Ancient Mesopotamia Return to Eden Ancient History Documentary
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the enduring legend of the Garden of Eden, tracing its roots through ancient civilizations like Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer in Mesopotamia. It delves into archaeological discoveries, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Moabite Stone, which provide historical evidence and insights into biblical narratives, shedding light on the origins of human civilization and the quest for faith.
Takeaways
- π³ The Garden of Eden is a legendary story found in multiple civilizations, often associated with seduction, divine wrath, and the loss of paradise.
- π The search for the Garden of Eden leads to Mesopotamia, a region that was home to some of the earliest human civilizations, including Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer.
- π The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 is a significant event in biblical archaeology, providing the earliest known version of the Old Testament and sparking international interest and debate.
- π The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered precious by both Jews and Christians, offering insights into a crucial period in Jewish history and being contemporaneous with John the Baptist and Jesus.
- πΊ The Bible has been read from both a sacred and historical perspective, with some books being recognized as excellent historical records due to their accuracy and corroboration with other sources.
- ποΈ Archaeological efforts have been driven by a desire to confirm biblical history, with scholars using ancient artifacts like pottery, city walls, and weapons to illustrate biblical stories.
- πΏ The Moabite Stone, discovered in 1868, is an example of an archaeological find that confirmed a biblical story, providing written evidence of a battle also described in the Bible.
- π The Babylonian civilization, which influenced the Bible, was known for its diverse culture and significant innovations, including the first written legal code, Hammurabi's Code.
- π° Assyria, known for its ruthless military power, also contributed to biblical narratives and had a significant impact on the development of the Bible, particularly in the areas of law and governance.
- π The Sumerian civilization, often considered the first civilization on earth, introduced many foundational concepts like writing, government, and agriculture, and their stories, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, have parallels with biblical narratives.
Q & A
What is the significance of the Garden of Eden in various civilizations?
-The Garden of Eden is an enduring legend found in many great civilizations, symbolizing a story of seduction, the wrath of God, and the loss of Paradise. It represents a place of origin and a lost utopia.
Why is the search for the Garden of Eden connected to Mesopotamia?
-The search for the Garden of Eden leads to Mesopotamia because it is a region where the first seeds of human civilization were sown, and it was home to three of the greatest ancient civilizations: Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer.
What was the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947?
-The Dead Sea Scrolls are significant because they include the earliest known version of the Old Testament, including the first five books known as the Torah. They provide a crucial historical and religious context for Judaism and Christianity.
Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls considered precious to both Jews and Christians?
-The Dead Sea Scrolls are precious to Jews because they come from a crucial period in Jewish history. For Christians, they are important because they are contemporaneous with the times of John the Baptist and Jesus, offering insights into the historical context of their teachings.
What was the role of archaeology in the 19th century in relation to biblical history?
-In the 19th century, archaeology was used to fortify belief in the Bible. It sought to prove the historical accuracy of biblical narratives by locating sites and finding artifacts that illustrated the stories from the Bible.
What was the significance of the Moabite Stone discovered in 1868?
-The Moabite Stone was significant because it provided the first written confirmation of a story from the Bible, specifically the account of a battle also described in the Bible, offering tangible evidence of the Bible's historical accuracy.
How did the Babylonian captivity influence the development of the Bible?
-The Babylonian captivity was a period when the Israelites were allowed to keep their own culture and religion. This environment led to the unification of Israel's oral tradition, new writings, and sacred texts into a single manuscript, effectively giving birth to the Bible as a written text.
What influence did Babylonian culture have on the Bible?
-Babylonian culture profoundly influenced the Bible, reflecting stories and traditions from Babylon and earlier Mesopotamian civilizations. The cultural exchange in Babylon contributed to the development of the Bible's narratives and legal codes.
What is the connection between Hammurabi's code and biblical law?
-Hammurabi's code, one of the earliest written legal codes, influenced the legal code in the Bible, particularly in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Concepts such as 'an eye for an eye' can be traced back to Hammurabi's laws.
How did the Assyrians impact the biblical narratives and the Israelites?
-The Assyrians, known for their military might and efficient war machine, are depicted in the Bible as symbols of tyranny and oppression. Their attacks on the Israelites, such as the siege of Lachish, are recorded in the Bible and reflect the historical conflicts between the two cultures.
What is the significance of the Sumerian civilization in the context of the script?
-The Sumerian civilization is significant as it represents the earliest known civilization, with innovations such as writing, the wheel, and city planning. Their stories, including the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Great Flood, predate and parallel biblical narratives, suggesting a shared cultural heritage.
Outlines
π The Quest for Eden and Mesopotamian Civilizations
This paragraph introduces the enduring legend of the Garden of Eden and its prevalence in various civilizations. It suggests the possibility of the story having a basis in historical truth and leads the audience on a journey to Mesopotamia, a region where the earliest seeds of human civilization were sown. The narrative mentions the flourishing of ancient civilizations such as Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer, hinting at archaeological and historical evidence that might support the Biblical narratives. The paragraph sets the stage for a deeper exploration into the historical foundations of these stories, beginning with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, which are significant for both Jews and Christians.
