Jeff Rose: FOR CENTURIES THE BIBLE WAS BELIEVED
THE DIVINE WORD OF GOD...
A SACRED BOOK SUPPORTING THE FAITH OF MILLIONS.
TODAY IT'S THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST RELIGION.
BUT 200 YEARS AGO CHRISTIANITY FACED A CRISIS.
Man: THERE WERE RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS,
CULTURE WARS, CALLING INTO QUESTION
A LOT OF ASPECTS OF TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN FAITH.
Man: YOU HAVE PEOPLE USING THE WORD "MYTH"
TO DESCRIBE THINGS LIKE GENESIS, THE CREATION AND THE FLOOD.
Man: PEOPLE BURNT BOOKS.
THERE WERE RIOTS IN THE STREETS AFTER SERMONS.
Rose: THE CRISIS WOULD CHANGE CHRISTIANITY FOREVER.
I'M JEFF ROSE, AN ARCHEOLOGIST AND A HISTORIAN,
AND I'M GONNA BE FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS
OF THE BIBLE HUNTERS--
A HANDFUL OF INTREPID EXPLORERS
WHOSE DISCOVERIES ROCKED THE FOUNDATIONS
OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
THEY SET OUT TO DISCOVER
THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE BIBLE
IN AN ANCIENT AND MYSTERIOUS LAND...
BUT WHAT THEY UNCOVERED
WASN'T EXACTLY WHAT THEY EXPECTED TO FIND.
THE BIBLE HUNTERS' QUEST WOULD CHALLENGE
HOW THE WORLD SAW THE BIBLE
AND WHETHER IT TRULY WAS THE WORD OF GOD.
OUR STORY BEGINS IN THE LATE 18th CENTURY...
IN EGYPT.
AT THE TIME, IT WAS A DISTANT LAND OF MYSTERY AND WONDER...
ONCE HOME TO AN ANCIENT EMPIRE.
THEN, IN 1798, NAPOLEON ARRIVED ON EGYPT'S SHORES,
EAGER FOR CONQUEST.
AMONG HIS ARMY OF 40,000 SOLDIERS
WAS A MAN WITH A SKETCHBOOK--
ARTIST VIVANT DENON.
DENON CAPTURED AMAZING SIGHTS--
MONUMENTS...
TEMPLES...
STATUES OF GODS AND ROYALTY.
WITH ONLY A FEW MINUTES TO RECORD A SCENE,
HE WOULD OFTEN SKETCH UNDER FIRE...
OR WORK WHILE SEATED ON THE BACK OF A CAMEL.
THOUGH NAPOLEON ULTIMATELY FAILED TO CONQUER EGYPT,
DENON'S IMAGES CAPTIVATED AND UNSETTLED EUROPEANS.
THE FRENCH, THE BRITISH, AND THE GERMANS
WERE OBSESSED WITH IDEA
THAT THEY WERE NATURAL HEIRS
TO THE GREAT CIVILIZATIONS
OF ROME AND GREECE.
BUT DENON'S DRAWINGS REVEALED
AN OLDER, MORE SPECTACULAR CIVILIZATION.
YOU CAN STILL GET AN IDEA OF WHAT DENON EXPERIENCED BACK THEN
BY TRAVELING SIX HOURS SOUTH OF CAIRO
TO THE ANCIENT TEMPLE OF DENDARA.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
IT'S EASY TO SEE WHY DENON WROTE ABOUT THE POWER OF THE PLACE.
Vivant Denon: "THIS MONUMENT SEEMED TO ME
TO HAVE THE PRIMITIVE CHARACTER OF A TEMPLE
IN THE MOST PERFECT STATE."
"IN THE RUINS OF DENDARA
THE EGYPTIANS APPEARED TO ME LIKE GIANTS."
Rose: IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR DENON,
ENTERING THIS MASSIVE TEMPLE,
SEEING WALLS FILLED WITH INCOMPREHENSIBLE IMAGES.
HIS EXPLORATION LEADS HIM ALONG A DARK CORRIDOR,
UP A TINY STAIRWAY.
AND AT THE TOP, HE FINDS A SURPRISING CEILING--
A ZODIAC--
A CIRCLE OF ANIMALS REPRESENTING THE CONSTELLATION OF THE STARS.
DENON MAKES A SKETCH OF THE ZODIAC IN THE DIM LIGHT
AND LATER SHOWS IT TO FRENCH SCHOLARS.
THEY WERE SO IMPRESSED
THAT A TREASURE HUNTER WAS DISPATCHED TO RETRIEVE IT
FOR THE FRENCH NATION.
WHAT YOU SEE HERE ISN'T THE ORIGINAL ZODIAC.
THAT ONE WAS REMOVED OH SO CAREFULLY USING EXPLOSIVES
AND THEN BROUGHT BACK TO FRANCE.
FRENCH SCHOLARS READ THE ZODIAC AS A TIME STAMP--
AN EXACT REPRESENTATION OF THE NIGHT SKY
AT THE TIME IT WAS CARVED.
THEY CONCLUDED THAT IT WAS CREATED ABOUT 15,000 B.C.,
WHICH SENT SHOCK WAVES THROUGH THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
IN THE 19th CENTURY,
CHRISTIANS BELIEVED THE WORLD WAS CREATED IN 4004 B.C.
THIS PRECISE DATE WAS PROPOSED BY THE IRISH BISHOP USSHER,
AFTER HE METICULOUSLY CALCULATED A TIMELINE
USING ALL OF THE GENEALOGIES IN THE BIBLE.
BUT IF THE DENDARA ZODIAC WAS OLDER THAN 4004 B.C.,
THIS IMPLIED THAT THE BIBLE WAS WRONG.
David Gange: SO THIS IS REALLY DANGEROUS MATERIAL
FOR BIBLE-BELIEVING CHRISTIANS,
AND IT CAUSES A HUGE BATTLE IN FRANCE
BETWEEN THE CONSERVATIVE CATHOLIC CHURCH,
WHO WANT TO ARGUE THAT THIS IS A MUCH, MUCH LATER MONUMENT,
AND THE ATHEISTS AND RADICALS IN FRANCE
WHO ARE COMMITTED TO THIS DATE OF 15,000 B.C.
Rose: THIS BATTLE IS ABOUT MORE THAN GEOLOGICAL TIME.
IT'S ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD.
Gange: THE BIBLE IS CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN TRANSMITTED
FROM GOD DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE WHO WROTE IT DOWN,
AND CHRISTIANS BELIEVED THAT TO READ THE BIBLE
WAS TO ACCESS THE MIND OF GOD.
Rose: THE BIBLE CONSISTED OF THE OLD TESTAMENT--
MUCH OF IT BELIEVED WRITTEN BY MOSES--
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT, WITH 27 BOOKS--
INCLUDING FOUR GOSPELS--
RECOUNTING THE LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.
OFTEN THE ONLY BOOK IN MANY HOUSEHOLDS,
THE BIBLE WAS THE FINAL AUTHORITY
ON MORAL, ETHICAL AND HISTORICAL QUESTIONS.
THE DENDARA ZODIAC DEBATE OVER THE CREATION OF THE WORLD
OPENED THE DOOR FOR SCHOLARS
TO QUESTION THE BIBLE'S RELIABILITY.
