooded, making it
impossible to determine

the ancient village’s age
and its boundaries.

Now, the wildfire has given
Motti a unique opportunity.

[Motti] Think that
no one else before us,

at least in the last 100 years,

ever looked at it
in archaeological eyes.

[Narrator] Amidst
the scorched landscape,

he quickly finds evidence
that the village

extended beyond
the main dig site.

[Motti] Opa!

Here is a nice find.

This is the top of the lower
part of a grinding stone.

Part of life in a village.
It’s lucky to see it on surface.

[Narrator] Further along are
clues which help him date it.

[Motti] What we have here
under the ash

is a section of a wall
from a house.

As a matter of fact,

all the area here,
all the stones you see

are debris of houses
from the Roman period.

[Narrator] Thanks to the
wildfire, Motti's been able

to discover finds
that prove this area

was inhabited in Roman times.

It's an encouraging step,

and there’s more
back at the dig site.

[Motti] We found here
a piece of mosaic floor.

What's interesting is the fact
that it is placed

in a very thick layer of cement;

this is not from a simple floor.

We dug here, a little probe,
and in the probe you can see

three big stones in a line.

That could be the hint
for a public bathhouse.

[Narrator] The mosaic floor
tiles and thick walls suggest

the existence of
a Roman bathhouse

in this once tiny
fishing village.

It matches the description
of Bethsaida

by an ancient Roman historian
called Josephus Flavius.

He writes that around
the time of Jesus,

the village was transformed
from a Jewish settlement

to a small Roman city.

[Motti] It is a hint
for us to understand

that there is a change
in this village,

it's not easy to get a proof
in archaeology,

but it is a strong suggestion

that these finds support

very much the identification
of El Araj

as biblical Bethsaida.

[Narrator] Incredibly, it seems
the team has identified

the real Bethsaida,

where the Bible says Jesus
performed several miracles.

But what about the next
phase of his life,

in which he would gain
more followers

but also attention
from the authorities?

Where were these next miracles
said to have taken place?

Back in Jerusalem,
around half a mile

from the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre is Temple Mount.

At the time of Jesus,
the Temple atop this hill

was the epicenter
of Jewish worship,

attracting pilgrims from
all over the ancient world.

♪ ♪

Professor Uzi Leibner digs
on the final approach

to the Temple,
a site named Ophel Hill.

[Uzi Leibner] We can probably
presume tens if not hundreds

of thousands of people
arriving here.

[Narrator] So far, excavations
have revealed a maze of stairs,

alleyways,
and even ancient shops

designed to serve
myriad pilgrims.

But some of the most
intriguing infrastructure

the team has discovered
lies buried beneath

the ancient city’s floor.

[Uzi] It's about
three meters high

with these impressive capstones
roofing them on top.

[Narrator] The mystery tunnel
leads to a chamber.

Uzi believes
he knows its purpose.

[Uzi] Right here
we have a water reservoir,

a vaulted water reservoir.

[Narrator] It's just one small
part of a rabbit warren

of subterranean
public water reservoirs

and drainage channels.

[Uzi] We don't know exactly
where all the water came from,

but we know it was
a large quantity of water

based on the size
of this drainage.

[Narrator] Uzi believes
the evidence points

to one specific use
for all this water.

[Uzi] We think this was all
meant to serve dozens and dozens

of public ritual baths.

[Narrator] Visitors were
expected to bathe

and purify themselves
before making a pilgrimage.

Uzi’s team has discovered
around 100 baths at the Ophel.

A ritual bathing pool is
strongly associated

with one of the miracles Jesus
is said to have performed.

What light can Uzi's
investigations shed

on its whereabouts?

[Narrator] Just a quarter
of a mile away

from the Ophel Hill excavation
is a site said to be

one of Jerusalem's most
important ritual baths,

the Siloam Pool.

The Bible says as Jesus
walked through Jerusalem,

he saw a blind beggar.

He made mud from the dust and
rubbed it on the man’s eyes.

He instructed him to wash
in the Pool of Siloam,

and for the first time,
the beggar could see.

Archaeologists first began
exploring this site

two decades ago.

And on discovering a wide set
of steps and the first signs

of a particularly
well crafted big pool,

declared that this was the
ancient miracle site of Siloam.