π The Dead Sea Scrolls and Biblical Archaeology
The paragraph delves into the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered by Bedouin shepherds near Qumran, east of Jerusalem. These ancient texts, written by the Essenes, include the earliest known version of the Old Testament and have sparked international interest and debate among scholars and theologians. The scrolls are precious for their historical accuracy and their connection to a crucial period in Jewish and Christian history. The paragraph also discusses the broader context of biblical archaeology, which aims to locate sites and evidence from the Bible, and the fervor with which scholars pursued these findings in the 19th century, leading to what was termed a 'biblical gold rush'.
πΊ The Historical Impact of Babylon on the Bible
This paragraph explores the influence of the Babylonian civilization on the development of the Bible. It discusses how the Israelites, during their captivity in Babylon, formalized their oral traditions into a written text, leading to the creation of the Bible as we know it. The paragraph highlights the cultural diversity of Babylon and how it shaped the religious texts, including the possible influence on the story of the Tower of Babel. It also touches on the Babylonian legal code of Hammurabi and its potential reflection in the biblical laws found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.
π‘οΈ Assyrian Dominance and Its Biblical Portrayal
The paragraph examines the Assyrian Empire, known for its military might and despotic rule, and its depiction in the Bible as a symbol of tyranny and oppression. It recounts the biblical story of King Sennacherib's attack on the Israelites, as described in the second book of Kings, and the subsequent Assyrian dominance in the region. The paragraph also discusses the archaeological discoveries in Assyria, including the palace of Nineveh and its library of clay tablets, which provide insights into Assyrian daily life and culture.
π Assyrian Queens and the Legacy of Nimrod
This paragraph focuses on the discovery of the ancient palace of Nimrod and the tomb of an Assyrian Queen, revealing the status and privilege of Assyrian queens in contrast to the limited status of ordinary women. The narrative describes the unearthing of a royal treasure, including jewelry and artifacts, which provides a glimpse into the opulence and craftsmanship of the Assyrian civilization. It also touches on the Assyrian King Sennacherib's military campaigns and the biblical account of the siege of Lachish.
π The Great Flood: Sumerian and Biblical Accounts
The paragraph presents the story of the Great Flood as told in both the Bible and the ancient Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. It discusses the similarities between the two accounts and highlights the discovery of Sumerian tablets that predate the Bible's version by at least 2,000 years. The paragraph also explores the Sumerian civilization, recognized as the first civilization on Earth, and its contributions to human progress, such as the invention of the wheel, writing, and the establishment of government.
ποΈ The Lost City of Ur and Woolley's Excavations
This paragraph narrates the story of the British archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his excavations in the lost city of Ur, once believed to be the birthplace of Abraham. Woolley's work brought to life the daily lives and innovations of the Sumerians through his detailed archaeological findings. The paragraph also discusses Woolley's claim of discovering evidence of the Biblical Flood in the form of a silt layer amidst the ruins, a claim that captured the public's imagination and contributed to the popular interest in archaeology.
π The Royal Tombs of Ur and Woolley's Funeral Account
The paragraph describes Woolley's discovery of the royal tombs in Ur, which contained 74 skeletons, suggesting a mass burial possibly related to a royal funeral. Woolley's interpretation of the scene as a pre-dynastic royal funeral, where the court drank poison to accompany their prince in death, has become a significant account in archaeology. The paragraph emphasizes the sensational nature of this discovery and its contribution to our understanding of early civilization's funerary practices.
π The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Search for Paradise
This paragraph connects the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh with the concept of paradise, suggesting that the story's paradise, known as Dilmun, may have been based on a real location. The narrative discusses the island of Bahrain as a possible candidate for Dilmun, once a lush island with abundant water and life, and compares it to the Biblical Garden of Eden. The paragraph also mentions the presence of snakes in the burial mounds of Bahrain, echoing the serpent's role in both the epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible.
π The Dead Sea Scrolls Revisited and Biblical Archaeology's Quest
The final paragraph revisits the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, emphasizing their significance in Jewish and Christian history and their role in the historical validation of the Bible. The paragraph concludes the journey through Mesopotamian history by reflecting on the quest for the Garden of Eden and the exploration of the ancient civilizations of Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer. It highlights the ongoing efforts of biblical archaeology to uncover the historical foundations of religious beliefs and the profound mysteries of the Bible.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Garden of Eden
π‘Mesopotamia
π‘Dead Sea Scrolls
π‘Babylon
π‘Assyria
π‘Sumer
π‘Hammurabi's Code
π‘Moabite Stone
π‘Archaeology
π‘Biblical Archaeology
π‘Cuneiform
Highlights
The Garden of Eden is a recurring legend across civilizations, often associated with seduction, divine wrath, and lost paradise.
The search for the Garden of Eden leads to Mesopotamia, a region that cradled the first seeds of human civilization.
Mesopotamia, now known as Iraq, was home to the great civilizations of Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, are the earliest known version of the Old Testament, including the Torah.
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls sparked international interest and debates among scholars and theologians.
The Bible has been read from both sacred and historical perspectives, with its historical accuracy being a subject of ongoing research.
Biblical archaeology began in the Holy Land and expanded to Mesopotamia, aiming to locate biblical sites and validate biblical narratives.
The Moabite Stone, discovered in 1868, provided the first written confirmation of a biblical story.
The Babylonian captivity led to the formalization of the Bible as a written text, influenced by Babylonian culture.
