Who is really responsible for the death of Jesus? Is that Pontius Pilate, the high priest Caiphas or even Jesus himself? Research shows that all three are guilty.
Who was the real Mary Magdalene? The sinner woman of the Bible; the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears; or even, Jesus' girlfriend? Or was she an important leader in the early church, a radical, and possibly even the founder of Christianity itself? In this film, long-lost evidence sheds a wholly different light on the world's most famous prostitute and presents Mary Magdalene in an exciting new role.
The disciples were a motley crew of uneducated outcasts - not really leadership material - yet they went on to found a worldwide religion. So just how did they do it?
He was the cowardly disciple who denied knowing Jesus, yet found the strength to establish the church and the courage to die for it. The evidence shows that in fact St Peter was the John Major of his time. His bland, middle of the road management style was precisely what was needed to unite a divided movement under threat.
The programme travels to the tombs of ancient Egypt and discovers wall paintings dating back to Joseph's time showing that people from Canaan did wear brightly coloured garments. It examines ice cores from Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and finds evidence of a great famine in 1650 BC. Could this be the famine that Joseph predicted? Finally, the programme talks to Austrian archaeologists who have found in a recently discovered tomb, statue fragments of a Canaanite leader. The site of this discovery was the ancient city of Avaris, which centuries later became the city of Ramses - mentioned in the Bible as the place where Joseph and his family settled.
The story of the battle of Jericho has become the basis of Jewish claims to land ownership in Israel and the Palestinian territories. It's a tale of conquest and bloodshed, but is the battle really how it all began? The latest archaeological and scientific research leads to a new and startling conclusion: that the Jews may not have conquered the promised land as the Bible says, and that they may even share a common racial heritage with the Palestinians.
King Herod is remembered as the evil King who carried out the horrific slaughter of newborn babies in Bethlehem, at the time of the birth of Jesus. We reveal how he murdered members of his own family - his mother in law, wife and even his sons - proof that he did indeed have the motive and the capability to commit this horrendous crime.
He's the heroic Biblical King who slew a giant: the founder of modern Israel. We dig behind the biblical ""spin"" to find the real David - a man more flawed and ruthless than anyone could have imagined.
Many believe the terrifying visions of Armageddon, the Beast and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse hold the key to the end of the world. This programme investigates new evidence revealing that the Book was written as a warning against the worship of Rome's most powerful Emperors and that the infamous number of the beast was not 666, but 616 - secret code for the Emperor Caligula.
