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The First Jesus: An Archeological Mystery

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THE FIRST JESUS: AN ARCHEOLOGICAL MYSTERY

He was called the King of the Jews and his disciples believed him to be a Messiah.

Just before Passover, the Romans executed him & crucified his followers.

But his name was not Jesus. It was Simon, a self-proclaimed messiah who died four years before Christ was born.

Now, a newly discovered tablet allegedly speaks of this “messiah before Christ” and may even refer to his alleged resurrection ‘after three days’.

For one crusading scholar, Simon’s life – and death – served as a ‘messianic prototype’ that Jesus himself copied. If so, it could threaten Christian doctrine that their belief in a messiah who would rise after three days was somehow unique.

From Jerusalem to Jericho, Qumran to the Dead Sea Scroll research facility, archeologists set out on a quest to investigate the “Gabriel Revelation Stone” and retell the real-life tale of Simon of Perea, the so-called ‘messiah before Christ’…

It’s an archeological riddle that will all turn on the interpretation of a single, barely legible word on the stone. And it’s up to the team that used high resolution spectrography to analyze the Dead Sea Scrolls to find answers.

PROJECT SLIDESHOW
The 'Gabriel Revelation Stone' reassembled...

The 'Gabriel Revelation Stone' reassembled...

A Roman nail was driven thru a cadaver heel in this crucifixion experiment.

A Roman nail was driven thru a cadaver heel in this crucifixion experiment.

Filming inside the Israeli Antiquities Authority artifact facility. Thousand of ossuaries from the time of Jesus have been unearthed. These small coffins contained the bones of loved ones.

Filming inside the Israeli Antiquities Authority artifact facility. Thousand of ossuaries from the time of Jesus have been unearthed. These small coffins contained the bones of loved ones.

Overlooking Jerusalem's Old City and the Dome of the Rock from the Mount of Olives.

Overlooking Jerusalem's Old City and the Dome of the Rock from the Mount of Olives.

Steve Hoggard interviews archeologist Byron McCane outside a burial tomb in Jerusalem.

Steve Hoggard interviews archeologist Byron McCane outside a burial tomb in Jerusalem.

The Arch of Titus in Rome celebrates the looting of the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Arch of Titus in Rome celebrates the looting of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Steve Hoggard interviews Pnina Schor, Lead Curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls Laboratory in Israel.

Steve Hoggard interviews Pnina Schor, Lead Curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls Laboratory in Israel.

Ryan Hill films from atop the Western Wall in the Garden of David.

Ryan Hill films from atop the Western Wall in the Garden of David.

Steve Hoggard's crew rigs a camera jib outside the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Later we shot in the catacombs beneath the structure.

Steve Hoggard's crew rigs a camera jib outside the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Later we shot in the catacombs beneath the structure.