Babylon's influence on the Bible is evident in its legal codes, which predate the Israelites' captivity.
The Assyrian Empire, known for its brutal military, also contributed to the biblical narrative, particularly in the story of Sennacherib.
The discovery of the library of Nineveh revealed 22,000 clay tablets, providing direct communication with the ancient Assyrians.
Assyrian queens enjoyed great privilege, as evidenced by the treasure of Nimrod, discovered in 1989.
The Sumerians were the first civilization, inventing the wheel, government, and writing.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, discovered in Sumer, is the world's first written epic and predates the Bible's story of the Great Flood.
The Sumerian city of Ur, thought to be the birthplace of Abraham, was the site of significant archaeological discoveries.
The concept of paradise, like the Garden of Eden, is a universal theme found in various cultures and legends.
The island of Bahrain, once lush and abundant, is suggested as a possible location for the Garden of Eden.
Transcripts
[Music]
the Garden of Eden our most enduring
legend a story found in one great
civilization after another
a story of seduction
[Music]
the wrath of God
and Paradise Lost
but is it merely a fable is there
evidence the great stories of the Bible
might be true
was there ever really such a place as
even
today the search for the Garden of Eden
leads us to a dry and desolate land to a
place called Mesopotamia
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
this is the land where the first seeds
of human civilization were sown and it
was here that three of the greatest
civilizations of the ancient world
flourished Babylon Assyria and Sumer
among their ruins the faithful of long
sought answers to the Bible's most
profound mysteries while archaeologists
scoured these lands for the historical
foundations of belief our quest for Eden
as a journey back in time first to
Babylon
the last of these lost civilizations
then further into the past to the
Assyrians fierce masters of the art of
war
and finally to a moment in the past so
distant only Eden could have preceded it
to Sumer
and the creation of civilization itself
the great arc of the Fertile Crescent
over the course of more than 6,000 years
this rich land cradled between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers gave birth
to the first great civilizations the
Greeks called it Mesopotamia
we call it Iraq by peeling back the
layers of history here we can trace the
origins of our oldest stories and travel
back to the deepest roots of faith our
journey begins on the western edge of
Mesopotamia in Israel a chance discovery
in 1947 would rivet the world's
attention to archaeology and to the
Bible to Bedouin shepherds are moving a
herd of goats along the cliffs of Qumran
a few miles east of Jerusalem in the
sun-baked desert they noticed a small
cave obscured by a rocky slope
curious one begins to climb it's not
uncommon for ancient and valuable
artifacts to be found along these Bluffs
inside the cave the Shepherd discovers
the wreckage of ancient pots leather
scroll fragments and some papyrus sheets
all untouched since the time of Jesus
these writings by an obscure Jewish sect
called the Essenes would come to be
known throughout the world as the Dead
Sea Scrolls in surrounding caves
hundreds of ancient scrolls would
eventually be unearthed one of them
would prove to be the earliest known
version of the Old Testament including
the crucial first five books known to
the Jews as the Torah the Dead Sea
scrolls instantly became the focus of a
tremendous international uproar as
scholars and theologians fought over
their ownership and their meaning and
their sensation was outstanding this was
described as one of the most outstanding
archaeological finds anywhere so they're
very precious to the Jews because that
Jewish had come from a very crucial
period in Jewish history they're very
precious to the Christians because
they're contemporaneous with John the
Baptist's in Jesus and so on so they are
very informative but beyond that we have
a great emotional attachment to this
library the Bible has always been a book
read from two points of view the sacred
and the historical a traditional Torah
is always written by hand the words are
read aloud as the scribe writes so they
become a living prayer and each Torah is
considered holy from the moment it is
written nay an hakeem but the historical
accuracy of the Bible has never been so
easily confirmed it's an effort that
continues to this day
deny some of the books of the Bible are
excellent historical books as a matter
of fact the earliest historical books
that we have and quite accurate because
we have cross references from
sources and they are found to be most
very precise so they are very important
the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
was the most famous event in biblical
archaeology but it was by no means the
first the urge to explore biblical
history has a venerable tradition it's a
search that began in the Holy Land but
would lead to Mesopotamia
throughout history Crusaders mystics and
believers have been drawn to sites where
the great Bible stories took place but
with the arrival of the 19th century a
new kind of pilgrim sought to fortify
their belief in the Bible through the
infant science of archaeology surely
there could be no greater confirmation
of their faith than to prove that
biblical history was true the first aim
of the biblical archaeologists was to
locate sites mentioned prominently in
the biblical narratives and to see if
any illustration of those tales could be
found to use the ancient pottery the
ancient city walls the ancient weapons
as illustrations of biblical stories
that all of them had been taught from
their childhood
[Music]
fueled by the excitement of early finds
scholars from all over the world raced
to stake out claims and a kind of
biblical gold rush
[Music]
competing British German and French
archaeologists descended on the Holy
Land
teams of theological detectives digging
for both God and country
[Music]
the prestige of each of the European
nations in the Holy Land was measured by
the kind of biblical discoveries that
they were uncovering and one of the most
intense diplomatic and political battles
that occurred in the history of Biblical
