New Documentary Online About Biblical Archaeology: Quest for Solomon's Mines

[cyberjosh]

Surprisingly I found that NOVA is playing the entire 1-hour "Quest for Solomon's Mines" documentary that I mentioned in this post for free on their website at the following location: Quest for Solomons Mines | NOVA | PBS Video. You will have to have a pretty decent internet connection though if you don't want a lot of lag. Let me know if it works for you. I am partly suspicious of the timing in that the documentary airs on PBS on Tuesdays and I happened to find this link on a Tuesday. I hope it stays available on that website though regardless of the day.

If you watch it though let me know what you think!

~Josh

 

[Mike]

Josh, have you ever seen that series on the Discovery Channel called "The Naked Archeologist"? It is right up your alley. He gives tours through the Holy Land, and it is fascinating. My favorite was on Hezekiah's Tunnel.

Or the video series "Follow the Rabbi" by Ray Vander Laan. He isn't as much into real archeology, but the footage as he shows you around the places Jesus walked, transports you back to Him. Pretty awesome! :yes

 

[cyberjosh]

Josh, have you ever seen that series on the Discovery Channel called "The Naked Archeologist"? It is right up your alley. He gives tours through the Holy Land, and it is fascinating. My favorite was on Hezekiah's Tunnel.

Or the video series "Follow the Rabbi" by Ray Vander Laan. He isn't as much into real archeology, but the footage as he shows you around the places Jesus walked, transports you back to Him. Pretty awesome! :yes

Hi Mike!

Yes, I have watched "The Naked Archaeologist" a few times and some of it is quite good. There are actually two free episodes of it online on BASs website here: Bible and Archaeology Audio, Video and Photo Galleries | Biblical Archaeology Review (one on the Dead Sea Scrolls and one on Who wrote the Bible).

I have never heard of Ray Vander Laan though. I might look into him. I do have some awesome video footage on DVD though from Israel's Albatross Video filming company of 50 minutes of raw aerial footage set to inspiring music, showing Israel from its northernmost border all the way down to the southern Judean desert. It is quite breathtaking. Watch some excerpts from the footage that I posted here if you are interested.

Thanks for chiming in!

P.S. Did the video play alright for you? Did you try it?

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Mike]

Hi Mike!

Yes, I have watched "The Naked Archaeologist" a few times and some of it is quite good. There are actually two free episodes of it online on BASs website here: Bible and Archaeology Audio, Video and Photo Galleries | Biblical Archaeology Review (one on the Dead Sea Scrolls and one on Who wrote the Bible).

I have never heard of Ray Vander Laan though. I might look into him. I do have some awesome video footage on DVD though from Israel's Albatross Video filming company of 50 minutes of raw aerial footage set to inspiring music, showing Israel from its northernmost border all the way down to the southern Judean desert. It is quite breathtaking. Watch some excerpts from the footage that I posted here if you are interested.

Thanks for chiming in!

P.S. Did the video play alright for you? Did you try it?

God Bless,

~Josh

Were you asking if the Nova video played well or the Albatross ones did? They all played perfectly. The short Albatross ones were breath taking! The one on Solomon's Mines was VERY fascinating!!! I got about 3/4 the way through, and I'll get back to the rest for sure. It was interesting how they tested the skeletal remains for metal levels and did all the testing of the levels in the grounds. And the size of the area was enormous! In showing how they tested the method they used to melt the ore on a very small scale, it's mind-boggling to think of this happening on such a grand scale. The one guy who discovered the one skeleton commented how Archaeologists have to be so patient. That would be the downfall of me if I took that up. If I found something like that, I don't think I could exercise such restraint. I would be out of my mind in excitement! :yes

The Nova site is very sensitive with the video. While it plays nicely, if you bump the mouse anywhere off the video, it shuts down and you have to start over.

Very fascinating!

 

[cyberjosh]

Were you asking if the Nova video played well or the Albatross ones did? They all played perfectly. The short Albatross ones were breath taking! The one on Solomon's Mines was VERY fascinating!!! I got about 3/4 the way through, and I'll get back to the rest for sure. It was interesting how they tested the skeletal remains for metal levels and did all the testing of the levels in the grounds. And the size of the area was enormous! In showing how they tested the method they used to melt the ore on a very small scale, it's mind-boggling to think of this happening on such a grand scale. The one guy who discovered the one skeleton commented how Archaeologists have to be so patient. That would be the downfall of me if I took that up. If I found something like that, I don't think I could exercise such restraint. I would be out of my mind in excitement! :yes

The Nova site is very sensitive with the video. While it plays nicely, if you bump the mouse anywhere off the video, it shuts down and you have to start over.

Very fascinating!

I think you gave a nice summary of the NOVA video. Thanks for that. Did you ever finish it?

P.S. And yes, I was gawking when I saw how it took that long to smelt even a tiny nugget of copper ore and thinking: How on earth did they mass produce this in large quantities?!

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Mike]

I think you gave a nice summary of the NOVA video. Thanks for that. Did you ever finish it?

P.S. And yes, I was gawking when I saw how it took that long to smelt even a tiny nugget of copper ore and thinking: How on earth did they mass produce this in large quantities?!

God Bless,

~Josh

Hi, Josh!

Yes, I did finish watching it. The last quarter went in directions I didn't expect. Sending the pottery piece off to California, using the photo technology to reveal the writing on the piece was incredible! That's the stuff of huge blockbuster movies. These characters emerging from this piece of pottery. Wow! It was also amazing to see the layers of foundation on the wall showing a consistent time line of the point of Egypt's invasion. Piece by piece, light being shed on Israel's biblical history. That would be something to be a tiny part of!

I've never associated PBS and the NOVA series with being biblically friendly. That was very fascinating. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[cyberjosh]

It was a rather good documentary. I posted an article on my website about it and a National Geographic article about the Edomite site also: Edom & Israel in the 10th Century: Recent Documentary & Magazine Article.

 

[RevSRE]

Surprisingly I found that NOVA is playing the entire 1-hour "Quest for Solomon's Mines" documentary that I mentioned in this post for free on their website at the following location: Quest for Solomons Mines | NOVA | PBS Video. You will have to have a pretty decent internet connection though if you don't want a lot of lag. Let me know if it works for you. I am partly suspicious of the timing in that the documentary airs on PBS on Tuesdays and I happened to find this link on a Tuesday. I hope it stays available on that website though regardless of the day. If you watch it though let me know what you think! ~Josh

That is interesting, A quest to find something found in 1930. When I was there they took us on a tour of what was said to be the mines.

Back when the mine was first discovered in the 1930s, archaeologists dated it to the early 10th century B.C., the time of King David and Solomon. In the 1970s, new researchers redated the site to at least 300 years after the reign of Solomon, assigning a new date that fit neatly with the prevailing belief that there were no complex societies in Israel or Jordan (biblical Edom) capable of building fortresses and monuments or other technologically advanced construction, such as a large Iron Age mining operation, during the time of David and Solomon.

It’s hard to argue with stones, however. New technology and further digging is proving that not only was the mine fully operational during the time of Solomon but was most likely also functioning during the time of David. (From the January 2009 Trumpet Print Edition »)