[SIMCHA] The New Testament's
story of Jesus' birth... ...has been told
thousands of times. Long ago in Nazareth there lived
a young woman named Mary. One day an angel appeared... ...and told her she had been
chosen to have God's son. Soon after, Mary and
her husband, Joseph, set off on a difficult
journey to Bethlehem. Then, in a stable, Mary gave
birth to a bouncing baby boy, and put him in a manger
full of hay. They were visited
by some shepherds, some animals, three wise men,
and a couple of angels, too. Every year billions of people... ...around the world
celebrate Jesus' birth. The Bible gives details
of the nativity story, but barely mentions anything... ...about the next 30 years
of Jesus' life. These are the lost years, and what he did
in his youth... ...is open to a variety
of interpretations, which have evolved for over
two thousand years. With archaeology as my guide, I'm going to retrace the
footsteps of the young Jesus. I'll go where he went
and see what he saw, trying to unravel the
truth from tradition. My search begins
where it all began, the little town of Bethlehem. This is the traditional
place of the birth of Jesus, this is where the manger
is supposed to be. And this is where the
Magi are supposed to have come. The star led them
to this very place... ...according to Christian lore. This is the traditional
Bethlehem, but is it the Bethlehem
of archaeology? This is exciting this is
the church of the nativity. We're talking about a
1600-year-old church. Now, we could
stand in line here... ...or we could say
we're television... ...we don't have to
stay in line. [SIMCHA] This church, believed to be built
on top of the manger... ...where Jesus
was born, is one of the oldest in
Christendom. From Crusader Kings
to kindergarten classes, millions of people
have been coming here... ...for the better part
of two millennia. You really got to grab
what you can over here, because the faithful
are stampeding. Right now tourism is down. Imagine what it was like
when tourism was up? [people singing in unison] That's the traditional place... ...of Jesus' birth right over
there. X marks the spot
where the virgin birth... ...is supposed to
have taken place... ...according to tradition. And where the gospel story... ...is kind of a match
to the archeology. And a tradition that's
now some 1500 years old. We'll get out of their way. Over there is the manger. This is where, supposedly, baby Jesus was put into
a little crib or a trough. Right over here. Now you notice that there
is archeology here... ...you could see the stones,
the original stone. Traditionally it's interpreted
as being some kind of barn, but you see it's not a barn. It makes sense that... ...this would have been
somebody's home. It's like a basement really.
It's a big grotto. [SIMCHA] 1500 years of
Christian tradition... ...points to this location
as the birthplace of Jesus. It's here that archaeology
meets with the biblical account. The story continues
with Jesus... ...and his family
moving to Nazareth. So I think a trip to his old
hometown is in order. Maybe a walk around
his old neighborhood... ...will reveal something
about Jesus' early life. The Nazareth Historical
Village is a living museum... ...situated on the ruins of a
first century farm... ...in present day Nazareth. Here, a team of biblical
scholars and archaeologists... ...are working together to
re-create a village... ...that resembles in every way.. ...what archeology tells us
about where Jesus grew up. Shalom, peace upon you all. [SIMCHA] Here I meet up
with Steve and Claire Pfann... ...New Testament scholars... ...and experts on
first century life. Tell me what this
place is about. Well what we have here... ...is the reconstruction
of first century life. As a location this is
only 500 meters... ...away from where
Jesus lived. We know it existed... ...during the time of Jesus
and his family. Is it based on Hollywood's
version... ...of what things looked like, or is this solid archeology? We've built these buildings
out of the same rock, the same mortar, the same roof beams that
would have been used... ...back in the 1st Century. This actually looks ancient,
this hole in the ground. What you find here is a drain... ...in which rainwater can come
down. You've got the water coming
down here. It's collecting the rainwater,
right? It's pouring down there. this is a settling pool... ...so all the dirt can settle
to the bottom... ...before it goes up and into
the hole... ...down into the cistern,
inside the wall there. Take us in. As you would in a
normal house, you'd be coming in to
a courtyard like this. This is really neat.