Archaeology was the discovery of the
famous Moabite stone in 1868 deep in the
land of Moab Bedouins zuv the bonny
Hamid a tribe stumbled onto a mysterious
stone tablet buried in the desert the
tribesmen were no strangers to the
antiquities of the area or to their
value to Europeans the first Westerner
to hear of the curious black stone was
the Reverend Frederick Augustus Cline he
immediately set off through the bandit
infested wasteland accompanied only by a
few bedouin guides Cline was a
missionary not an archaeologist when he
first saw the peculiar basalt carving he
felt a rush of excitement suspecting the
black tablet might confirm his deepest
held beliefs
he examined the stone and made a rough
impression of the inscription it was in
a language Klein didn't recognize
back in Jerusalem he sought help
deciphering the stone as news of the
find began to spread the streets and
bazaars buzzed with rumours of a great
discovery the writing on the stone
proved to be a Moabite Kings account of
a battle also described in the Bible for
the first time ever here was written
confirmation itched in stone of a story
from the Bible two sources for the same
event for the faithful it was the proof
they'd been looking for concrete
evidence of the Bible's historical
accuracy
[Music]
many sought to buy the stone but the
Bedouin had reason to be wearing in the
past they'd been cheated even robbed by
European treasure hunters assuming that
anything so highly prized by Europeans
must contain gold they dumped the stone
into a fire in an attempt to break it
apart as fire heated the stone they
poured water over it again and again
until finally it exploded
they found no gold and the stone was
destroyed the first archaeological
confirmation of a Bible story the first
corroborating evidence ever found in the
Holy Land was shattered the loss of the
stone was devastating but it didn't end
the biblical treasure hunt
now that the Bible itself was verified
as history it pointed the way even
further into the past back more than
2500 years ago to a great Empire ruled
from Babylon to the very moment the
Bible itself was born
the year is 586 BC the armies of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon descend
on Jerusalem with the wrath of an angry
god it is almost 6 centuries before the
birth of Christ the Romans have not yet
even dreamed of Empire it is a dark
chapter in the history of the Jews while
babylons fierce star is rising the Bible
describes the Babylonian attack homes
are pillaged King Solomon's Temple is
set ablaze and utterly destroyed
10,000 Israelite captives princes
soldiers artisans and scribes all are
led to Babylon in Chains the Israelites
crossed more than 500 miles of desert
following ancient trade routes across
modern-day Jordan Syria and Iraq to
Babylon in Psalms 137 the Israelites
lament by the rivers of Babylon there we
sat down and wept when we remembered
Zion how shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land
broken and exhausted the Israelites
entered Babylon in awe of his scope and
frenzy torn from the modest city of
Jerusalem they beheld the majestic
capital of the ancient world
[Music]
but somehow the Israelites managed to do
more than singing the Lord's song in
this foreign land they also wrote it
down if you look at any piece of oral
literature and then you write it down
you're formalizing it you're immediately
setting down a text which people can
criticize or can say this is the truth
everything else is wrong that I think is
the biggest effect of writing down the
Bible or the Old Testament today the
reconstructed walls surrounding Babylon
are stamped with the name Saddam Hussein
but once the bricks bore another name
King Nebuchadnezzar
[Music]
this was a land of many gods and pagan
idols an unlikely birthplace for one of
the world's most sacred texts yet
babylons great diversity created the
perfect climate and they come into this
cause important and bound even the most
educated among them and literate among
them were being bombarded with direct
contact with other people and I mean
other people the Israelites found
themselves in a melting pot of different
races and languages conflicting gods and
alien demons what city is this the book
of Revelation would ask clothed in
purple and scarlet and decked with gold
and pearls the habitation of devils and
the hold of every foul spirit Babylon
the great mother of harlots and the
abominations of the earth
but among all the abominations even
perhaps because of them this was where
the Bible first became a book threatened
by an overwhelming new culture Hebrew
scribes were desperate to preserve and
solidified Jewish identity over three
generations of captivity the scribes
unified Israel's oral tradition new
writings and sacred texts into a single
manuscript the Bible was born
fortunately for them
the Babylonians were pretty liberal they
allowed to them to keep their own
culture their own religion to study
their own books this is what preserved
the Bible to this very day but as the
books of the Bible came together over
the long years of Exile Babylonian
culture would profoundly influence the
work of the Israelite scribes useful
fairly literate people I suspect many of
the people who went into exile and
scribes talked to scribes and I'm sure
that was how a lot of information was
transmitted and the exchange of ideas
and knowledge must have been I would use
the word devastating it must have been
mind-blowing the Bible would eventually
reflect stories and traditions from
Babylon and even earlier Mesopotamian
civilizations the Israelites couldn't
easily ignore babylons thriving culture
and great monuments
it's temples were among the largest
structures in the ancient world big
public buildings the ceremonial walkway
Palace of Nebuchadnezzar with its
legendary Hanging Gardens armed trees
gorillas if you had walked through the
Ishtar Gate you would have felt the
wolfed and this was delivered you were
in the presence of something powerful
but on all sides of it was the city the
people the commoners narrow winding
alleyways rows and rows of small stores
donkeys brain crowds of people walking
[Music]
small closely met quarters teeming with
life
and it was here the Bible tells us that
one of Antiquities most extraordinary
monuments soared into the sky the Tower
of Babel for ages adventurers and
pilgrims hoped that finding the famous
