[music] I'm going on an adventure. Unzip the archeology.
Make it naked. [music] [MALE VOICE] This is an
anthill. Ants are what we call
social insects. They live in communities. [SIMCHA] War and the Middle
East. The two seem almost
synonymous. Endless are the tales of
Christians, Jews and Muslims... ...battling it out over
what looks to many... ...like nothing more than
a small strip of dry sand. But long before all that, there was a war
like no other. Some twenty-seven hundred
years ago... ...the greatest army in
the world, the Assyrian army, marched out of what is today
Iraq... ...and made it to Jerusalem.
On its way... ...it devastated everyone
and everything in its path. Jerusalem was a
relatively tiny city... ...that now found
itself surrounded... ...by the greatest army
in the world. And then according to the
Bible,... ...something incredible
happened, something miraculous. 185 thousand Assyrians died. Mysteriously. Suddenly. An angel of the Lord
had killed them. That's what the Bible has to
say... ...but what does archaeology
have to say about it. Most people don't walk around
thinking about the Assyrians. maybe you're different. Do, do you ever think
about the Assyrians? Ah, not really. -Not really, right?
-No. But, something that happened
with the Assyrians... ...totally affects your life,
and let me explain. They had Jerusalem surrounded. Yes. Then the Bible says
there was a miracle. The next morning,
people wake up... ...there's nobody there.
They left. They ran away. You want to know how
that affects your life? Yes. Had they won, had they
defeated Jerusalem... ...do you realize what
would have happened? There would have been
no Judaism, no Christianity,
no Islam. The whole world
would be different. We wouldn't be sitting
around here... ...celebrating Hanukkah
and Christmas. Yes.
-We'd be- I don't know doing some
Assyrian Pagan thing. [SIMCHA] So what happened? In order to unravel this mystery
my journey begins in Israel. Home of the
only archaeology... ...that can shed light on
what actually occurred. Finding ancient
archaeology is easy... ...compared to making it
through the traffic, and into the old city. It's tried to get to it... ...that's, that's the trick. And make it here and back. [SIMCHA] After a miraculous
parking job, I meet with Dr. Gaby Barkay, an expert on the Assyrian
siege of Jerusalem. Okay, I'm just trying to
understand what's going on here. Assyria is the
big power of the time. Correct. The Assyrians are running
out... ...pillaging and burning cities
all around the country... ...and meanwhile... ...they're trying to get Jerusam
to surrender, yes? It is true, 46 cities of Judah
were destroyed... ...according to Sennacherib.
-Sennacherib? Why couldn't they get
simpler names these guys, why do they have to
get such complicated- Because they were Assyrian. (laughs) I see.
So they had- So they had Assyrian
names. In any case... ...the Assyrians arrive
to Jerusalem. -So they show up here? They show up here and
they built up their camp... ...in order to besiege
the city of Jerusalem, and the city of Jerusalem
is awaiting serious trouble. [MALE VOICE] Many ants
may be killed. It is a fight to the finish when
two opposing soldiers meet. Hard jaws against jaw
with no quarter half. And none given. [SIMCHA] The Assyrians
were led... ...by their sadistic King
Sennacherib. Today there are
two artifacts... ...that confirm the Assyrian
campaign against Judah. The first is a relief carved
in stone... ...depicting Sennacherib's
siege... ...and destruction of Lachish. Interestingly, tyrant
Sennacherib's head is
missing... ...from most of the murals
that survive today. The second significant artifact
is Sennacherib's prism: an inscription on a triangular
tablet... ...which describes in
Sennacharib's own words... ...how he treated his enemies. [SIMCHA] I feel a strange... ...sense of victory eating
a falafel with cucumbers. Did you know that Sennacherib
said... ...he was going to cut up
his enemies like cucumbers? That's what he said?