THE FIRST OF THESE SCHOLARS-- GERMAN-BORN DAVID STRAUSS--
OUTRAGED THE FAITHFUL WHEN HE PUBLISHED A BOOK IN 1835,
THE LIFE OF JESUS, THAT DOUBTED THE TRUTH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Gange: SO HIS LIFE OF JESUS, A KIND OF BIOGRAPHY OF JESUS,
IS NOT REALLY A BIOGRAPHY AT ALL.
HE ARGUES THAT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE LIFE OF CHRIST,
THE LIFE OF JESUS,
WE NEED EXTERNAL CORROBORATION FROM OUTSIDE THE BIBLE,
AND HE THINKS THAT CORROBORATION DOESN'T EXIST.
SO HE THINKS THAT WE CANNOT KNOW FOR FACT
ANYTHING THAT IS IN THE GOSPELS.
Rose: STRAUSS WENT SO FAR AS TO ARGUE
THAT THE MIRACLE STORIES ATTRIBUTED TO JESUS--
CHRIST WALKING ON WATER, THE FEEDING OF THE 5,000--
WERE MYTHICAL.
Michael Ledger-Lomas: STRAUSS' CLAIM IS THAT THE GOSPELS
ARE FIRSTLY, THEY'RE FULL OF INCONSISTENCIES.
DIFFERENT GOSPELS SAY DIFFERENT THINGS ABOUT THE LIFE OF JESUS.
SECONDLY, THEY'RE FULL OF MIRACLES,
AND IN MAKING THAT ARGUMENT
IT HELPED STRAUSS TO BE ABLE TO CLAIM
THAT THE GOSPELS WERE THE END PRODUCT
OF A LONG PERIOD OF MYTHMAKING.
Rose: DEVOUT CHRISTIANS DISMISSED STRAUSS' ATTACK
ON THE MIRACLE STORIES AS HERETICAL.
BUT SUPPORTERS OF STRAUSS ARGUED THAT THE BIBLICAL STORIES
WERE NOT BASED ON FIRST-HAND EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS.
EARLY CHRISTIANS USED THE LANGUAGE OF GREEK
TO CONVEY THEIR WRITTEN MESSAGE.
BUT WHEN THE FIRST PRINTED BIBLES WERE MADE,
THE OLDEST AVAILABLE MANUSCRIPTS IN GREEK
WERE FROM THE 12th CENTURY,
OVER A THOUSAND YEARS AFTER THE LIFE OF JESUS.
SO HOW RELIABLE WAS THE BIBLICAL TEXT
AFTER BEING TRANSCRIBED SO MANY COUNTLESS TIMES?
WAS IT STILL THE WORD OF GOD?
THE FACT IS, THE SIMPLE ACT
OF COPYING THE BIBLE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS
COULD HAVE LED TO MANY ERRORS.
Edward Adams: IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BIBLE, OF COURSE,
THERE WERE NO PRINTING PRESSES,
SO THE BIBLICAL TEXT WAS TRANSMITTED BY HUMAN BEINGS
WRITING OUT THE TEXT AND COPYING IT AGAIN
AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.
AND THAT INEVITABLY LEADS TO ERRORS
CREEPING INTO THE PROCESS.
Rose: WHAT'S MORE, THE EARLIEST COPIERS OF THE BIBLE TEXTS
WERE NOT PROFESSIONAL SCRIBES,
AND FROM THEIR PENS CAME TWO KINDS OF MISTAKES.
Adams: THEY WEREN'T PERFECT.
SO THEY WERE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE SAME KIND OF ERRORS
THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE.
SIMPLY, MISTAKES THAT ARISE
WHEN YOU'RE COPYING FROM ONE TEXT TO ANOTHER.
SO MISSED-OUT WORDS, MAYBE WORDS THAT ARE REPEATED,
THAT KIND OF THING.
NOW, THE OTHER KIND OF ERROR--
WHICH IS ACTUALLY MUCH LESS FREQUENT--
IS AN INTENTIONAL DIFFERENCE.
SO THAT'S WHERE THE SCRIBE
INTRODUCES SOMETHING INTO THE TEXT
OR TAKES AWAY SOMETHING FROM THE TEXT,
AND THERE ARE MUCH FEWER IN NUMBER
BUT THEY ARE MUCH MORE CONTROVERSIAL.
Rose: THESE ERRORS LED HISTORIANS TO CONCLUDE
THAT THE BIBLE TEXT
COULDN'T BE THE EXACT AND UNCHANGED WORD OF GOD.
Simon Goldhill: WHAT CRITICAL HISTORIANS DISCOVERED
WAS THAT THE TEXTS ON WHICH CHRISTIANITY WERE BASED
WERE NOT RELIABLE.
THEY WEREN'T HISTORICALLY AUTHENTIC.
AND THAT MEANT-- WHAT PRICE THE WORD OF GOD?
IF YOU CAN'T TRUST THE TEXTS
IN WHICH THESE THINGS ARE TRANSMITTED,
YOU CAN'T TRUST YOUR OWN RELIGIOUS FOUNDATIONS.
Rose: THIS WAS DYNAMITE
FOR THE MAJORITY OF 19th-CENTURY CHRISTIANS.
SCHOLARS HAD THE AUDACITY TO CHALLENGE THE VERY WORD OF GOD.
IT WAS TANTAMOUNT TO BLASPHEMY.
DEFENDERS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WERE STUNG
BY THE HISTORIANS' ASSAULT ON THE BIBLE'S AUTHORITY.
BUT THEY WOULD RECEIVE SUPPORT FROM A YOUNG ENGLISHMAN
WHO WASN'T A SCHOLAR ARMED WITH ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS.
INSTEAD, HE WAS AN ADVENTURER WITH A KEEN EYE FOR A GOOD DEAL.
WELL-BORN AND BRED, ROBERT CURZON WAS A NOBLEMAN
WHO HAD STUDIED CLASSICS AT OXFORD,
BUT LEFT IN 1831 WITHOUT COMPLETING HIS DEGREE.
Scot McKendrick: IN MANY WAYS, HE WAS VERY TYPICAL OF HIS AGE.
YOUNG ARISTOCRAT, BORED,
COULDN'T FIND A ROLE FOR HIMSELF.
HIS FAMILY HAD NO SENSE OF WHAT HE SHOULD DO,
AND SO HE WAS CLEARLY SEEKING
SOME SORT OF PURPOSE IN HIS LIFE.
Rose: DISENCHANTED BY THE PERPETUAL GLOOM OF ENGLAND,
CURZON WROTE, "THE SOLITARINESS OF MY EXISTENCE IS UNENDURABLE.
IT'S LIKE LIVING IN A MADHOUSE."
SO HE PACKED HIS BAGS AND SET OFF FOR AN EXOTIC LAND
TO RESURRECT HIS BROKEN SPIRIT.
CURZON'S ESCAPE FROM THE MADHOUSE
LED HIM TO EGYPT AND THE MAJESTIC PYRAMIDS.
YOU CAN'T NOT BE AMAZED
STANDING IN THE PRESENCE OF THESE GIANT STONE MONSTERS.
BUT CURZON WANTED TO DO MORE
THAN JUST MARVEL AT THE WONDERS OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
A BOOK COLLECTOR WITH A PASSION FOR HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPTS,
HE WANTED TO FIND ANCIENT BIBLICAL TEXTS
AND BRING THEM BACK TO ENGLAND FOR PRESERVATION.