Tower would prove the truth of Bible
stories one seeker who failed would
write no man Durst go near to the tower
for it is all desert and full of dragons
and great serpents and full of diverse
venomous beasts medieval travelers
claimed they had found the tower this
spiral minaret still standing in
northern Iraq
but they were wrong this tower was built
1,500 years too late and far from the
walls of Babylon perhaps the most
intriguing possibility was posed by
Robert called away a German
archaeologist in the early 1900's he
discovered a rectangular ditch with only
a few ancient bricks remaining many
experts believe called away had found
all that survives of the famous Tower
Babylon's great monuments made a strong
impression of the biblical scribes but
her most enduring legacy surviving to
this day is a Babylonian innovation far
more impressive still the rule of law
Babylon was the first civilization on
earth to have a written legal code the
original carved stone is an astonishing
relic lost for hundreds of years it
would emerge in the late 19th century a
stone engraved with one of the most
important legal documents of all time
twelve hundred years before the
Israelites were taken captive a
Babylonian King had this stone carved
with the laws that bear his name
Hammurabi's code these writings can be
read as precursors to the legal code in
Exodus Leviticus and Deuteronomy in
societies where knowledge and law is
transmitted orally and dealt with orally
precedent is terribly important when he
got written down the people who wrote it
down had immense power Hammurabi's code
has influenced nearly every civilization
since Babylon today even some of its
more primitive methods of judgment
survived virtually intact Hammurabi
described a ritual called the ordeal a
painful even deadly test of guilt or
innocence in some remote Bedouin tribes
the ordeal is still practiced much as it
was in the time of Hammurabi in this
rare footage a holy man called the
mabashi will judge the accused by
examining their tongues after they lick
a red-hot
[Music]
these men have been accused of theft
they must submit to the ordeal for be
found guilty by default family members
look on anxiously as the young men
prepare themselves for the painful
ritual come little Turkey will be
Netherlands how much they're getting
little there was the National are you
water doesn't ease the pain it's meant
to cleanse and purify the drinker and -
ready him for judgement the holy man
prays and then examines the singed
tongues seeking a sign from God
only the mabashi can divine guilt or
innocence and he alone will determine
the men's fate at last a verdict one man
is found innocent to the great relief of
his family the other is not as fortunate
declared guilty he will be fined for his
crime the ordeal is an intriguing
modern-day echo of hammurabi but his
laws reach even more directly into the
present through the Bible
thou shalt not bear false witness
against a guy
the ten commandments the foundation of
biblical law and yet only the beginning
of a complex set of codes and covenants
central to the Old Testament
[Music]
and in these laws the clear voice of
Hammurabi can still be heard Hammurabi
set down laws he didn't innovate a great
deal he nearly set down inviting laws
which had operated by president for
hundreds if not thousands of years an
eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth and
principles like this many of which is
still codified in law today but the
babylon that shaped the bible and its
laws had its roots in an even earlier
civilization one that reached its peak
seven centuries before Christ it was the
brutal Empire of Assyria a place the
Bible called
a land bathed in blood
[Music]
deadliest of all Mesopotamian armies to
sweep through the ancient world were the
Assyrians in the Bible they are the
ultimate symbol of bloody tyranny and
ruthless oppression
[Music]
a hundred years before Nebuchadnezzar
took the Israelites captive in Babylon
the Bible tells us the Assyrian King
Sennacherib attacked the lands of the
Israelites
in the second book of Kings the Bible
says behold with the kings of Assyria
have done to our lands destroying them
utterly
the Assyrians were ruled by despotic
Kings they believed in absolute power
now absolute power means crooks law and
absolute power almost invariably is kept
in power by military efficiency and
might and the 'silly ins maintained an
enormous ly powerful and efficient war
machine and on the walls of the city and
King's palaces were the Chronicles of
some of our expeditions written in
vainglorious grandiloquent terms the
Assyrians
they would take a city and they would
stack up the heads of the leading
citizens outside the gate or they would
take the king of the of the city and
Flay him alive and nail his skin to the
wall or something like that but
everybody did that Assyrian power
symbolized by the Royal lion hunt lay in
the hands of merciless warrior kings
[Music]
even the Bible betrays grudging
admiration behold of the Assyrian under
his shadow dwelt all great nation
Ezekiel 31 when the city of Rome was in
its infancy Assyria was the greatest
empire in the world for more than a
thousand years details of Assyrian
civilization were few even its great
capital city of Nineveh was unknown to
the modern world
then in 1852 these desolate ruins were
explored by British archaeologist Austen
Henry Layard what Laird found here in
northern Iraq was nothing less than the
royal palace of Nineveh an unspoiled
treasure of Assyrian civilization
tunneling like a miner through the earth
layered uncovered great winged balls and
spectacular artistry hidden from human
view for a millennium the world was
stunned and excited by his breakthrough
Nineveh was another biblical city found
yet more confirmation of the Bible's
historical accuracy but the most
momentous of Layard discoveries was the
great library of Nineveh an
extraordinary collection of 22,000 clay
tablets inscribed with the cuneiform
writing of the Assyrians the only direct
communication that we have with the
people in the ancient world really is
what they left behind in their writings
we can know from that what they ate what
their medical treatments were what their
family life was like what their politics
was like how they viewed religion
details of Assyrian daily life reveal a
