03x04 - The Bath That Changed History

[bunniefuu]

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

- What does it all mean?

This is where the archeology has been found.

Oh hi, how are you?

Look at that!

I need a planter.

Shrine or belly button?

This is a rock of salt.

♪ He digs for clues ♪

Look at that!

No one gets into this thing.

- No one.

(Simcha speaking off mic)

- Don't take me too far.

Now that's naked archeology.

♪ No apologies ♪

♪ For his archeologies ♪

♪ For his archeologies ♪

♪ For his archeologies ♪

I'm on the rooftop of the King David hotel

appropriately named after King David,

the man, the King who put the city of Jerusalem,

called the City of David on the map.

There it is.

The Bible portrays him as a King, a warrior,

a poet, and a lover, lover, lover.

The most important love story in the Bible

is David and Bathsheba.

King David gazes down from his palace and sees

Bathsheba bathing.

He summons her to him.

She gets pregnant and eventually

they established the Messianic line.

If David and Bathsheba don't get together,

there's no Solomon, no Jesus.

- No Christmas.

(woman screaming)

- [Simcha] But every good love story

needs something standing in the way of the lovers.

And here it's Bathsheba's husband,

Uriah, the Hittite.

Uriah is a soldier in King David's army,

and he's off fighting for David

when the King first sees his wife.

So it's a biblical love triangle,

but the other guy doesn't stand a chance.

I want to find out more about these people.

First, did they exist?

(upbeat music)

According to the Bible, David walked upon the roof

of the King's house and from the roof,

he saw a woman bathing and the woman

was very beautiful to look upon.

Maybe I can find that proof.

I can find out more about David and Bathsheba.

Look, the Tower of David!

It says right there.

Why do I have to look, I just follow the tourist signs

and I find David's Tower.

And where there's a David's Tower,

there must be Bathsheba's I don't know, bones.

But who tell me this is really connected

to the Tower of David?

The only man, oh my God, here he is!

Excuse me, Gabi Barkay, you're just the guy

I was looking for.

- Hi, how are you?

- Here he is.

Here is is. - How are you?

- He's one of the best known archeologist around.

- It's good to see you again.

- Expert on Jerusalem.

I on a search yet again, not only for King David,

this time I'm looking for Bathsheba too.

I thought maybe her bones are interred

in the Tower of David.

- She is not here.

- She is not here.

But is this connected

in any way, shape or form with King David?

- No, no.

- [Simcha] I had a feeling that was too easy.

So this place called David's Tower,

is not where David's palace was.

Not the palace where he gazed down

and saw Bathsheba bathing.

- The western hill, does not have

any th Century pottery or any other finds

dating back to the time of David and Solomon.

(talking over each other)

- But why are you guys looking for pottery

when the most important story surrounding David

has to do with Bathsheba bathing on the roof.

Why aren't you guys looking for an ancient bathtub.

- She was bathing on the roof.

And we never find the roof.

We find only foundations.

So we are not going to have that bathtub.

- Well I'm not giving up on that bathtub so easily.

But if archeologists can find foundations,

why haven't they found the foundation of David's palace?

In order to find out if this Biblical love triangle

is true we need to find evidence for the three of them.

Let's start with the King.

There may not be any pottery from David's time

in this part of Jerusalem

but in the ancient city of Gath, archeologist,

Aren Maier has just made a very important discovery.

Before David was King, the Bible tells us

he defeated a Philistine giant named Goliath.

Right here where Aaron just discovered

a piece of pottery with a name on it,

very similar to Goliath.

A Semitic name like David is common in this area,

but the Aegean, Goliath is not.

I want to hold this exciting piece of archeology

in my naked hands.

So we're off to Aaron's lab.

I didn't want to hear about it.

I wanna see it-- - You wanna see it.

- You can even feel it here.

- Oh, in a museum they'd never let me do this.

- As long as you don't drop it.

- Aliath, Wliath.

It's two names and they're in the same family

of names as the name Goliath.