You guys are good. The story here is rebuilding
1st-Century life. If you want to understand the
Bible or the period, you have to be like a detective
going back to the scene. Some of the major
archeologists... ...have come through here,
and they have really said: "Now, I finally feel like
I'm inside a 1st-Century town." It comes alive. Instead of looking at some
rocks on the floor, you're sitting here; you can
just see that second level. "Sweetie, come down for
dinner." You know? That's it. Yeah. It's amazing. I can still hear them arguing
after all these years. It's definitely a Jewish home [SIMCHA] Steve shows me a
replica... ...of the type of house Jesus
grew up in, the carpenter shop... ...where he would have helped
his father, and the synagogue where he
would have prayed. From this recreated village... ...we can actually envision the
early home life of Jesus. He probably lived
like any other boy... ...in 1st century Galilee. He would have
gone to school, helped around the house, and played with the
neighborhood kids. After a whirlwind tour... ...the only thing I haven't
seen is a manger. Steve's wife, Claire, takes over the tour to talk
about the nativity scene. So he said you're
better with mangers. Well, I think I'm better
with childbirth. I think that was
the implication there. You're a scholar,
as well, right? Yeah, I work in
New Testament... ...and teach New
Testament courses. When we think of
the whole nativity story... ...and being born
in a manger, you kind of almost
think of a European... ...or an American farm... ...where they're being
sent off to the barn. Because of Christmas
cards and film and media, we have a picture
of Mary on a donkey... ...in labor in the
pouring rain, and Joseph arriving
in a strange city... ...and going from
door to door, knocking at every hotel
and motel everyone saying, "Sorry, we're full up, and
your poor, pregnant wife... ...who's in labor can't
come in and have a room" But if we set all that aside, and we just work with
the text of the Bible first off, it says there was
this census, and they were
returning to Bethlehem... ...because it was the ancestral
home of Joseph's family. If it's their
patriarchal home, that means there is
a network of relatives... ...already living there. Everybody's saying: "Hi, how are you? Long time" Exactly. It's a patriarchal
home. "Long time no see" It's a huge family occasion. Also, though, the house
is packed to overflowing, because everyone
who's part of the family... ...has to come for this
particular census. So my understanding
of this story then... ...is that because the
house was so full, because there was
no room in the guest room, when Mary went into labor
the question was... ...where can she have
this baby in peace and quiet... ...with some privacy? And the best suggestion
they could come up with. Especially with a
room like that! -was to empty out
the storeroom, and lay down
some fresh hay... ...and give her a
little bit of privacy. So this is what it
probably looked like, didn't look like an
American barn, right? [SIMCHA] Claire takes
me to a grotto... ...that looks very
similar to the basement... ...of the Church
of the Nativity. Unlike an American barn, this is actually a basement
cave. I think a basement... ...is much more like
what we would call it. I'm not a woman, but it seems to me that
I wouldn't mind giving birth- Yeah.
Cozy and private. I'd like a little
more light maybe. And Mary offered her- Here's a little oil lamp
little area here. Yeah, first century
type oil lamp. So that Mary,
you know- They would have
lit it with oil lamps. I like your Manger.
It's a nice. Thank you. It's a nice manger. [SIMCHA] Claire dispels
some... ...commonly held notions
of the nativity scene, and it's a good reminder... ...of how a traditional
story told over the ages... ...evolves into something
very different... ...from the original. So with that all
straightened out, I'm heading off to meet
with an archaeologist... ...who says the story of the
nativity maybe right, but the location is all wrong. [SIMCHA] My next stop... ...is a short drive
from Nazareth... ...to the ruins of an
ancient town, called Bethlehem. It's the little known
Bethlehem of the Galilee, 120 km north of the
Judean Bethlehem, where most think
Jesus was born. Here I'm meeting
archaeologist Arvriham Oshri. Oshri thinks everyone's
got the wrong Bethlehem. And his proof begins.... ...with a large wall
surrounding this tiny village. This is Bethlehem of Galilee. This is the Galilean Bethlehe. We're coming towards
Galilean Bethlehem now. Now what's this? This is the wall. These are big blocks.