Now, archaeologists are
taking a second look.

Itamar Berko runs the dig.

Right now we are in the bottom

of what is considered
as the Pool of Siloam.

It was such an enormous find.

[Narrator] Now excavated to its
full size of 225 feet wide

and around 16 feet deep,
this giant freshwater pool

is dotted with evidence
from the time of Jesus.

But Itamar is
no longer convinced

this is the original
miracle site.

We, the archaeologists,
think otherwise.

It has too many stairs
for ritual baths

and it’s too big to be
a ritual bath.

[Narrator] Another reason is
the debris his team pulls

from the pool floor.

We just discovered
a sherd of pottery.

It probably came from floods

and sediments that
arrived to the pool.

[Narrator] Itamar believes
rainwater and debris

were diverted here by this
40-foot-high wall

running the length of the pool.

If the true Pool of Siloam

was meant for religious
purification,

such impure water
casts serious doubt

that this is the right place.

The Pool of Siloam
has only pure water,

much more pure than
what we have right here.

[Narrator] So where might
the actual Pool of Siloam be?

The Bible states
that it was fed

by a pure, freshwater source
called the Gihon Spring,

which still flows today.

It's a clue that leads
Itamar to explore

an underground waterway
around 300 yards away.

This tunnel was built 700 years
before Jesus Christ.

Its purpose was
to deliver the water

to a location inside of
the city walls of Jerusalem.

It was carved by a chisel and a
hammer for more than 533 meters.

[Narrator] This channel,
called Hezekiah's Tunnel,

extends over a third of a mile
beneath Jerusalem

to the Gihon Spring

and ends here in
a small, shallow pool.

This pool is fed by

spring water,
which is pure water.

[Narrator] According to
long-held, local tradition,

this was the Siloam Pool.

But 20 years ago,
it was eclipsed

by the exciting discovery
of the monumental basin

Itamar currently excavates.

So was this the right place
all along?

Historical texts from
the first century offer clues,

noting that the Pool of Siloam
was located next to

a much bigger pool called
the Pool of Solomon.

We suggest that
the Solomon's Pool was now

where we are excavating
and the Pool of Siloam

is right in the outlet
of Hezekiah's Tunnel

which was the site where
Jesus cured a blind man.

[Narrator] It seems Itamar's
team might have confirmed

the location of one of the most
sacred miracle sites

in all of Jerusalem.

But if this is the true
Pool of Siloam,

what was the purpose of
the much larger Solomon’s Pool?

Right here it was used, I think,
for a reservoir pool

as a pool to drink water in
the years before Jesus himself.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] This huge pool
probably supplied

vital fresh water
to the city's residents

and the vast numbers of
pilgrims who came to Jerusalem.

From there they climbed
a wide-stepped street

known as the Pilgrim Road.

Merchants lined the way
selling offerings

to be taken on their journey.

And branching streets led
to markets and lodging houses.

At the top of the stairs
rose three mighty gates,

the entrances to the sacred
complex which was the epicenter

of Jewish worship
during the time of Jesus.

The Bible tells us that
it was here in Jerusalem

that the authorities began
to take notice of Jesus.

But why did he come here?

And can more clues be unearthed
that might help

crack the mystery
of his final burial site?

[Narrator] In Jerusalem,
outside the ancient city walls,

lies a secluded, hidden garden.

[Yisca] Jerusalem is
so crowded, so busy,

and here we are a stone's throw
away from the old city,

and you walk in this paradise.

[Narrator] Here, historian
Yisca Harani continues

to explore the mystery
of how the body of Jesus

could be buried in a site that
lies inside the city walls.

[Yisca] It is known that
Jewish tradition has it

that no one will be dead
and buried inside the city.

That's why cemeteries
throughout the Jewish world

are always outside the walls.

[Narrator] That contradiction
led scholars

in the 19th century
to propose this place,

known as the Garden Tomb,
as Jesus’ burial place instead.

[Yisca] This seemed to be a very
logical and a very beautiful

and a very aesthetical solution

to the quest after Jesus’ tomb.

[Narrator] But what evidence is
there to support this idea?