-Yeah. A cucumber? Cool as a cucumber? That never occurred to me
until this moment. [SIMCHA] Sennacherib,
the king of Assyria... ...was also the self proclaimed
king of the universe, and like many men
looking to take over the world, his grand vision became
a bit shortsighted. (rapping) I'm Sennacherib,
Sennacherib. King. King ... the man. The Assyrian. I'm king of, king of,
king of, king of the world. [SIMCHA] But if Sennacherib's
army... ...was that powerful,
what exactly stopped him... ...from destroying Jerusalem? Oh, I can,
I can thread a needle. I can go in this truck
though a space... ...that is half as wide
as the truck. As it turns out,
Jerusalem wasn't as weak... ...as the history books
might suggest. For a tiny kingdom,
it did a pretty good job... ...of resisting Sennacherib's
attack. Carl Ehrlich is an
archaeologist and historian. I managed to get his take
on the story. So, Sennacherib comes in, he decimates everything in his
path. He takes, he takes-
-He's a killing machine. The Assyrian empire
is a killing machine. It's one of the ghastliest war
machines of the ancient world. That being said that
stiff-necked people, these Judeans, did offer
resistance. [SIMCCHA] The Judeans were
led by King Hezekiah, who after consulting
the prophet Isaiah... ...decided to stand up
to the Assyrians. Although he wasn't much
of a military man, Hezekiah is now ranked
with David and Solomon... ...as one of the greatest Kings
to have ever ruled Jerusalem. Hezekiah got prepared,
Jerusalem was well fortified, well re-enforced for
withstanding a long siege. This is crazy. If you're an Assyrian and say
this little, little people with this little
city suddenly think... ...they can take on the whole
empire, this is nuts, right? I wouldn't say that. If you're an Assyrian
I'm saying. They're surrounding Jerusalem. It doesn't look good. It does not look good at all. The Bible said something
miraculous happened. Some supernatural
extraordinary event... ...that took place in
Jerusalem... ...while the Assyrians were
besieging Jerusalem. Now what was it, what was it? [SIMCHA] This is
what the Bible says: "and the angel of the Lord
went out... ...and put to death 185 thousand
men in the Assyrian camp... ...when the people
got up the next morning, there were dead bodies
everywhere. So Sennacherib,
King of Assyria, broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh
and stayed there." The Bible mentions
even the number... ...185 thousand people
were found killed there. The Lord's angel
comes at night... ...and smites
185 thousand Assyrians. Yeah, I think the number
is over-exaggerated. You think it's only
183 thousand? I don't know, I don't know. I wasn't there. But the number does
not convince one... ...to be a historical figure. What would you think it is? I don't know. So the story about the Lord's
angel... ...it is for those who would
believe the miraculous nature. You think it's a heavenly
intervention too... ...if some guy had your house
surrounded... ...and they were about to get
you and suddenly... ...they had you know,
stomach cramps, and they ran away
on their motorcycles- Listen, I witnessed the 6 days
war in Jerusalem here... ...and I believe in miracles. I believe in heavenly interventn
and it's okay with me. Yes Chief. Make yourself invisible!
-Oh, I almost forgot. [SIMCHA] In our
modern world... ...the miracle theory
has lost its power. For most scholars, the angel
of God has been replaced... ...by a number of other
theories that... ...often fail to explain what
happened to that many soldiers. We have an extra biblical
source, Herodotus, a Greek historian, who tells us that on
the way from Egypt... ...he says, the army was
attacked by desert mice. Herodotus said an army of
mice defeated the Assyrians? Yeah, who ate up all the
military equipment... ...and the leather components
of the military equipment... ...and neutralized
the Assyrian army. Like the nutcracker suite? Uh, yeah. [SIMCHA] Another theory
asserts... ...that a plague broke out... ...and ravaged the Assyrian
army. [MALE VOICE] But the enemy in
this case... ...is not big soldiers. This invading army... ...is so tiny that it can be
seen only through a microscope. Its soldiers are the germs
of communicable disease. [SIMCHA] But the idea
that an army of mice, or even a plague, killed
185 thousand Assyrian
soldiers... ...doesn't wash with Henry