-Mmm Hmm. If I would have just been
wandering around here... ...I would have thought
that these stones, are just some kind of
terracing system. But in a minute, I will show you
why these... ...can't be part of
just a simple terrace. Why? Because there is a rampart, a big rampart leading into the
city. So it's a real fortification. Yeah. Here we
see the rampart, which is connected
to the wall on both sides. It leads us upwards
into the city. [SIMCHA] Walls and
ramparts... ...were the primary
defenses of ancient cities. These Byzantine
fortifications suggest... ...that a large powerful
city once stood here, but Bethlehem of the
Galilee was a tiny village, what could these later
Christians... ...have been protecting? This is not a small village. It's a small village by size. A small village with a very big
fortification. Yeah. Here you can see the
continuation of the wall. Usually you'll find
that kind of walls... ...in big cities like Jerusalem. It's quite unique for a village
that small to be fortified. So you're saying... ...the fact that there is
such a significant wall... ...for what otherwise would
be a small little village... ...must mean that the
Christians care a lot... ...about this particular
village. -Yeah, exactly. You think that trough
excavations like this... ...you've actually found
the place of the nativity. I do believe that this is the
site of the nativity. [SIMCHA] If Oshri is right, how did Matthew
and Luke, writing a few decades
after Jesus' death, confuse the Bethlehems? How do you explain the fact... ....that there seems to be
a very old tradition... ...in the other place and
total silence on this place? I would suggest
Christianity wanted... ...to turn Jesus
into a Messiah. And according to the
Old Testament... ...the Messiah should
come from David's house. And David came from
Bethlehem near Jerusalem. That is why Jesus... ...had to come from
that Bethlehem. [SIMCHA] The Biblical
prophets predicted that... ...the Messiah will come
from the family of King David... ...who hailed from
Bethlehem of the south. Saying that Jesus was born
there fulfills the prophecy... ...and proves his Messiahship. Was this all a bit of early
religious spin? To help answer this, I'm meeting with
Dr. John Kloppenberg, professor of religion at
the University of Toronto. Let's start with Jesus
and where he was born. I mean of course the
tradition is it says Bethlehem, but there are two
Bethlehems as it turns out. Is it possible that Jesus'
birthplace... ...was kind of moved
for ideological reasons... ...because to be born
in the Galilee, would not be where a
messiah should be born? When we have so little data... ...almost anything is
theoretically possible. But I would say the prior
question is... ...why would we think that he's
born in Bethlehem at all? The basis for connecting
Jesus' birth with Bethlehem... ...is very slender. It appears only in Matthew's
Gospel and Luke's Gospel, which are written at the latest
stratum... ...of Christian tradition. The earlier levels of the
Gospel traditions... ...connect him with Nazareth, I mean he's known as Jesus of
Nazareth, or Jesus the Nazareen. The Gospel of John
interestingly, has someone say, he can't be
the Messiah... ...because we all know that
the Messiah... ...is the son of David... ...and the Messiah comes from
Bethlehem, the implication being that
everybody knows... ...that Jesus doesn't come from
Bethlehem. And both Matthew and Luke, when they talk about
Bethlehem... ...as the birthplace of Jesus, they're interested in
connecting Jesus with David, and Bethlehem is David's town. So you're saying it could be
that... ...he was given a birthplace in
the right town after the fact? That's right, once Christians
say that he's the Messiah, if he's a Davidic Messiah... ...then surely the Davidic
Messiah... ...must have been born in
Bethlehem. Then you have to
create stories... ...that explain the birth
in Bethlehem. [SIMCHA] According to
Dr. Kloppenberg... ...not only is Bethlehem
in question... ...but the entire
nativity story as well. The only thing that
everyone seems to agree on... ...is that Jesus
grew up in Nazareth, but there's nothing
left there to excavate. However just
four miles away... ...is the spectacular
ancient city of Sephorus. Here I hope to find some
clues... ...about the lost years of
Jesus. [SIMCHA] Tradition portrays
Jesus as... ...a humble country boy, growing up in the sleepy town
of Nazareth... ...but excavations in the
nearby city... ...are forcing scholars to
rethink this old quaint notion. Once known as the Jewel of the
Galilee, this Roman
City Sephorus continues... ...to dazzle visitors with the
ruins of an opulent marketplace, lavish theater and beautiful
mosaics. Wow! This is amazing. She is beautiful, isn't she? [SIMCHA] Since it
was only 4 miles... ...from his front door, wouldn't the young Jesus... ...have been
influenced by Sephprus? To understand more... ...I met up with David Goren. Historian and tour guide. This is a huge site. This is a huge site
and it was amazing that... ...it mostly was
unknown until 1984. So where are we going? To the theatre of course.