Deeper into the garden,

Yisca spots an opening
in the rock face.

[Yisca] So we are
in an ancient tomb.

You can see the stone,

the original stone into
which the place was carved,

and three niches were
placed for three bodies.

[Narrator] The surroundings also
match the environment

as described in the Bible.

[Yisca] It is fitting
to the word that appears

in the Gospel of John, there was
a garden where the body of Jesus

was placed in a tomb.

And here you are,
you have a beautiful garden.

[Narrator] Archaeological
evidence shows there's been

a garden here in the past.

Outside there's more evidence

to match the account
of Jesus’ burial place.

[Yisca] Gospels all recall
the rolling stone,

and that helped to see here,

potential place for
the burial of Jesus.

So if you look here, you will
see that there's a trench

and there is the leftovers
of a rolling stone

that could have been
rolled to lock the door.

[Narrator] The style of the tomb
and its location

seem to fit the description
in biblical texts.

But Yisca is not convinced.

[Yisca] This is way too far

from the walls of the city
in Jesus’ times.

And it is clearly the case
that Romans crucified people

right next to the walls
of the city,

because they wanted people,
especially pilgrims,

they would see people
crucified outside the walls.

They would learn not
to mess with the rulers.

[Narrator] If this garden tomb
isn't the true tomb of Jesus,

Yisca must continue
her investigation elsewhere.

Could finding out more about
the last days of Jesus,

including the people he shared
his final journey with,

the disciples, shed light
on this mystery?

80 miles north of Jerusalem

at El Araj,

having finally
identified Bethsaida,

Motti and his team now want to
investigate a biblical mystery

for which the town is famous.

Bethsaida was said to be home
to three disciples,

Philip, Andrew and Peter.

No archaeological evidence
has been found to prove

any of the apostles
really existed,

so could this be the place
to look for clues?

Over the past few seasons,
the team has unearthed remains

of what appears to be
an ancient Byzantine church,

but dated to around 500 years
after the time of Jesus.

Why it’s here is a mystery.

[Motti] The discovery of
the church was very surprising,

very surprising.

No one mentions a church here
since the 8th century.

[Narrator] Motti and the team
want to understand

why a church was built
on this particular spot.

Recently, while excavating
the floor inside the ruins,

the team uncovered
something extraordinary.

Today, Motti's showing

colleague Professor
Jacob Ashkenazi.

[Jacob Ashkenazi]
Very impressive.

More than impressive.

Almost complete. No damage.

[Narrator] It’s an ancient
mosaic inscription.

[Motti] No damage,
not even one stone is missing.

[Jacob] No, no, no, no.

Maybe some scratches,
but all the letters are there.

[Narrator] Jacob translates
the ancient Greek text.

[Jacob] The first word is
egéneto, it means "was done."

Psiphos, okay the, the mosaic,

All the work of the mosaic
was done.

Spoudé, in the generosity or by
the generosity of Konstantinou,

Konstantin,
the name of the donor.

[Narrator] It appears to be
an inscription which celebrates

the man who funded part
of the church's construction

in the name of his family.

[Jacob] And I believe that
this Constantine was a pilgrim

who came here and was
fascinated by the place,

and was very excited, of course,

and decided to donate and
to commemorate his children.

[Narrator] But then,
in the next line,

an intriguing dedication
jumps out.

[Jacob] Ken-nou-the.

It means the chief, the leader.

Ton apostolon,
the chief of the apostles.

Chief of the apostles
is St. Peter, of course,

the first disciple of Jesus,

whom he met together with
his brother Andrew on the lake.

[Narrator] Could this
inscription really refer to

Peter of the disciples, one
of Jesus’ closest companions?

[Narrator] At El-Araj,
archaeologists try to decipher

whether a 1,500-year-old
inscription

names one of the disciples
from the Bible.

[Jacob]
"The keeper of the keys."

This is very interesting.

[Motti]
There’s only one keeper...

[Jacob] Yeah, there is only one
keeper of the keys,

which is, of course, Peter.

[Narrator] According to the
Gospels, Peter was a fisherman

on the Sea of Galilee

whom Jesus granted
a miraculous catch of fish.