patriarchal society a world where
commoners and especially women had
little status every assyrian woman once
in her early life before marriage would
go to the temple of Ishtar and she would
sit on the steps and she would wait
there until some man came along and
dropped a coin on the hem of her dress
and then she would go inside with him
and do her thing and that was it
yet in this despotic world there was a
kind of justice in marriage even a wife
had certain rights
the woman could specify in her marriage
contract that her husband would have no
other wives
she might specify that he could have all
the prostitutes he wanted but no
otherwise
but if ordinary women had only limited
status recent discoveries reveal
Assyrian Queens enjoyed great privilege
in 1989 the ancient palace of Nimrod in
northern Iraq set the stage for a
startling find experts called it the
most significant discovery since King
Tut's tomb
the treasure of Nimrod while we were
cleaning some of the rooms we discovered
that there are some indications for
revolting underneath the floor we took
everything out and we tried to sort it
and we discovered that we have here the
bodies of at least two Queens solid gold
bracelets still adorned there bones
a royal treasure entombed more than
2,000 years ago this remarkable footage
shot by Iraqi archaeologists is an
exclusive record of their extraordinary
discoveries for the very first time the
tomb of an Assyrian Queen had been
uncovered intact the royal Sepulchre
still displayed a curse to protect its
occupants should anyone break open the
seal and remove me from my tomb let his
spirit roam in thirst under the bitter
rays of the Sun and may the great gods
of the underworld in
his corpse and ghosts with eternal
restlessness ignoring the curse
archaeologists excavated more than a
hundred and twenty-five pounds of
beautifully crafted jewelry crystal
goblets and exquisite carvings the
ancient Assyrians were master
Goldsmith's and artisans but the value
of this treasure far exceeds its worth
and gold in death Assyrian queens were
lavished with riches but in life it was
her kings who forged history Kings with
a taste for Empire in the year 701 BC
King Sennacherib and his army struck out
across the desert toward the
Mediterranean Sea the bold Assyrians
were determined to conquer all that lay
in their path the cities of Judah
including Jerusalem and it's rebellious
King Hezekiah fortress after fortress
fell to the Assyrians but it was the
city of Lachish whose brutal destruction
is best recorded in the historical
record and in the Bible
the siege of Lachish is a beautiful
example of how an Assyrian army
descended on a city surrounded it
besieged it reduced it and took away its
inhabitants to slavery those that were
not executed men women and children
their technique was very simple it was
brutal conquest fast-moving conquest
systematic efficient conquest and on the
best beliefs in Assyrian palaces you see
the siege engines the soldiers moving up
the mounds or the shields above them
protecting them from the debris thrown
down below but they had no hope in hell
those guys were professional soldiers it
was a machine from the capital city of
Jerusalem King Hezekiah knew an Assyrian
attack was inevitable he raced to
fortify the city and ordered an
underground aqueducts dug a desperate
effort to protect the city's water
supply in the face of a siege as a
kaya's plan worked the Bible tells us
the Lord saved Jerusalem and the king of
Assyria returneth shamefaced
to his own land
Sennacherib version of the conflict was
found on a clay prism unearthed in
Nineveh
it matches the Bible story down to the
smallest details but it's point of view
is sharply different but as for his
Akaya the Jew who did not bow down in
submission to my yoke 46 of his strong
world towns I besieged and conquered the
awful splendor of my lordship
overwhelmed him stories are told from
different angles but they are in
agreement if you will have to tell about
what happened today and I'll have to
tell will tell different stories
we have the story of Sennacherib
invading to this country each tells
basically about the same story Levant
with absolutely no contradictions no
contradictions but one the result in
Sanok rubs version Hezekiah is shut up
in Jerusalem like a caged bird but in
the Bible the Assyrian armies are held
back by Jerusalem's walls it is perhaps
the earliest example of spin-doctors at
work the god of the Israelites has the
last word I will break the Assyrian in
my land the Bible says for through the
voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be
beaten down Isaiah chapter 6
and the Bible tells us God does destroy
Nineveh throne of the greatest Syrian
kings it wasn't the first such
annihilation long before the Almighty
had laid waste an entire civilization
there is not a single mention of their
name in the Bible but they were called
Sumer and they told the story of a great
flood
it's one of the most familiar of all
Bible stories the saga of Noah's Ark
an angry god a wooden boat
I tell you
[Music]
it's the story of Noah and his family
escaping to the ark with every species
of animal and surviving the punishing
flood while the rest of mankind is
destroyed it's a primal tale stirring
our deepest hopes and fears a story
found in the Bible but also in another
ancient text a text discovered in the
ruins of Sumer early this century a
group of Mesopotamian tablets were
translated they revealed the earliest
known legend of a cataclysmic flood the
world's very first written epic it is
the story of the mythic King Gilgamesh
his tale of a Great Flood predates the
Bible's by at least 2,000 years for
seven days and seven nights the flood
had slipped over the lag and the huge
boat had been tossed about by the storms
boat then ones around on a mountain he
sends out birds which is the story which
has an eerie similarity to the story of
the Biblical Flood it's a wonderful
story more than 5000 years ago the story
of the Great Flood was first told here
in the ancient cities of Sumer Baroque
era do and er in Sumer we find the first
of almost everything that makes us
civilized they invented the wheel
government and gardening Sumer the first
civilization on earth in a land without
stone they devised mud bricks like those
still made and used today
and from these simple building blocks
they erected the first great monuments