And this is very, very typical

of the th and ninth century BC,

which is the time and slightly

after the time of David and Goliath.

(upbeat music)

- The writer of the biblical story of David and Goliath

wouldn't have made up such an uncommon name as Goliath,

which is why this broken shard of pottery is so important.

Suddenly something that just a scratch

on some little piece of throwaway pottery

actually corroborates right time,

right place then suddenly the King David becomes real.

- I think this definitely gives us

some authentic background for the biblical texts,

which otherwise is simply not available.

- Is this the oldest Philistine inscription ever found?

- This is the oldest deciphered Philistine description.

This is in my book an exciting find.

I like it! - It's in anybody's book.

- It happens to be from the place mentioned

in the Bible, from the right period of David and Goliath,

and it happens to have a name related

to the generic family name of Goliath.

Archeological evidence supporting the Bible story

of David and Goliath.

(Goliath screaming)

David kills Goliath.

Goliath loses his head.

But I want to see the place

where David loses his head over Bathsheba.

Gabi says that the palace where it happened

is located naturally enough,

in the original City of David.

Older than the old city of Jerusalem,

the original City David is just outside its walls.

So we're heading to East Jerusalem.

If you think there's tension in this neighborhood today,

imagine what it was like some years ago

during the time of the Maccabees.

(crowd screaming)

According to Josephus at that time,

they discovered a pagan temple here

and shaved off the mountain on which the temple stood.

This is where Gabi believes David's palace

was originally located.

- To my humble view there was here, a rocky outcrop.

It was isolated from all sides

by steep rocky escarpments.

On top of it was the stronghold of Zion,

and that was captured by David.

Bedrock is exposed almost all over.

How come that bedrock is exposed here

and not in any other place in the city?

- [Simcha] Gabi says shaving the mountain exposed bedrock,

erasing evidence of the previous civilizations

that had been there before.

- It took them three years of work

around the clock to shave off the mountain.

- Because they were upset

that there was a pagan temple here.

- True.

- Right where we are

right now-- - Yeah.

- Might have been-- - David's palace.

- David could have been standing

or more or less where I'm standing,

looking down at Bathsheba bathing on the roof.

- The King was up there and it was all surrounded

by dwellings of people.

- If you're right, this is where David and Bathsheba

consummated their relationship

and started the Messianic line.

This is where he saw her in the bath.

- I only hope you appreciate the moment

that you are here with me.

(Simcha laughs)

- I'm not sure what that means,

but I do appreciate the moment.

- Okay.

(upbeat music)

- So this could be the spot

where the love story

of David and Bathsheba began, or not.

After all there's no palace, no bathtub here anymore.

He gazed down and saw her.

He had to have her,

even though she was married to another man.

Was it her beauty or something else?

I think I've discovered something about Bathsheba.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

I'm in Jerusalem, trying to find out more

about the great Biblical love story

of David, Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah.

Okay, so it's not a great love story for Uriah,

since he's off fighting in King David's army,

when David sees Bathsheba bathing.

- I have need of you here!

- [Simcha] He summons her.

One thing leads to another.

She gets pregnant.

So what can we find out about Bathsheba?

She must have been quite beautiful

to turn to the head of the King,

But what was considered beautiful at that time?

In the Song of Songs believed

to have been written by their son, Solomon.

The lover compares his beloved to a migdal, a tower,

but why is this word used for beauty.

- Today, we think about migdal as being tall and narrow.

In antiquity migdal meant gadol.

- Big.

- Big, wide and massive.

- In the Song of Songs, the lover compares his beloved

to a migdal, to a tower--

- Neck. - Her neck.

- And I always thought that

that meant statuesque and thin,

and you're telling me, it means,

boy, you've got a neck, like a wrestler.

- Yes, she had to have a muscular wide

and massive neck in order to support the weights

that she had to carry upon her head.

- What weights?

- She had to carry water home--

from the stream. - Wow you got a neck.

- Like this, is what you're telling me!

- Yes.

- Oh my God (laughs), you're changing my brain,

the whole scene of David looking at Bathsheba,

she's bathing.