♪ ♪

Peter then became
one of the 12 Disciples,

Jesus names him Cephas,
meaning "the rock,"

on whom the future
would be built.

On the day Jesus was arrested,
fear gripped Peter.

To his great shame, he denied
knowing Jesus three times.

But after the resurrection,
Peter was forgiven,

becoming the leader
of the church

and keeper of the keys
to heaven and earth.

♪ ♪

[Motti] Isn’t it
a rare inscription?

[Jacob] I don't think
it is rare.

[Motti] No.
[Jacob] I think it is unique.

I dont know any other
inscription that is even close

to the content
of this inscription.

There is no inscription
all over Palestine

that mentions St. Peter,
not even one.

[Narrator] The reference
to St. Peter

is an astounding discovery
that could explain the reason

this church was built.

Motti investigates
the rest of its ruins.

[Motti] Underneath
the floor of the church,

which was at this level,

there are three earlier layers.

One, the very deep one,

a wall from
the first century CE

of a private dwelling.

We dated it according
to pottery that we found

at the base of the wall.

Above it,
the basilica was built.

[Narrator] It seems the church
was built on top

of a much older house--
but why?

[Motti] The most important part
of the basilica, the apse,

in which the altar stands,
is right above this wall.

It means that the important
part of the church,

what is underneath the altar,
is the wall.

[Narrator]
Coupled with the clues

from the mosaic inscription,

Motti thinks the people
who built this church

believed the house beneath
was a sacred place.

[Motti] That for me says
that they identified

as the house of Peter.

[Narrator] This could be the
home of St. Peter of Bethsaida,

one of Jesus'
very closest friends

who could accompany him
in his final weeks.

So what led Jesus, Peter
and the other disciples

back to Jerusalem
for the final time?

In Jerusalem, beside the city's
holy Temple Mount,

archaeologist Uzi Leibner
and his team continue to dig

for artifacts along the ancient
Jewish pilgrimage route.

So far, the team has
unearthed a treasure trove

of bronze and silver coins

among the ruins
of a grand building.

It’s evidence of
a bustling marketplace.

[Uzi] Shops, money changers,

places where can people
can buy their sacrifice.

Commerce is a important part
of life around the Temple.

[Narrator] And the Bible says
it was something

Jesus found hard to tolerate,

especially during his
final trip to Jerusalem

with the disciples
in the last week of his life.

♪ ♪

When Jesus saw the money
changers in the Temple,

his heart filled with rage.

♪ ♪

[coins clinking]

He overturned tables,

accusing them of turning
a house of prayer

into a den of robbers.

He then drove away
animal traders,

asking them to stop making his
father’s house a marketplace.

According to the Bible,
Jesus and his 12 Disciples

were on a pilgrimage
to the Temple at the time,

for a festival known
as Passover.

It commemorates
the story of Exodus,

the liberation
of the Israelites

from slavery in ancient Egypt,
and is celebrated with a feast.

The Passover meal, said
to have been eaten by Jesus

and his followers, is known
as the Last Supper.

And among the debris
in another ritual pool,

the team finds
sherds of pottery,

cooking vessels and hundreds
of fragments of animal bones.

[Orit Peleg-Barkat] So we have
three boxes of animal bones

that were collected.

Clearly lamb or sheep was
the major sacrificial animal

in the Temple,
especially over Passover,

you give the lamb sacrifice.

Taking into consideration our
close vicinity to the Temple,

this might be from the ritual
that was taking place.

[Narrator] On some of
the pot fragments,

archaeologist Orit Peleg-Barkat
finds a unique feature

that ties this trash
specifically

to the cooking of lamb
for Passover.

[Orit] What is interesting
about these cooking pots

is that many of them
are punctured.

[Narrator] Ritually pure
cooking vessels were required

for the pilgrims' sacrificial
meals in the Temple,

and had to be put out of use
at the end of the pilgrimage.

[Orit] The fact that this
cooking pot was used

for preparing the lamb sacrifice
meant they became impure

and you could not use them
anymore for your daily cooking.

Ceremonially, they were making
a small hole within the sides

so they cannot be used
any further.

[Narrator] The bones and pottery
document the reality

behind the Last Supper.

But it was far more
sinister reasons

that made
the Last Supper famous.