EGYPT'S EARLY CHRISTIAN MONASTERIES
WERE A NATURAL TARGET FOR HIS SEARCH.
EGYPT WAS A KEY PLAYER IN THE FORMATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY,
AND IT'S HERE THAT THE MONASTIC MOVEMENT BEGAN.
MONKS WHO HAD GONE OUT TO THE DESERT
TO LIVE IN SOLITUDE
BANDED TOGETHER IN SELF-SUFFICIENT COMMUNITIES,
AND THOSE BECAME THE FIRST MONASTERIES.
ONE OF THE OLDEST MONASTERIES IN EGYPT, AND THE WORLD,
IS THE SYRIAN MONASTERY, 90 MILES WEST OF CAIRO.
IN 1834, IT TOOK LORD CURZON NEARLY TWO DAYS TO REACH IT
BY BOAT AND CAMEL.
TODAY, IT'S LESS THAN TWO HOURS AWAY BY BIKE.
FOUNDED IN THE SIXTH CENTURY A.D.,
THE MONASTERY WAS KNOWN FOR ITS WALL PAINTINGS
AND ITS LIBRARY OF PRECIOUS MANUSCRIPTS.
[BELL RINGING]
WHEN CURZON VISITED THE LIBRARY,
HE FOUND THE PLACE IN COMPLETE DISARRAY
WITH MANUSCRIPTS JUST LITTERING THE FLOOR.
IN HIS OWN WORDS, HE SAW HIMSELF
AS A KIND OF "BIBLICAL KNIGHT-ERRANT
THERE TO SAVE THE TEXTS FROM THE THRALLDOM OF IGNORANT MONKS,
KEPT IN THEIR DARK MONASTIC DUNGEONS."
[BELL RINGING]
NO QUESTION CURZON'S HEROIC SELF-PORTRAYAL
IS A LITTLE OVER THE TOP.
BUT TODAY'S LIBRARIAN OF THE MONASTERY, FATHER BIGOUL,
ADMITS THE PLACE PROBABLY WAS A MESS.
Rose: DURING HIS STAY, THE CRAFTY CURZON
PLIED A BLIND MONK WITH LIQUEUR
TO COAX HIM INTO SHOWING HIM THE LIBRARY
IN THE DEEP RECESSES OF THE VAULTS.
Robert Curzon: "TAKING THE CANDLE
FROM THE HAND OF ONE OF THE BRETHREN,
I DISCOVERED A NARROW LOW DOOR AND ENTERED INTO A SMALL CLOSET
WITH THE LOOSE LEAVES OF ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS."
Rose: INSIDE THE ROOM, CURZON FOUND A TREASURE TROVE:
THE DUSTY PAGES OF SOME OF THE EARLIEST DATED BIBLE TEXTS
IN EXISTENCE...
FULLY BOUND CHRISTIAN MANUSCRIPTS,
AS WELL AS SEVERAL GOSPEL FRAGMENTS.
WRITTEN IN ANCIENT SYRIAC--
A LANGUAGE RELATED TO WHAT JESUS SPOKE--
THEY DATED BACK TO THE FOURTH CENTURY A.D.
SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY,
CURZON BOUGHT DOZENS OF MANUSCRIPTS FROM THE MONKS,
NO DOUBT THINKING HE WAS SAVING THE TEXTS FROM DESTRUCTION.
THE TEXTS ARE NOW IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY,
MORE THAN 2,000 MILES FROM WHERE CURZON FOUND THEM.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
Rose: DURING HIS TIME AT THE SYRIAN MONASTERY,
CURZON ALSO STUMBLED UPON A SURPRISE.
A BIBLICAL TEXT-- THE ACTS OF PETER AND PAUL--
WHICH WAS NEVER INCLUDED IN THE BIBLE.
AT THE TIME, QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY THIS CHRISTIAN TEXT WAS OMITTED
LED TO SPECULATION AMONG SCHOLARS
ABOUT THE ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE.
WERE THERE MORE TEXTS NOT INCLUDED IN THE SCRIPTURES
WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED?
WORD OF LORD CURZON'S DISCOVERIES
IN AN OBSCURE MONASTERY IN EGYPT SPREAD ACROSS EUROPE,
ALERTING SCHOLARS AND BIBLIOPHILES
OF THE ANCIENT TREASURES FOUND IN NORTH AFRICA.
CONSTANTIN TISCHENDORF--
A DEVOUT AND AMBITIOUS BIBLE SCHOLAR FROM LEIPZIG, GERMANY--
WAS ALARMED BY QUESTIONS
DOUBTING THE AUTHORITY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
AN EXPERT IN ANCIENT GREEK--
THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT--
HE VOWED TO FIND EARLY MANUSCRIPTS
TO SUPPORT THE BIBLE'S AUTHENTICITY.
Constantin Tischendorf: "NOTHING IN THEOLOGY IS AS IMPORTANT
AS THE CAREFUL STUDY OF THE OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
TO PROVE THEIR GENUINENESS.
I WILL RECONSTRUCT IF POSSIBLE THE EXACT TEXT OF THE BIBLE
AS IT CAME FROM THE PEN OF THE SACRED WRITER."
Rose: FOR THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, THE STAKES COULD NOT BE HIGHER.
[PRIEST CHANTING]
TISCHENDORF DEPARTED LEIPZIG IN LATE 1840
ON A VOYAGE THAT WOULD TAKE HIM THROUGH EUROPE
AND ULTIMATELY TO EGYPT.
BUT HE HAD ONE BIT OF UNFINISHED BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO.
BEFORE HE SET OFF ON HIS EPIC JOURNEY ACROSS EUROPE,
TISCHENDORF GOT ENGAGED TO A WOMAN NAMED ANGELIKA,
THE DAUGHTER OF A LOCAL VICAR, WITHOUT HER FATHER'S PERMISSION.
HE PROMISED HE'D BE BACK WITHIN A FEW MONTHS,
BUT IT WAS FOUR YEARS TILL THEY SAW EACH OTHER AGAIN.
IN 1844, TISCHENDORF REACHED THE PORT OF ALEXANDRIA,
THE GATEWAY TO EGYPT.
Ledger-Lomas: EGYPT IN THE FIRST CENTURIES OF CHRISTIANITY
IS A GREAT CHRISTIAN CENTER,
AND IT'S THIS REPUTATION THAT LEADS SCHOLARS LIKE TISCHENDORF
TO BELIEVE THAT IF WE'RE GOING TO FIND THOSE EARLY MANUSCRIPTS
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ANYWHERE,
WE'RE MOST LIKELY TO FIND THEM IN EGYPT.
Rose: TISCHENDORF WAS RELIEVED TO FINALLY SET FOOT IN EGYPT,
BUT WAS OVERWHELMED BY THE INTENSE NOISE OF THE CITY.
AS SOON AS HE COULD, HE SET OUT FOR GIZA.
Tischendorf: "WHAT THESE PYRAMIDS MUST HAVE WITNESSED
OVER THE MILLENNIA...
THE PHARAOHS...
JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS.
HERE I WAS, IN AWE OF THIS ANCIENT MYSTERY."