(film rolling)

I'm wondering whether the Bible has anything

to say about Bathsheba's beauty.

Was she just a run of the mill Judean

or did the King not stand a chance?

I'm going to talk to Yair Zakovitch

because here in Jerusalem, he's a Bible expert.

Of course, around here, there's quite a few.

Gabi Barkay told me Bathsheba was big woman.

- That's Gabi's fantasy.

I cannot do anything about it.

But in the Bible itself,

you don't get anything about it, nothing.

- By the way, what's the original Hebrew have to say?

Was she bathing on the roof or was--

- He was the fiddler on the roof.

She was down and he was standing up

on the roof looking down.

- Was she now taking a bath or was she just washing?

- She was taking a shower, she was taking a bath,

It's not very clear!

- I thought that the Hebrew word (speaking Hebrew).

- She was washing yourself.

- The way she did it, I don't know.

- Any ideas of how she might've done it.

- No.

- Okay, so fat neck, unclear style.

Not exactly a complete bio.

What else can we find out about Bathsheba?

Are there any clues in her name?

It's made up of two words,

meaning daughter and seven.

Seven is an important number in Judaism for many reasons,

such as the holy seventh day of the week, the Sabbath.

But her name may also be read as Bathshvua,

which means daughter of the oath.

Could this mean she took an oath

and was a convert to Judaism?

Do you think Bathsheba is a convert name?

- It could be.

I mean just see she's married to Uriah the Hittite,

so maybe she's not an Israelite.

- Yeah and then she converts

and that's where the name Daughter of the Seven,

seven being Judaism--

- Who knows, yeah.

- What would she have been like?

- I have a feeling that Jerusalem

during the time of David was not this big metropolis.

She didn't have an entourage of ladies awaiting

who did everything for her.

- Certainly, not before she was with him.

- No, no.

- She was a lady that to marry a King

had to do some serious bathing.

- Yeah, and you wonder whether the bathing

was on purpose.

- You know, she bathed her way to the top.

(Man in hat chuckles)

Is it possible, it was Bathsheba's idea all along?

Seduce he King, become the queen.

Did she have a grand plan?

Because once she and David get married,

she makes sure the son they eventually have, Solomon,

becomes the next King.

She establishes the Messianic line.

Let's not get too sidetracked

by the sides of her neck.

What about the size of her ambition?

(hands clapping)

Professor Itamar Singer teaches ancient

Near Eastern history and culture at Tel Aviv University.

And he has some choice words for Bathsheba.

- She's a very forceful and aggressive woman.

The way she pushes her son, Solomon to kingship, wow!

- Do you like her?

- Not really, no.

She simply eliminates all the other contestants

to the throne and eventually she gets what she wants.

- [Simcha] But in a love triangle, someone has to lose.

It's time to find out about Bathsheba's husband, Uriah,

who doesn't just lose, he loses big.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

I'm on the hunt to learn more

about the love story of King David and Bathsheba.

He sees her bathing.

- Hey, look alive!

- The rest is history.

But it's not all hearts and flowers

because at the time Bathsheba gets pregnant by David,

she's married to Uriah the Hittite,

a soldier fighting in King David's army.

(horses racing)

David sends for Uriah to come back

from the battle because he wants you Uriah

to sleep with Bathsheba so that no one will know

that the child is David's.

So who is this guy Uriah the Hittite?

I don't know any Hittites,

but professor Itamar Singer knows all about them.

So who are the Hittites?

- The Hittites were a Indo-European people

who settled in ancient Turkey.

Little by little, they built a huge empire.

- So they were important people in the ancient--

world. - They were very important.

- And eventually their power collapsed around ,

the Hittite empire disintegrated.

- Bathsheba is married to Uriah the Hittite.

Who is this Uriah?

What's he doing in ancient Israel,

when he should be in Turkey?

- The Hittites as refugees

came into the land of Canaan,

especially in the regions of Jerusalem.

- Basically they migrated

after the disintegration of their empire.