called ziggurats towering temples
soaring hundreds of feet into the air
the Sumerians invented the 62nd minute
and even the troubled teenager where did
you go I didn't go anywhere if you
didn't go anywhere of why do you idle
about go to school stand before your
teacher recite your homework
write your tablet do you understand me
we know about the Sumerians they're
startling innovations and their everyday
lives thanks to their most impressive
invention writing we know their ancient
legends and their intimate secrets
because someone wrote them down it was
something no one had ever done before
it's a window but it's a window that's
composed of many panes some of which we
can see through and some of it recount
we we lack much more than we have so
well what we have is spectacular in some
cases we always have to bear in mind
that there are parts of the daily lives
of people that we can never see and
which we may never see because they're
people that those writing the tablets
didn't care about 5,000 years ago
someone etched their stories into clay
providing us with a glimpse of the world
in the first blush of civilization as a
people the Sumerians were in some ways
much like ourselves they are concerned
about meeting other people and drinking
beer and so on and there are several
collections of poems which relate the
preparations of a woman for her lover
and how she dresses and waits for her
lover to come
the center of Sumerian civilization was
the lost city of or once thought to be
the birthplace of Abraham first of the
Bible's patriarchs
it is the epitome of the biblical city
and archaeological terms because it was
the site of one of the most famous
archeological digs ever carried out in
the 1920s and 30s by a remarkable
British archeologist called Leonard
Woolley a British archeologist once
described archaeology as the science of
a rubbish which is so true
but give me the archaeologists who can
make the stones and the bones and bricks
and the pots come alive then Emily was
like that he would take people on a tour
of a small quarter of her of the
quarries where the house foundations are
exposed and as you walk through he would
talk about the lives of the people who
lived in these houses talk about the
ovens the sills the low ceilings the
furniture and her in what his hands came
alive
well he dubbed this enormous pit and he
went down to the city and it got smaller
and smaller and then there was this deep
sterile layer of silt and Willie himself
recounts how his wife came over looked
at it and she was a rather casual lady
in some ways and doc didn't said no well
of course that's the flood and the
lights went off and Willie claimed that
this was evidence of the Biblical Flood
and it captured the popular imagination
what did it do it brought in money and
uh was a dig that was sold brilliantly
[Music]
speculation about the biblical flood
caused a sensation even without solid
proof It was as if science and the Bible
had united in the Bleak desert of
southern Iraq
Willie would eventually unearth an
indisputable treasure a discovery that
provided extraordinary insight into this
earliest of civilizations the royal
tombs of or digging in the thick mud
wooly uncovered 74 carefully arranged
skeletons all entombed at the same time
the burial told the shocking story of a
king's final journey into the afterlife
and of those who accompanied him and
from this he developed a remarkable
story of a pre-dynastic royal funeral
and his story went something like this
first a dad was big hit with Wham
on one side in the pit they erected a
Sepulcher a stone
in which the body the while personnage
was placed
then the entire court filed into the pit
everybody lined up and stood there with
two clay pots in their hands and then it
was sick they all drank poison
lay down and died
so the prince went to his grave
accompanied by all his retainers
this has become one of the great
discovery is one of the great funeral
accounts of archaeology and early
history the discovery of the grave pizza
door was a triumph of archaeology
revealing ancient secrets of the first
civilization but science alone can take
us only so far where the trail ends
the epic of gilgamesh provides the final
tantalizing clues clues leading us back
to a garden and a place some called
paradise
a Garden of Eden in the beginning God
created the world it's a familiar story
you get these sort of creation myths in
almost every society on earth it's a
really compelling longing of people for
a better world gardens of Eden paradises
are people's longing for the less
complicated life or a life of years or a
reward for having worked so hard in the
ancient Sumerian epic of gilgamesh the
name given to paradise as doorman
it's a place beyond the edge of normal
human habitation because how it features
in the Cimmerian like me that's where
the flood survivor goes to live and
there are other myths which feature
Dillman as a place where everything was
perfect Gillman figures in Mesopotamian
legend as a sort of Garden of Eden was a
sort of paradise a place verdant green
and abundant water and cool winds and
breezes it is a place of wonder a
perfect place
yet it is also home to a serpent
in the ancient epic the snake steals
away the flower that bestows immortality
and so like Adam Gilgamesh must leave
the garden and die the idea of paradise
seems Universal but what is it based on
was there ever really such a place the
clues point to an enchanted yet very
real location 400 miles south of the
ancient Sumerian city of war lies the
island of Bahrain a pivotal marketplace
on the trade routes across the arid
desert sand salt seas of Mesopotamia
today Bahrain is something less than
paradise
but it was once lush once this island
had abundant water and thus abundant
life once long ago this was Dillman but
was it paradise
[Music]
by comparison to the surrounding desert
it would certainly have seemed so there
was so much water here that what is now
a desert island bloomed it was a garden
bearing lush fruit and there were people
here who apparently led a blessed life
more than 85,000 burial mounds dot this
landscape probably the most in any one
location in the ancient world the
ancient bones tell us these people were
taller and healthier and they lived
longer than anyone else in the region
and in the burial mounds is one more