Rose: AFTER A DAY AT GIZA, TISCHENDORF HEADED WEST--
BACK TO THE SAME SYRIAN MONASTERY
LORD CURZON HAD VISITED SIX YEARS EARLIER.
HE DESPERATELY HOPED THERE WERE STILL SOME CHRISTIAN MANUSCRIPTS
LEFT TO PURCHASE.
THE WORLD OF THE BIBLE HUNTERS WAS QUITE SMALL,
AND NEWS TRAVELED FAST.
TISCHENDORF CAME HERE IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CURZON,
BUT BY THEN THE MONKS WERE SPOILED BY LORD CURZON'S GOLD,
WITH WHICH POOR TISCHENDORF COULDN'T COMPETE.
THE MONKS DIDN'T HAVE-- OR REFUSED TO SHOW--
ANY GREEK MANUSCRIPTS TO TISCHENDORF.
HE TRAVELED THOUSANDS OF MILES--
SPENT MONEY HE COULDN'T AFFORD--
TO REACH THIS REMOTE DESERT MONASTERY...
ONLY TO COME UP EMPTY-HANDED.
HE RETURNED TO CAIRO, BUT HE WASN'T ABOUT TO GIVE UP.
TISCHENDORF HAD ONE LAST AVENUE TO EXPLORE--
THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH.
THEY RUN A MONASTERY AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT SINAI
WITH AN UNEXPLORED LIBRARY.
BUT TO GAIN ACCESS TO ITS SECRETS,
HE WOULD NEED A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
FROM THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY HERE IN CAIRO.
ON TOP OF THAT, THE MONASTERY, CALLED ST. CATHERINE'S,
WAS ALMOST 300 MILES AWAY ACROSS THE DESERT.
TO GET THERE, THE BIBLE HUNTER FROM GERMANY
NEEDED RELIABLE GUIDES...
AND CAMELS.
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CAMEL SHOPPING
HAVEN'T CHANGED MUCH IN 170 YEARS.
THERE ARE HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF CAMELS HERE,
AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO TELL
WHAT MAKES A GOOD ONE FROM A BAD ONE.
I'M TRYING TO GET SOME ANSWERS HERE ON WHAT MAKES A GOOD CAMEL.
AND THEY SAY YOU JUST GOT TO KNOW.
YOU GOT TO BE BORN INTO IT, SO THESE ARE THE EXPERTS.
SO WHENEVER I GO BUYING CAMELS,
THE FIRST THING TO DO IS LOOK UNDERNEATH,
TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING.
[CAMEL BELLOWING]
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[BELLOWING]
DO WE HAVE ANY MINTS FOR THIS GUY?
SOME BREATH MINTS?
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[LAUGHTER]
Rose: AFTER LENGTHY NEGOTIATIONS, WE AGREE ON A FEE.
AND LIKE TISCHENDORF OVER 150 YEARS EARLIER,
I SET OUT WITH A GROUP OF BEDOUIN GUIDES
FOR ST. CATHERINE'S, NINE DAYS AWAY,
AT THE FOOT OF ONE OF CHRISTIANITY'S HOLIEST SITES.
BY CAR YOU CAN TRAVEL FROM CAIRO TO MOUNT SINAI
IN A DAY OR TWO...
BUT TISCHENDORF'S ROUTE IS CENTURIES OLD.
OUT HERE, YOU QUICKLY REALIZE
HOW MUCH YOU DEPEND ON THESE MASTERS OF THE DESERT.
OUR LONG DAY'S TREK ENDS WITH A SIMPLE, COMMUNAL MEAL.
NORMALLY YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THAT MUCH DUST
COMING OFF YOUR FOOD.
BUT WE'LL GIVE IT A TRY.
Man: WE WANT TO GIVE IT TO YOU TO TASTE THE BREAD.
Rose: HERE WE GO, MOMENT OF TRUTH.
Man: YEAH. BREAD AND TEA.
Rose: THAT'S REALLY GOOD.
Man: TRY IT.
Rose: THAT'S WONDERFUL.
Man: YEAH.
Rose: IT'S COOKED TO PERFECTION.
IN MAY OF 1844, TISCHENDORF REACHED ST. CATHERINE'S
IN A VALLEY BELOW HISTORIC MOUNT SINAI.
ON THIS MOUNTAIN PEAK, ACCORDING TO BIBLICAL TRADITION,
MOSES RECEIVED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FROM GOD.
THE MONASTERY MUST HAVE BEEN A WELCOME SIGHT
FOR WEARY TISCHENDORF.
OH, GOD. OH, BOY.
IT CERTAINLY SEEMED TO BE FOR MY CAMEL.
[LAUGHTER]
THAT ONE'S GOT A LITTLE SPEED IN HIM.
BACK THEN, ST. CATHERINE'S
WAS MORE OF A FORTRESS THAN A MONASTERY,
WITH 40-FOOT-HIGH WALLS.
AND NO ENTRANCE OTHER THAN THAT WOODEN STRUCTURE THERE.
TO GAIN ACCESS, YOU'D HAVE TO GET HAULED UP IN A BASKET.
SO WHEN TISCHENDORF ARRIVED, THEY REFUSED TO LET HIM IN
TILL HE SHOWED HIS LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION.
LUCKILY FOR HIM, HE'D DONE HIS HOMEWORK,
AND THE MONKS HAULED HIM UP.
[BELL RINGING]
SINCE THE SIXTH CENTURY,
THE MONASTERY HAS BEEN A HAVEN FOR GREEK ORTHODOX MONKS
WHO'VE DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO PRAYER
AND SPIRITUAL CONTEMPLATION.
INSIDE, I MEET ST. CATHERINE'S LIBRARIAN, FATHER JUSTIN,
THE FIRST NON-GREEK TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY
IN ITS 1,500-YEAR HISTORY.
Father Justin: IT'S BEAUTIFUL TO SEE THE SWALLOWS FLYING,
ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT, IN THE EVENING.
Rose: BORN IN EL PASO, TEXAS, FATHER JUSTIN
DISCOVERED GREEK ORTHODOXY WHILE HE WAS AT COLLEGE.
HE'S LIVED HERE FOR 17 YEARS.
Father Justin: WE CAN TRACE A CHRISTIAN PRESENCE HERE
TO THE LATE THIRD AND BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.
BUT THE GREAT BASILICA THAT YOU SEE BELOW US
AND THE HIGH SURROUNDING WALLS
WERE ALL BUILT AT THE COMMAND OF THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
IN THE SIXTH CENTURY,
AND THEN YOU HAVE STRUCTURES ADDED SINCE THEN.
Rose: TISCHENDORF HOPED THAT THIS ANCIENT MONASTERY
HELD BIBLICAL TREASURES
THAT WOULD PROVE THE BIBLE SKEPTICS WRONG.
Father Justin: THE SINAI HAS A VERY DRY AND STABLE CLIMATE,
AND IT'S NEVER BEEN DESTROYED AND NEVER BEEN ABANDONED
IN ALL OF ITS HISTORY.
AND SO THE MONASTERY NATURALLY HAS BUILT UP
AN ASTONISHING LIBRARY
AND AN ASTONISHING COLLECTION OF ICONS.
Rose: TODAY, ALL THE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS ARE CATALOGUED.