According to the New Testament,

it was here, in the final
week of his life,

that Jesus predicted
his betrayal.

By the end of the next day,
he was put on trial, executed,

and buried in a rock-cut tomb
with a garden nearby.

While it's been claimed
since Roman times

that his burial site lies
beneath the Holy Sepulchre,

the church's location
inside the city walls

seems to rule it out.

So how can this
contradiction be solved?

Where is the tomb of Jesus?

[Narrator] The key to
the mysterious location

of Jesus' tomb could lie
in the complex history

of Jerusalem itself.

Just as the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre

has been rebuilt and reshaped
over two millennia,

so has Jerusalem.

The city walls haven’t always
looked like they do today.

Has their location changed
since the time of Jesus?

Yisca pursues the investigation
in a lower level of the church.

[Yisca] It is cramped
and it is dark,

but this is one of the most
surprising finds

of the church.

You see that we are
in a stone cave,

and in it at least four niches,

two of them, look,
two of them are sealed.

But if these stones
were taken out,

we would see that
there's a niche

in the size of a human body,
just as you see here and here.

[Narrator] Incredibly it seems
this was a Jewish cemetery,

one that archaeologists
have now dated

to the first century AD.

For Yisca, it is proof
the city plan must have changed

over the years.

[Yisca] Finding this, finding
this burial system here,

so close to the Edicule,
proves to us beyond any doubt

that this was outside the walls
of the city of Jerusalem

in Jesus’ times.

[Narrator] Archaeologists
believe the city walls

were altered and expanded
a few years after the burial

is said to have occurred,

bringing this area of the
church inside their boundary.

The contradiction is solved.

But is there any evidence that
Jesus himself is buried here?

In 2023, after years
of negotiation,

archaeologists were granted
permission to lift the floor

and carry out the most
extensive excavations

in 200 years.

What they found would have
an earth-shattering impact

on the hunt
for the tomb of Jesus.

Yisca has been granted
rare access

to this hidden underground area
through a secret doorway

in the Armenian part
of the church.

[Yisca] This place was hidden
from the eyes of everyone,

also from the Armenians,

but in the '70s when they
opened the little opening,

and this is what you see,
an ancient quarry.

[Narrator] Dating to 1,000 years
before Jesus,

the quarry extended
beneath the entire area

of the current church.

It is in the ancient quarry
where excavators

made an exciting
discovery--soil--

and within the soil, seeds.

Could this be evidence
of an ancient garden

as recorded
in the Gospel of John?

[Yisca] Here, this is
the depression,

look, here it was full of soil.

In such depressions you've got
these little gardens

which eventually are mentioned

and become the big story
of the tomb in the garden.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] In 2025,
tests on samples

taken from nearly 20 feet below
today's ground level

show that the soil contains
grape seeds, olive pits,

and pollen, and dating
reveals their age.

They are 2,000 years old.

Conclusive evidence that
by the time of Jesus,

the quarry had become a garden,

planted with olive trees
and vines.

The Bible says that beside this
garden lay a rock-cut tomb,

perhaps similar
to the carved tombs

that today lie
beneath the church.

♪ ♪

This new scientific discovery,

that seems to confirm the
presence of an ancient garden,

convinces Yisca that the puzzle
is finally solved.

[Yisca] To myself,
as a historian,

I am completely convinced that
this is perhaps the closest

we can get to Jesus’
original tomb.

But without this
exceptional place

and without the recent
lab researchers,

we wouldn’t have been able
to prove the case.

[Narrator] The archaeological
investigation

into the real Jesus Christ

has brought the world
he knew to life.

[Orit] Jerusalem
in the time of Jesus

was not something very sterile;

it was a vibrant city,
very alive.

[Narrator] Excavations also shed
light on his lasting legacy.

[Motti] That's a very
important discovery

in understanding the development
of Christianity

in the Holy Land.

[Narrator]
While the investigation

into the life
and death of Jesus

reveals much about the politics
and people of the time.

[Yisca] As a personality, he's
of great interest to historians,

not only to the faithful.

And the events of his death
are also depicting

a period of the harshness
of the rulers.

The real man is important
for everybody--

historians, archaeologists,
and faithful alike.