It's show time! It's show time. Wow this is impressive. Let me try the acoustics.
Okay you stay here. [SIMCHA] Chiseled into
bedrock... ...this theatre can seat 4000. On the stage, stage. Can you
hear me? I can hear
you fine. The acoustics
are pretty good. This is the hallmark
of Hellenistic culture: theatre, acting. Jesus lived
very close to here. How far is
Nazareth from here? Around four miles. Four miles. There's no way that
a carpenter's son... ...could have lived four
miles from here... ...and not come into
touch with this place, right? There's no way that
if you lived in the Galilee, you wouldn't meet
Roman culture. [SIMCHA] One piece of
compelling evidence... ...that Jesus visited Sephorus
isn't supplied by archeology... ...but by the bible itself. Scholars have wondered
where Jesus picked up... ...the word hypocrite a
Greek word meaning actor, and a word that Jesus
used 24 times in the Gospels. There's a good chance that... ...Jesus learned this
word from plays... ...performed in Greek
here at Sephorus. Now look at the
Gospels. Jesus is born in
Bethlehem, he grows up in
Nazareth... ...and Sephorus is
never, ever mentioned. This was the center of Roman
culture... ...and I bet you Jesus didn't
have very many good things... ...to say about Roman culture. So when the new religion, Christianity, was being
sold to the Romans suddenly, every reference to
Sephorus is edited out? [SIMCHA] Was this the work.. ...of ancient editors
or was Sephorus... ...just not important enough... ...to make it into
the good book? I ask Dr. Kloppenberg
for his opinion. Why do you think Sephorus, such a big city right
in Jesus' backyard... ...is not mentioned? You would sort of expect
an important city... ...to be mentioned. And the fact that it's
not is a bit of a puzzle. Perhaps even
more puzzling... ...that Sephorus is so
close to Nazareth... ...and I would suppose that
it would have been a place... ...that Jesus visited
and perhaps... ...a place that both Jesus
and his father worked in. That's where all the work was! Yeah exactly! So why do you think it's not
mentioned? I don't have an answer
for why it's not mentioned. It may not have
been mentioned... ...because it was
a pro-Roman site. It's conceivable
that I suppose... ...that Jesus made
anti-Roman statements... ...and those have
been edited out... ...but we don't really have
any strong evidence of that. So, explaining silences... ...is always a very difficult
thing for historians. [SIMCHA] With no written
evidence, all we can do is piece together
a picture... ...based on the archaeology. David takes me to the remains
of an ancient home, where the Roman and Greek
influences... ...can be seen in the Mosaics
left behind. This section of Sephorus has
never been seen by the public. You have to pick up everything? What? It's there for a reason, no? It's the archeologist in me. I have to just peek. Oh look at
that. Unveiled for the first time. Quite beautiful actually. It looks like they're
playing a game, playing dice,
gambling. This place,
religiously speaking, it's den of sin. They're playing
dice games of chance, we got two guys
dancing there, he's drinking and
getting drunk. Jesus wouldn't have
wanted to eat here. He wouldn't have trusted
that the food was Kosher... ...and these pictures
would have offended him. [SIMCHA] This city of wealth
and earthly delights... ...provides a stark contrast... ...to the farming village of
Nazareth. Sephorus with its pagan
culture... ...and decadent lifestyle
represents many of the things... ...that Jesus would
later preach against. It seems
obvious to me... ...that Jesus was
influenced by the city. I'm heading back to
Bethlehem of the Galilee... ...where Prof. Oshri claims
he has one final clue... ...for his Alternative
Nativity location. [SIMCHA] I'm back
with Prof. Oshri... ...at the other
Bethlehem in Galilee. It was here just