BACK IN THE MID 19th CENTURY, THE COLLECTION WAS SPREAD
ALL OVER THE MANY ROOMS OF THE MONASTERY.
TISCHENDORF WAS LOOKING FOR MANUSCRIPTS
DATING EARLIER THAN THE 12th CENTURY.
BUT NONE OF THE DOCUMENTS THE MONKS SHOWED HIM
WERE OLD ENOUGH.
FINALLY, ALMOST BY ACCIDENT, HIS LUCK TOOK A TURN.
[BELL CLANGING]
DR. KENT CLARK IS AN EXPERT ON TISCHENDORF'S MISSION.
Kent Clark: HE'S LOOKING JUST AT SOME OF THE BOOKS THAT ARE HERE,
SOME OF THE ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS,
AND HE ACTUALLY FINDS A SET OF WHAT HE SEEMS TO THINK
ARE VERY OLD LEAFS OR FOLIOS OUT OF AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT.
AND THEY'RE JUST SITTING IN A BASKET.
Rose: TISCHENDORF LATER WROTE ABOUT THE DISCOVERY.
Tischendorf: "THE LIBRARIAN TOLD ME THAT TWO HEAPS OF PAPERS LIKE THIS,
MOLDERED BY TIME, HAD ALREADY BEEN CONSIGNED TO THE FLAMES.
IMAGINE MY SURPRISE TO FIND, AMID THIS HEAP OF PAPERS,
A CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF SHEETS
OF A COPY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN GREEK!"
Rose: TISCHENDORF WAS DETERMINED TO RESCUE
THE REMAINING OLD TESTAMENT PAGES FROM A FIERY FATE.
Tischendorf: "PARTS OF ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,
THE SO-CALLED MINOR PROPHETS, CHRONICLES, PSALMS, PROVERBS,
ECCLESIASTES, SONG OF SONGS,
WHICH SEEMED TO ME TO BE
SOME OF THE MOST ANCIENT I HAD EVER SEEN."
Rose: TISCHENDORF HAD STRUCK GOLD.
IF HIS ANALYSIS WAS CORRECT, HE HAD IN HIS POSSESSION
ONE OF THE OLDEST CHRISTIAN TEXTS IN THE WORLD.
IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT HE HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR.
TISCHENDORF SAW MORE THAN A HUNDRED
OF THESE RARE OLD TESTAMENT PAPERS,
WHICH WERE PART OF A CODEX,
A COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPTS IN BOOK FORM.
THE MONKS LET HIM TAKE JUST 43 LEAVES
AWAY TO GERMANY FOR RESEARCH.
TO THEM, IT WAS A LOAN-- NOT A GIFT.
BACK IN LEIPZIG, COMPARISON WITH OTHER ANCIENT HANDWRITING STYLES
DATED THE MANUSCRIPT LEAVES TO THE MID FOURTH CENTURY.
TISCHENDORF WAS ELATED, BUT ALSO CAUTIOUS.
WHEN TISCHENDORF PUBLISHED HIS ACCOUNT OF THE JOURNEY,
HE DELIBERATELY OMITTED WHERE HE HAD FOUND THE CODEX.
THAT WAS BECAUSE HE SUSPECTED
THERE WAS AN ADDITIONAL NEW TESTAMENT SECTION
HIDDEN SOMEWHERE IN ST. CATHERINE'S.
THE LAST THING HE WANTED, FOR HIS RIVAL BIBLE HUNTERS
TO CATCH WIND OF THE FIND AND BEAT HIM TO IT.
TISCHENDORF SPENT THE NEXT 15 YEARS
SCHEMING TO GET MORE MANUSCRIPTS
FROM THE MONKS AT ST. CATHERINE'S.
TO SUPPORT HIS CAUSE, HE APPEALED TO THE CZAR OF RUSSIA,
WHO WIELDED CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE OVER THE MONASTERY.
IN LATE JANUARY 1859,
TISCHENDORF RETURNED TO ST. CATHERINE'S.
HE SPENT A FEW DAYS
SIFTING THROUGH EVERYTHING THE MONKS PRESENTED TO HIM,
ALL TO NO AVAIL.
EVEN THE OLD TESTAMENT LEAVES HE HAD SEEN BEFORE HAD VANISHED.
YEARS OF PLANNING AND CAREFUL NEGOTIATION SEEMED WASTED.
TISCHENDORF HAD NEARLY RESIGNED HIMSELF TO DEFEAT,
TO LEAVE ST. CATHERINE'S EMPTY HANDED,
UNTIL ONE EVENING HE WAS HAVING TEA
WITH THE STEWARD OF THE MONASTERY.
Clark: ONE EVENING HE'S COMING BACK
AND HE'S WALKING WITH ONE OF THE MONKS.
THEY'D JUST HAD A WALK AROUND GROUNDS,
AND ON THE WAY BACK THE MONK EXPLAINS TO HIM
THAT "I HAVE GREEK SEPTUAGINT MANUSCRIPTS AS WELL."
Rose: THE MONK TOOK TISCHENDORF TO HIS CHAMBER
AND SHOWED HIM AN ANCIENT CODEX.
Clark: TISCHENDORF REALIZES THAT'S--THERE IT IS,
THAT'S WHAT I FOUND ON MY FIRST JOURNEY, THE FOLIOS.
Rose: SO HE RECOGNIZED THIS IS THE NEW TESTAMENT EXTENSION
OF HIS ORIGINALS.
Clark: RIGHT, AND IT'S A BIG BIBLE IN BETWEEN BOUND COVERS
WITH BEAUTIFUL, VERY, VERY THIN VELLUM,
BEAUTIFUL UNCIAL SCRIBAL HAND.
AND AGAIN HE'S BLOWN AWAY
BY THE FACT THAT HE'S NEVER SEEN ANYTHING THIS ANCIENT
AND HE'S NEVER SEEN ANYTHING THIS BEAUTIFUL.
HE'S IN AWE.
Rose: TISCHENDORF HAD MADE ONE OF THE GREATEST DISCOVERIES
IN 2,000 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY.
IT WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST BIBLES
AND HAD A COMPLETE NEW TESTAMENT.
THIS DISCOVERY WOULD MAKE HIM FAMOUS AROUND THE WORLD.
IN ONE VOLUME WERE ALL THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
KNOWN TO THE MODERN WORLD,
BEAUTIFULLY COPIED IN GREEK,
LIKELY THE PRODUCT OF PROFESSIONAL SCRIBES.
IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE CODEX SINAITICUS,
THE BOOK FROM SINAI.
IT WAS DATED TO AROUND 350 A.D.
BACK IN EUROPE,
TISCHENDORF PUBLISHED THE CODEX SINAITICUS IN 1862.
HE GAVE THE ORIGINAL CODEX TO HIS PATRON, THE RUSSIAN CZAR,
WHO DISPLAYED IT IN ST. PETERSBURG.
IN 1933, THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT-- IN DESPERATE NEED OF CASH--
SOLD THE CODEX TO BRITAIN
FOR THE EQUIVALENT TODAY OF $260 MILLION.
IT WAS HAILED AS A LANDMARK ACQUISITION.