Aubin, a Montreal newspaper reporter. I met with him in Toronto to tak
about his controversial book: The Rescue of Jerusalem. We know that the epidemic
theory is, is nonsense. We know others- But, why do we
know that? Because (A) why wouldn't the
Hebrews... ...have been afflicted by
this, as well as the Assyrians. (B) We know that the, the
Bible says... that God did intervene by way
of epidemic in other situations, for example a most
famous one is Passover... ...why would the Bible not say
that disease was the cause... ...in 701 at Jerusalem. [SIMCHA] While trying to
find... ...adventure stories to read
to his adopted African son, Aubin became discouraged... ...by the lack of black heroes
in popular history. There were no comparable books
on African historical heroes. So my wife suggested, why don't you look on books
for adults on African history... ...and try to draw from those
books some bedtime stories. [SIMCHA] He eventually
came across... ...the 25th dynasty of Pharaohs
when a Nubian Kushite Prince, an African Prince, named
Taharka ruled ancient Egypt. It's here that Aubin stumbled
across... ...what he thinks is the
only plausible explanation... ...for what really happened
at the gates of Jerusalem. [SIMCHA] Montreal reporter
Henry Aubin... ...has uncovered strong evidence
that an African Kushite army... ...intervened in the siege
of 701 BC, scaring off the Assyrians, and saving Jerusalem from
destruction. He tells me the strongest
support for his theory... ...comes from the Bible. The Bible is probably the best
source. It's the deliverance in Jerusalm
is described... ...in three different book: 2nd Chronicles, 2nd Kings
and the book of Isaiah. Two of those three accounts
describe the advance of... ..the Kushites trying to liberae
Jerusalem from the siege... ...and then the Kushites
vanish from the scene. And it's an angel of the Lord
who slays exactly 185,000. [SIMCHA] But Aubin's Kushite
theory is new and controversial. -The Bible is not meant to be
history, it's a theological
representation... of historical events
and it is meant to show us... ...the power of the
Almighty... ...within the history of the
Israelites. [SIMCHA] Aubin believes that
to account for... ...the glory of God's
miraculous intervention, 26 chapters of theological
text were at some point... ...inserted into the Bible.
By simply... ...removing these later
additions, the Kushite intervention
becomes clear. So if you take out these 26
verses, what you have is Taharka is
advancing, the next verse Sennacherib
the Assyrian emperor says: "oh let's withdraw on the
double." If you ignore the
theological insertion... ...then you have the
Kushites cause and effect. Assyrians hear the report
of Taharka's advancing army, next sentence, they leave. They left, they ran away,
why did they do it? Good question. One theory is by a
Canadian guy... ...is that an African army
was... ...coming to the rescue of
Jerusalem. Yes. And this black African army
rescued Jerusalem... ...just by starting to march. The
Assyrians got scared ran away, and you know Jerusalem and the
entire Western civilization... ...was saved
by this one African Prince. Yes.
-Interesting? Very interesting. Yes. What do you think of Aubin's,
Henry Aubin's theory. I think he ultimately
came to conclusion... ...that it was the Kushite
intervention in and of itself... ...that saved Jerusalem. The Hebrews were not
passive recipients... ...of this help from
the Kushites. The Hebrews did some
heroism themselves. (A) They held out. They knew the Kushites were
coming cause they were allies, and they held out against the
siege for as long as they could. And they also helped themselves
by digging this very... ...ambitious water works
to carry water... ...under the city of
Jerusalem. Hezekiah's tunnel. [SIMCHA] The remains
of Hezekiah's tunnel... ...are located in the West
Bank... ...in a fairly bad
neighbourhood. But we brought along
our own security. So hopefully we won't
have any problems. Can I make it in there? You'll see it's a
miracle because... ...the car is bigger
than the space. Now let's see how badly
I scratched the car. Yeah, yeah, you're okay. [SIMCHA] It's here, at the
Gihon Spring, just outside the city walls... ...that Jerusalem located
it's only source of water. When King Hezekiah
found out... ...that the Assyrians
were advancing, he had to act fast.