12 years ago that he... ...uncovered the remains
of a massive bizantine church. We're on our way to check out... ...where the church once
stood... ...and where Oshri believes
that Jesus was really born. It wasn't a church
under the highway; there was a church
over the highway. Yes, exactly. Right over here. Look these guys
are upset with us. Don't blame us you're
in a church. You're driving in the
middle of a church. Really! This is a very different kinda
church than I've been in before. So this side road over here... ...that's where it started
and how far did it go? Up to the oak tree. That's a big church. That's a big
point in your favor. Why would
somebody build, in the middle
of a little village, in the Galilee,
a huge church... ...like that surrounded
by a huge wall? Exactly. Now, you mentioned there
was a natural cave somewhere? Yeah, just behind the oak tree. I've seen it in the early 90s. And it disappeared afterwards. Where?
-Somewhere here. What do you mean, it
disappeared? It was covered with dirt and
soil. You say that behind this oak tr,
you saw a natural cave. Yeah. So the entire church... ...was built around
this natural cave? If you're right, this
is in Byzantine times They probably
believed that the cave... ...was the place where
Jesus was born. Wouldn't it be quite
easy to figure out... ...if there's a cave there
by digging in the earth? Yeah. There's no
problem in doing it. It just needs finance But watch out, we are
breaking the law now. We're breaking the law, why? Because, we are
not allowed to excavate... ...without their permission. But, look. Look what
we found here. You could see the
top of the thing. Where the dirt is. I mean, you can see
that this is filled in. Are you going to give
me a footnote... ...that I rediscovered
the scene of the nativity? Yeah. Archeology in action. [SIMCHA] Could it be that
behind this muddy wall... ...is the actual
birthplace of Jesus? I wonder if the people
living above here... ...know about any of this. Now, is that house
sitting on top of the cave... ...is a nativity according
to your theory? If I'm right. I wanna meet
these people. I would like to meet
these people. He's embarrassed;
he's too embarrassed to come. Do you think they
speak English? Hello? It's open.
Hello? Shalom. I just wanna ask
you some questions about- There's the archeologist. You should warn me first. Yeah. I see your bags
are packed over here. Storgage. When are you due? Any day? Any day. Really? Did you realize that... ...you have in your backyard... ...an archeological place, yeah? Yeah. There was a
Byzantic church here. We might be raising the value
of your property a lot, do you know that?
-No. How? Why don't you tell her, your
theory. Why don't you tell her,
seriously. I'm suggesting that
Jesus was born here, rather than the Bethlehem
near Jerusalem. Are you going to do a home
birth? No. No? Because if you do a home
birth, and if this is the place where
Jesus was born, your kid can be born when Jesus
was born. Wow. Okay. This is good. This is
archeology in action. [SIMCHA] If I had doubts about
Oshri's theory before, finding a pregnant woman... ...above this possible nativity
site... ...is definitely a sign in his
favour. Jesus' lost year's end around
age 30... ...when he is baptized by
John and his ministry begins. I've retraced the footsteps of
Jesus... ...from Bethlehem to Nazareth. I've touched the very spot... ...where Christian tradition
says he was born. I've walked around his
hometown... ...and seen first hand what
it was like where he grew up. At Sephorus, I've seen the
powerful influences... ...that helped shape
Jesus' philosophy. I've heard some new theories
and made up some of my own. Most of the early life of
Jesus remains a mystery. But now for the first time... ...archeology is
providing a clearer picture... ...of the formative years
of the man...