Man: IT IS MOST APPROPRIATE THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT MANUSCRIPT
OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE WORLD, THE BIBLE,
SHOULD FIND A PERMANENT HOME IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Rose: TODAY, THE CODEX REMAINS IN LONDON,
AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY,
WHERE I MEET CURATOR DR. SCOT McKENDRICK.
McKendrick: WELL, THE CODEX SINAITICUS IS ARGUABLY
THE MOST IMPORTANT MANUSCRIPT
IN THE ENTIRE BRITISH LIBRARY'S COLLECTION.
IT REALLY IS AS IMPORTANT AS THAT.
I MEAN, IT'S ARGUABLY
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS IN THE WORLD.
Rose: AND IT WAS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS
TO 19th-CENTURY BIBLE READERS.
BUT IF THEY WERE HOPING THE CODEX
WOULD PUT TO REST QUESTIONS OF THE BIBLE'S AUTHORITY,
THEY WERE MISTAKEN.
ON CLOSER INSPECTION,
IT REVEALED SOME DISTURBING FEATURES
WHICH SHOCKED MANY DEVOUT CHRISTIANS...
AND WOULD UNDERMINE THEIR FAITH IN THE WORD OF GOD.
TISCHENDORF'S DISCOVERY OF THE CODEX SINAITICUS
WAS CELEBRATED BY CHRISTIANS
EAGER TO CONFIRM THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE...
THOSE WHO BELIEVED THAT IT WAS THE UNCHANGEABLE WORD OF GOD.
YET AS DR. McKENDRICK SHOWS ME
IN THIS COPY OF THE ORIGINAL CODEX,
THE WORD OF GOD HAS NOT ESCAPED REVISION.
McKendrick: VIRTUALLY EVERY PAGE HAS CORRECTIONS ON IT.
THERE ARE NEARLY 35,000 CORRECTIONS
IN THE ENTIRE MANUSCRIPT.
Rose: MANY OF THE CORRECTIONS HAVE TO DO
WITH SCRIBES MAKING MINOR COPYING MISTAKES--
BASICALLY TYPOS OR SLIPS OF THE PEN.
SCRIBES ARE HUMAN, AFTER ALL.
McKendrick: AS PART OF MAKING THIS MANUSCRIPT
YOU HAVE THREE, POSSIBLY FOUR SCRIBES
WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THAT EXERCISE.
AND ONE OF THEM IS A SORT OF CHIEF EDITOR, WE THINK,
SO THIS IS A VERY TYPICAL PAGE HERE.
WE'VE GOT THE FOUR COLUMNS TO A PAGE,
THIS VERY SORT OF FORMAL SCRIPT...
AND YOU'VE GOT QUITE A LOT OF CORRECTIONS IN THIS VOLUME.
AND AS WE GO THROUGH IT, YOU CAN SEE THERE'S THE--
THE TITLE HERE, THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK OF CORINTHIANS.
AND THEN YOU CAN JUST SEE THIS QUITE LARGE CORRECTION--
THIS INSERTION-- HAS A LITTLE ARROW...
WHICH CORRESPONDS TO A PASSAGE JUST DOWN HERE
THAT THE ORIGINAL SCRIBE HAD MISSED.
BASICALLY HIS EYE HAD SEEN THE SAME WORDS,
AND HE'D SKIPPED, HE'D SKIPPED SEVERAL LINES.
AND SO THE CORRECTOR, THIS EDITOR, HAS PUT IT IN.
Rose: THOSE MISTAKES ARE UNDERSTANDABLE.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER CHANGES WHICH AREN'T SO ACCIDENTAL.
McKendrick: THE SECOND PHASE IS, SEVERAL CENTURIES LATER,
IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY,
YOU HAVE A SERIES OF CORRECTORS
WHO ACTUALLY CHANGE THE CHARACTER OF THE TEXT...
OFTEN QUITE DRAMATICALLY.
Rose: FOR MANY 19th-CENTURY CHRISTIANS,
THE REVELATION THAT THE ETERNAL BIBLE HAD BEEN ALTERED
CAME AS A SHOCK.
THE EVIDENCE WAS THERE IN SINAITICUS.
CASE IN POINT: THE FAMOUS WORDS JESUS WAS SAID TO HAVE UTTERED
WHILE DYING ON THE CROSS.
Man: "FATHER, FORGIVE THEM; FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO."
Rose: STRANGELY, ONE OF THE SINAITICUS SCRIBES
JUDGED THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS QUOTE AS "DOUBTFUL,"
THOUGH A LATER SCRIBE RE-INSTATED IT
INTO THE MANUSCRIPT.
BUT THE ANOMALIES OF THE CODEX DIDN'T END THERE.
THE MOST INTRIGUING-- AND TO SOME, TROUBLING--
FEATURE OF THE SINAITICUS
IS THE ENDING OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK,
WHICH DESCRIBES WHAT HAPPENS AFTER JESUS IS CRUCIFIED
AND HIS BODY IS PUT INTO A TOMB.
Adams: SO IN CODEX SINAITICUS, MARK'S GOSPEL,
WHICH IS OUR EARLIEST GOSPEL, ENDS AT VERSE 8 OF CHAPTER 16.
SO CHAPTER 16 TELLS US ABOUT THE DISCOVERY OF THE EMPTY TOMB.
THE WOMEN GO TO THE TOMB.
THEY DISCOVER IT TO BE EMPTY.
THEY MEET A MYSTERIOUS ANGELIC FIGURE
WHO TELLS THEM THAT JESUS HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD,
AND THEN HE TELLS THEM TO GO AND PROCLAIM THAT MESSAGE
TO THE DISCIPLES AND TO PETER.
BUT THE WOMEN ARE AFRAID, AND THEY TELL NOTHING TO ANYONE.
SO THAT'S THE WAY THAT THE GOSPEL ENDS IN SINAITICUS.
Rose: "THEN THEY WENT OUT AND RAN AWAY FROM THE TOMB,
TREMBLING WITH AMAZEMENT.
THEY SAID NOTHING TO ANYONE, FOR THEY WERE AFRAID."
AND THAT'S THE ENDING OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK
IN THE CODEX SINAITICUS.
IN THIS, THE KING JAMES BIBLE, THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL 12 VERSES
WHERE JESUS THEN APPEARS TO HIS DISCIPLES,
PROVIDING PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION
AND PROOF OF HIS DIVINITY.
THE QUESTION WAS,
WHY DID THE LONG ENDING NOT APPEAR IN THE SINAITICUS,
THE OLDEST KNOWN EDITION OF THE BIBLE?
IT'S CLEAR THAT SOMETIME AFTER THE FOURTH CENTURY
A LONGER ENDING TO THE GOSPEL OF MARK
MADE ITS WAY INTO THE BIBLE TEXT.
Goldhill: THE ARRIVAL OF SINAITICUS
WAS AN ABSOLUTE BOMBSHELL IN VICTORIAN SOCIETY
AND IN THE WORLD NOT JUST OF THEOLOGY
BUT ACROSS THE WHOLE COMMUNITY.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IT COULD BE DEMONSTRATED
WITHOUT ANY DOUBT TO THE SCHOLARLY MIND
THAT THE END OF MARK
AS PEOPLE HAVE KNOWN IT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS
WAS NOT THE END AS MARK HAD WRITTEN IT.
THAT MEANT THAT THERE WAS A REAL DOUBT ABOUT ALL OF THE GOSPELS.