astonishing clue the remains of snakes
ritually embalm dat some lost moment
more than 4,000 years ago
here in Bahrain we find the serpent just
as we found it in the epic of gilgamesh
and just as we found it in the Bible
our journey back in time has crossed the
lands for the Babylonians the Assyrians
and the ancient Sumerians once walked
the earth is it possible to venture even
farther to the land that conceals the
very footsteps of Adam
here faith and reason must part company
we now know there was once an island
garden in Mesopotamia we may choose to
believe it was paradise
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
and a few miles east of Jerusalem
in the sun-baked desert they notice a
small cave obscured by a rocky slope
curious one begins to climb it's not
uncommon for ancient and valuable
artifacts to be found along these Bluffs
inside the cave the Shepherd discovers
the wreckage of ancient pots leather
scroll fragments and some papyrus sheets
all untouched since the time of Jesus
these writings by an obscure Jewish sect
called the Essenes would come to be
known throughout the world as the Dead
Sea Scrolls in surrounding caves
hundreds of ancient scrolls would
eventually be unearthed one of them
would prove to be the earliest known
version of the Old Testament including
the crucial first five books known to
the Jews as the Torah the Dead Sea
scrolls instantly became the focus of a
tremendous international uproar as
scholars and theologians fought over
their ownership and their meaning and
their sensation was outstanding this was
described as one of the most outstanding
archaeological finds anywhere so they're
very precious to the Jews because that
Jewish come from a very crucial period
in Jewish history
they are very precious to the Christians
because they're contemporaneous with
John the Baptist's in Jesus and so on so
Dov
the first aim of the biblical
archaeologists was to locate sites
mentioned prominently in the biblical
narratives and to see if any
illustration of those tales could be
found to use the ancient pottery the
ancient city walls the ancient weapons
as illustrations of biblical stories
that all of them had been taught from
their childhood fueled by the excitement
of early finds scholars from all over
the world raced to stake out claims and
a kind of biblical gold rush
[Music]
competing British German and French
archaeologists descended on the Holy
Land
teams of theological detectives digging
for both God and country
[Music]
the prestige of each of the European
nations in the Holy Land was measured by
the kind of biblical discoveries that
they were uncovering and one of the most
intense diplomatic and political battles
that occurred in the history of Biblical
Archaeology was the discovery of the
famous Moabite stone in 1868 deep in the
land of Moab better ones of the Bonnie
Hama de tribe
stumbled onto a mysterious stone tablet
buried in the desert the tribesmen were
no strangers to the antiquities of the
area or to their value to Europeans the
first Westerner to hear of the curious
black stone was the Reverend Frederick
Augustus Klein he immediately set off
through the
[Music]
the Garden of Eden our most enduring
legend a story found in one great
civilization after another
a story of seduction
[Music]
the wrath of God
and Paradise Lost
but is it merely a fable
is there evidence the great stories of
the Bible might be true
was there ever really such a place as
even
today the search for the Garden of Eden
leads us to a dry and desolate land to a
place called Mesopotamia
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
this is the land where the first seeds
of human civilization were sown and it
was here that three of the greatest
civilizations of the ancient world
flourished Babylon Assyria and Sumer
among their ruins the faithful of long
sought answers to the Bible's most
profound mysteries while archaeologists
scoured these lands for the historical
foundations of belief our quest for Eden
as a journey back in time first to
Babylon
the last of these lost civilizations
then further into the past to the
Assyrians fierce masters of the art of
war
and finally to a moment in the past so
distant only Eden could have preceded it
to Sumer
and the creation of civilization itself
the great arc of the Fertile Crescent
over the course of more than 6,000 years
this rich land cradled between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers gave birth
to the first great civilizations the
Greeks called it Mesopotamia we call it
Iraq by peeling back the layers of
history here we can trace the origins of
our oldest stories and travel back to
the deepest roots of faith our journey
begins on the western edge of
Mesopotamia in Israel a chance discovery
in 1947 would rivet the world's
attention to archaeology and to the
Bible to Bedouin shepherds are moving a
herd of goats along the cliffs of Qumran
very informative but beyond that we have
a great emotional attachment to this
library the Bible has always been a book
read from two points of view the sacred
and the historical a traditional Torah
is always written by hand the words are
read aloud as the scribe writes so they
become a living prayer and each Torah is
considered holy from the moment it is
written neh and Hakeem but the
historical accuracy of the Bible has
never been so easily confirmed it's an
effort that continues to this day
deny some of the books of the Bible are
excellent historical books as a matter
of fact the earliest historical books
that we have and quite accurate because
we have cross references from other
sources and they are found to be most
very precise so they are very important
the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
was the most famous event in Biblical
Archaeology but it was by no means the
first the urge to explore biblical
history has a venerable tradition it's a
search that began in the Holy Land
but would lead to Mesopotamia
throughout history Crusaders mystics and
believers have been drawn to sites where
the great Bible stories took place but
with the arrival of the 19th century a
new kind of pilgrim sought to fortify
their belief in the Bible through the
infant science of archaeology surely
there could be no greater confirmation
of their faith than to prove that
biblical history was true
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