So he completed a tunnel, one thousand seven
hundred and fifty meters long... ...that gave the people of
Jerusalem... ...secret access
to the water. Water, outside of the city of
Jerusalem... ...had to brought into the
city of Jerusalem. So while the Assyrians
were dying of thirst up above, the city of Jerusalem
had all the water it needed. How did he do it? They
coordinated teams of engineers, some digging from the outside, some digging from the inside,
and they did... ...what often people digging
tunnels today can't do... ...they met somewhere in the
middle. So basically, you read
in the Bible something, and you come over
here and you dig, and there's actual
archaeological corroboration... ...of the Biblical story. This is one of the
best examples for that. You have the story
here, coming alive, emerging out of the
rocks of Jerusalem. This place, the spring
of Gihon is a key point to... ...understanding the political
and military problems... ...of King Hezekiah. Just
think about the King, standing here thinking
to himself... ...how the Assyrians
would divert the water... ...or poison the water
and how the people... ...inside the city of Jerusalem
during the siege, would die of thirst. I think the Assyrians, the Assyrians are coming
again. No, it's the Israelite army, it's okay. We're saved. [SIMCHA] What's going
on is that we're stuck... ...in a very bad area
of the West Bank here... ...and our security guys
have locked us out of the car. [SIMCHA] Hezekiah's tunnel... is real archaeological evidence
of the siege of Jerusalem. But it still doesn't explain
what happened to... ...185 thousand
Assyrian soldiers. If the... ...Kushites did have something
to do with Jerusalem's rescue, why does all the popular
scholarship ignore them? Why don't the history
books even mention... ...the possibility of this
African intervention? [SIMCHA] Henry Aubin
thinks... ...the reason this Kushite
army has been excluded from... ...popular Biblical scholarship
has less to do with history... ...and more to do
with prejudice. Why are the Kushites
expunged from this account? The reason would
have been when... ...the chosen people are
divinely rescued... ...it really has to be
by the divinity. By, by Yahweh himself, so
Yahweh intervenes directly. It can't be though a
human agent. That would be the
primary reason. So you're saying the
Kushites rescued Jerusalem... but the Bible says
God did it. Yes. [SIMCHA] Aubin thinks that
the reason scholars haven't... ...gone with the Kushite
intervention theory... ...stems from racism and it's
affect on biblical academia... ....ever since European
colonialism... ...reached it's height
in the 18th century. -Society today has this
view of Africa as being... ...incapable of pulling off
any such feat. Assyria had such
a huge army, I mean it was seen as
invincible at that time. How could an African
army repel such a force? Its boggles the mind. We think of Africa as
grass huts and drums, we don't see it for
what it was. [SIMCHA]Aubin says this
bias against Africans is a... ...relatively recent development
in Biblical scholarship. At the time that the Bible
was written, this racism didn't exist. In fact the Kushites were
highly regarded... ...and mentioned quite often
in the Bible... ...in a very positive light. -During the flight from
Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses marries a Kushite
woman... ...in Isaiah
chapter 18 verse 7. You have the Kushites
being capable... ...of coming to Jerusalem
to worship Yahweh, worshipping God,
the God of the Hebrews. [SIMCHA] The Kushites are
actually the most praised... ...of all foreign peoples
mentioned in the Bible. He makes a strong case that
the idea that at a time. When really the Assyrians were
crushing everybody... ...right, left and center, A Hebrew, African alliance
seems to... ...thwart the greatest
military might. That there's good reason why
in a very biased atmosphere... ...of a couple of centuries
of biased scholarships... ...that would be ignored. I think he does a great job
there... ...in showing that scholarship
is not as unbiased as all that. And that it's quite
possible... ...that the Kushites and the
Kushite advance... ...played an important role, but I don't think that even
with his arguments... ...that that is the sole
factor. Do we know how successful they
were? Do we know what the extent
of their intervention here was? Are we able to claim
unequivocally... ...that there were Kushite armis
that moved into the region? No we aren't. We're here in the realm
of speculation. It's quite possible... ...but it doesn't necessarily
have to be the way it was. Couldn't it be a combination? Here they are. They're having a tough go at
the siege. A plague breaks out. And then, Sennacherib
wakes up in the morning, and not only does he
have a shortage of water, tough Judeans that are
totally religiously crazy... ...and think God is
going to save them. And he's got a plague
in his camp on top of it. And then he gets
word that these... ...Nubians are marching
toward him. Couldn't it be
a combination... ...of exactly what
the Bible says? Look, in every
match-making, in every marriage,
and in every divorce, there is not
one reason... ...which brings that
couple together... ...and not one single reason
which causes them to get apart. In life, it is usually a
combination of reasons. [SIMCHA] So what happened? Well, on one level,
we know what happened. Jerusalem was saved. And because
Jerusalem was saved, so was Judaism. And that allowed for Christianiy
to be born and Islam to be born. So what saved Jerusalem? Well maybe it was a plague,
maybe it was an army of rats, maybe it was the threat
of the incoming Kushites... ...that made the Assyrians
run away. But whatever happened, the ancients wouldn't
have differentiated... ...and wouldn't have cared. They would have seen it
as a miracle.