[CONGREGANTS SINGING HYMN]
Rose: SO INSTEAD OF DISPROVING CLAIMS
THAT THE BIBLE CONTAINED ERRORS,
TISCHENDORF'S DISCOVERY APPEARED TO SUPPORT THEM.
Larry Hurtado: IF WHAT TISCHENDORF
AND SOME OF THESE OTHER PEOPLE WERE SAYING WAS TRUE,
THEN THIS MEANT THAT GOD HAD ALLOWED THE BIBLE
TO BECOME CORRUPTED.
Goldhill: IT WAS ABSOLUTELY THREATENING
TO THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE COUNTRY--
CHURCH AND STATE INTERLOCKED.
THE SCHOOLS, THE UNIVERSITIES AND CHURCH, INTERLOCKED.
IF IT'S NOT BASED ON A FIRM FOUNDATION,
WHAT THEN ARE WE DOING?
IT WAS NO LONGER A THEORY.
BUT IT COULD BE DEMONSTRATED
FROM THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPTS WE NOW HAVE
THAT THE ENDING OF MARK HAD BEEN SYSTEMATICALLY TAMPERED WITH.
Rose: TISCHENDORF WAS NEVER THREATENED
BY THE SHORT ENDING OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK
AND NEVER WAVERED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE
OF THE BIBLICAL TEXT HE'D FOUND.
Hurtado: FOR TISCHENDORF THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE
OF VERSES 9 THROUGH 20 IN MARK
DOESN'T CALL INTO QUESTION ANYTHING ABOUT CHRISTIAN FAITH.
I MEAN, IT'S QUITE CLEAR ON THE BASIS OF THE REST OF MARK
THAT JESUS IS UNDERSTOOD TO HAVE BEEN RAISED BY GOD FROM DEATH,
THAT HE DIED FOR SINS, THAT HE'S SO ON AND ON.
SO ALL OF THE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF CHRISTIANITY,
FROM THEIR UNDERSTANDING,
THEY'RE SAYING IT'S STILL THERE,
THERE'S NOTHING INTERFERED WITH.
IT JUST MEANS THAT THE BIBLE
HAS UNDERGONE THIS KIND OF HISTORICAL TRANSMISSION PROCESS
AND TO SOME DEGREE IN LATER MANUSCRIPTS
SOME CORRUPTION HAS CREPT IN.
Rose: BUT THE ISSUES RAISED BY TISCHENDORF'S DISCOVERY
WOULDN'T GO AWAY.
AND AS EXPLORATION IN EGYPT CONTINUED,
MORE THEOLOGICAL BOMBSHELLS WERE IN STORE.
IN 1885 A FRENCH ARCHEOLOGIST NAMED EMILE AMELINEAU
TRAVELED SOUTH OF CAIRO TO THE WHITE MONASTERY, NEAR SOHAG.
IT HAD ITS HEYDAY
BETWEEN THE FOURTH AND SEVENTH CENTURIES A.D.,
WHEN CHRISTIANITY WAS THE DOMINANT RELIGION OF EGYPT.
FATHER SHENOUDA, A LOCAL MONK, TAKES ME TO AN OLD CAVE,
CUT INTO THE ROCK THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
Rose: YEAH, YOU CAN SEE THE OLD
AND THEN THE NEW TOP OF THE CHURCH.
Father Shenouda: THIS HERE IS ST. GEORGE.
THIS IS ST. MARK WHO TELLS US ABOUT THE CHRISTIANITY.
Rose: THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE.
THIS CAVE WAS A CENTER FOR CHRISTIAN WORSHIP
WHEN CHRISTIANITY BECAME THE STATE RELIGION OF ROME
IN THE FOURTH CENTURY A.D.
THIS WHOLE CAVE IS CARVED OUT BY HAND, BY PEOPLE?
Shenouda: YES, YES...
AND AS YOU SEE THERE IS NO COLUMNS TO CARRY THE CEILING.
Rose: I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS.
Shenouda: THIS CAVE IS VERY IMPORTANT
FOR CHRISTIANS HERE IN EGYPT.
EGYPT WAS FULL OF MONKS, FULL OF MONASTERIES, YOU KNOW...
[BELL RINGING]
YOU CAN HEAR THE BELL OF THE CHURCHES
FROM ALEXANDRIA TO ASWAN.
MEANS 1,000 KILOMETERS.
IT MEANS THAT CHRISTIANITY WAS VERY SPREAD ALL OVER.
Rose: ISN'T IT INTERESTING THAT THIS CAVE HERE
WAS STARTED BY THE PHARAOHS...
Shenouda: THEY ARE STILL WORKING.
THAT'S THE THING.
BECAUSE WHEN THE ERA OF THE PHARAOHS IS BEING FINISHED,
THE CHRISTIANS, THEY COMPLETE
THIS WONDERFUL WORK AND CLEVER WORK.
Rose: THE WHITE MONASTERY WAS FOUNDED
DURING THE FOURTH CENTURY IN THE VALLEY BELOW THE CAVE...
BUT THE SITE WAS IN USE LONG BEFORE THEN.
CHECK OUT THESE HIEROGLYPHS.
IT'S LIKE EVERYTHING IN COPTIC CHRISTIANITY--
BUILT ON THE RUINS OF THE ANCIENT PHARAOHS.
Rose: COPTIC CHRISTIANITY ORIGINATED IN EGYPT
AND IS BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLE MARK,
WHO CAME TO THE COUNTRY DURING THE FIRST CENTURY A.D.
[PRAYING]
THE WHITE MONASTERY'S CHURCH HAS BEEN A PLACE OF WORSHIP
FOR EGYPT'S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 1,500 YEARS.
WHEN AMELINEAU CAME TO THE MONASTERY IN 1886,
HIS AIM WAS TO FIND ANCIENT CHRISTIAN TEXTS
RUMORED TO HAVE SURVIVED HERE.
AS HE LATER RECOUNTED, HE DISCOVERED A SECRET ROOM.
INSIDE IT, A LARGE CACHE OF MANUSCRIPTS,
INCLUDING AN EXTRAORDINARY TEXT WRITTEN IN COPTIC.
IT WAS ATTRIBUTED TO BARTHOLOMEW,
A DISCIPLE OF JESUS,
BUT FOR SOME REASON WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE BIBLE.
Charles Freeman: THE QUESTIONS OF BARTHOLOMEW,
WHICH HAVE SURVIVED, ARE RATHER INTERESTING DOCUMENTS
BECAUSE THESE ARE QUESTIONS
WHICH BARTHOLOMEW IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE MADE TO JESUS
AFTER THE RESURRECTION,
VERY SEARCHING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MEANING OF JESUS HIMSELF
AND WHAT THE RESURRECTION MEANT,
BUT ALSO HAS A LOT OF MATERIAL ABOUT THE DESCENT INTO HELL.
Rose: THE BARTHOLOMEW TEXT INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
"BLESSED ARE YOU, BARTHOLOMEW, MY BELOVED,
FOR WHEN I VANISHED FROM THE CROSS
THEN I WENT DOWN INTO HADES
THAT I MIGHT BRING UP ADAM AND ALL THOSE WHO ARE WITH HIM."
THE DISCOVERY OF THIS MANUSCRIPT
REVIVED QUESTIONS OVER THE WAY THAT THE BIBLE TEXT--
THE CANON--HAD BEEN CREATED.
FOR CHRISTIANS, THE GOSPELS OF MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN
HAVE HAD A MONOPOLY ON THE STORY OF JESUS
FOR ALMOST TWO MILLENNIA.
SO YOU CAN SEE WHY THE DISCOVERY OF UNKNOWN GOSPELS IN EGYPT
HAD THE POTENTIAL TO SERIOUSLY UPSET THE FAITHFUL
WHO BELIEVED IN THE UNASSAILABLE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE.
IN BRITAIN PARTICULARLY,
RELIGION WAS A HOTLY DEBATED TOPIC.
Goldhill: IT'S THE ONE SIDE OF THE 19th CENTURY
THAT COSTUME DRAMA, POPULAR IMAGES OF THE COUNTRY,
HAVE TENDED TO FORGET.
RELIGION WENT RIGHT TO THE HEART OF WHO YOU WERE.
IT WAS THE SORT OF SUBJECT THAT EVERY STUDENT TALKED ABOUT,
THAT THERE WERE ARTICLES IN THE PAPER ABOUT;
PEOPLE BURNT BOOKS.
THERE WERE RIOTS IN THE STREETS AFTER SERMONS.
IT WAS THE TOPIC THAT DEFINED WHO YOU WERE
IN 19th-CENTURY ENGLAND.
Rose: THE DISCOVERY OF CHRISTIAN TEXTS
NOT INCLUDED IN THE BIBLE
RAISED MORE QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE TRUTH AND RELIABILITY OF THE SCRIPTURES.
THIS WAS A TICKING TIME BOMB
THAT COULD FURTHER UNDERMINE THE VERSION OF THE BIBLE
THAT WAS IN MOST PEOPLE'S HOUSES IN THOSE DAYS.
BUT THE BARTHOLOMEW TEXT WAS JUST THE START.
A YEAR LATER, ANOTHER DISCOVERY
WOULD ROCK CHRISTIANITY TO ITS CORE.
THE EARLY BIBLE HUNTERS HAD SET OUT TO PROVE
THE AUTHORITY AND HISTORIC ACCURACY
OF CHRISTIANITY'S HOLY SCRIPTURES.
THE DISCOVERY OF GOSPEL TEXTS NOT INCLUDED IN THE BIBLE
DREW MORE ARCHEOLOGISTS TO EGYPT, EAGER FOR MORE FINDS.
IN 1886, FRENCH SCHOLAR URBAIN BOURIANT
TRAVELED SOUTH ALONG THE NILE.
HE WAS AN EXPERT IN THE NEW SCIENCE OF PALEOGRAPHY--
THE STUDY OF ANCIENT WRITING.
BOURIANT'S QUEST FOR ANCIENT CHRISTIAN TEXTS
BROUGHT HIM TO AKHMIM, A FORMER CENTER OF CHRISTIANITY,
300 MILES SOUTH OF CAIRO.
I'M CURIOUS TO SEE THE CEMETERY HERE IN AKHMIM.
BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE CHRISTIANS,
THE WAY THEY BURY THEIR DEAD
IS THE SAME AS THEY'VE BEEN DOING FOR 5,000 YEARS.
FOLLOWING TRADITIONS FROM THE TIME OF THE PHARAOHS,
HERE THEY BURY THEIR DEAD IN TOMBS.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
Rose: SO IT'S A MESHADA?
Man: IT'S A MESHADA.
Rose: SO THIS IS A LITTLE STREET SIGN.
EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A CITY OF THE DEAD
AND NOBODY LIVES HERE NOW,
THEY STILL HAVE NAMES OF THE STREETS.
AND SO THIS IS THE WAY OF GEDEGUS.
BOURIANT'S DIG REPORT
RECOUNTS HOW HE EXCAVATED A CHRISTIAN TOMB IN THE CITY.
THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE HE WAS LOOKING AROUND HERE,
THE CITY'S MAIN CEMETERY.
I CHECK OUT ONE OF THE TOMBS.
THIS TOMB CONTAINS THE COFFINS OF FOREIGNERS
WHO DIED IN THE CITY.
SEARCHING THROUGH THE TOMBS OF AKHMIM,
BOURIANT EVENTUALLY MADE A MAJOR DISCOVERY.
BESIDE THE MUMMY OF A CHRISTIAN MONK,
HE FOUND A COPY OF A GOSPEL TEXT FROM THE SECOND CENTURY.
BUT IT WASN'T ONE OF THE FOUR GOSPELS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT...
IT TURNED OUT TO BE ANOTHER UNKNOWN TEXT
NOT INCLUDED IN THE BIBLE--
THE GOSPEL OF PETER.
THE GOSPEL OF PETER TAKES US BACK
TO A PIVOTAL MOMENT OF CHRISTIANITY.
THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Hurtado: TECHNICALLY, NONE OF THE GOSPELS
GIVES US AN ACCOUNT OF THE RESURRECTION.
THE WOMEN GO TO THE TOMB, AND IT'S ALREADY HAPPENED.
THERE'S AN ANGEL WHO TELLS THEM IT'S HAPPENED.
THE TOMB IS EMPTY; HE'S GONE.
IN THE GOSPEL OF PETER IT PURPORTS TO GIVE YOU
A KIND OF VISUAL OF THE EVENT,
SO JESUS IS PICTURED AS ACTUALLY COMING FORTH OUT OF THE TOMB
WITH ANGELS ACCOMPANYING HIM.
Adams: HE DOES SO IN A VERY SPECTACULAR WAY.
HE COMES OUT AS A GIANT WITH TWO OTHERS BESIDE HIM,
AND HIS HEAD REACHES ABOVE THE SKY,
AND THEN BEHIND THEM COMES A CROSS WHICH PROCLAIMS JESUS,
WHICH ACTUALLY SPEAKS.
Rose: AND THEY HEARD A VOICE OUT OF THE HEAVENS SAYING,
"HAVE YOU PREACHED UNTO THEM THAT SLEEP?"
THE ANSWER THAT WAS HEARD FROM THE CROSS, "YES."
THIS STORY IS SO MUCH MORE FANTASTICAL
THAN ANY OF THE RESURRECTION STORIES
YOU'D FIND IN THE MODERN BIBLE.
THE GOSPEL OF PETER WAS PUBLISHED IN 1891--
NOT LONG AFTER ITS DISCOVERY.
IT WAS THE FIRST GOSPEL TO APPEAR IN PRINT
THAT WAS NOT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
NOW PEOPLE WERE BEGINNING TO TALK ABOUT NEW CHRISTIAN TEXTS
THAT HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE.
IN LESS THAN A HUNDRED YEARS,
A GROUP OF BIBLE HUNTERS HAD MADE IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES--
A BIBLE 700 YEARS OLDER THAN THE PREVIOUSLY KNOWN VERSION...
GOSPEL MANUSCRIPTS THAT HAD BEEN LOST FOR CENTURIES
AND NEVER INCLUDED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
EACH NEW FIND OPENED ANOTHER WINDOW INTO OUR PAST
AND RAISED NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY.
AND AS A NEW CENTURY DAWNED,
MORE SPECTACULAR DISCOVERIES WOULD COME TO LIGHT.
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