- Uriah was simply simply

important general from the North.

- Does it seem like a Hittite?

Yes. - Yes.

- Yes, because of his m*llitary prowess, of course,

which they thought were famous,

but even more so because of his absolute loyalty.

No matter what, you must be loyal to the King,

even if the King is guilty of a big sin.

- I never met a Hittite I didn't like kind of thing.

- And they have fantastic rituals, all written down.

- So they have a lot of sources.

- We have tens of thousands of tablets.

- I want to see these tablets.

Where are they?

Well, since the Hittites settled in Turkey,

I'm off to Istanbul.

(upbeat music)

I'm on my way to the archeological museum

of Istanbul, because this is where

the greatest Hittite collection exists.

Come over here.

Look at this.

These are Hittite inscriptions.

Look, how many of them they have.

Right over here, we're talking about an inscription

that is , years old.

I don't know if you get excited being close

to something that far away.

And it comes to life because what is it?

It's a soldiers oath and it explains the mindset of Uriah,

because it says that if a soldier breaks his oath,

let him be scattered like the salt.

Just as salt has no seed, even so the man's name,

seed, house, cattle and sheep should all perish.

Bottom line these Hittites took their soldier's oath,

their loyalty to the King very, very seriously.

But if Hittites never broke their oath,

why did they have to scare them with these curses?

in the Talmud, Uriah is called a rebel.

The soldiers oath says you don't go home

to your wife while the battle is on.

But King David sends Uriah home to Bathsheba,

hoping he'll cover up the evidence.

Uriah doesn't go home.

He sleeps outside King David's palace.

He disobeys the King's order.

Is this the rebellion mentioned in the Talmud

or is there more

and who would know better than his wife?

Maybe Bathsheba is the oath taker.

And Uriah is the oath breaker.

Then King David sends Uriah back to the battle,

writing in a letter to his general,

send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle

and retreat from him that he may be struck and die.

(men shouting)

Uriah's k*lled in battle.

But the Lord is not pleased with David's actions.

Thou has k*lled Uriah the Hittite

with the sword and has taken his wife to be thy wife.

The child also that is born onto thee shall surely die.

So David gets Bathsheba, but he doesn't get off

scot free for the way he got her.

The baby that is born to them, dies.

They will have to wait until they're married

and Bathsheba gets pregnant again

for the one who becomes the next King, Solomon, to be born.

Was it destiny that David and Bathsheba come together?

Is she being true to her name,

Daughter of the Oath?

Her oath is to her new King

and she uses a legal loophole

to escape her old oath to the rebel Uriah,

because it turns out that at the time

Bathsheba stepped into the bath that changed history,

she wasn't even married to him.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

I'm in Jerusalem where I've been digging up details

about the love story of David and Bathsheba.

Their son, Solomon, became next King

and the Messianic line begins.

Was it fated to happen?

When David first saw Bathsheba

she was married to another man or was she?

There was a tradition

that when a soldier went off to battle,

he would give his wife a divorce.

This was done to protect her.

In case he didn't come back,

she would be free to remarry.

Did Bathsheba utilize this technical divorce

because she knew that she had to be with David.

What do you think about David on the roof,

looking at Bathsheba, a little naked.

- She was the one for him.

She was the one for him.

This is the real point.

- Okay, so the real soulmate of David

was about Bathsheba.

Superficial reading, it's physical.

- Yeah.

- A real reading is that it's spiritual.

He suddenly senses his other half.

- Of course, this is the real answer.

- It's more than that,

he realize that the destiny of the universe

there's is in that hot tub,

because from her Solomon comes.

From Solomon, you have the Messianic line.

- Yeah.

- I think you're onto something, thank you.

But if this is how it happened,

where exactly did it happen?

I've just heard about a stunning new archeological find

and I'm on my way to see it.

In the City of David, Dr. Eilat Mazar

has just discovered these massive walls,

but she is massively out of town right now.

So we can't talk to her.

David Hazony is a scholar who has researched

this dig extensively, and he's gonna show me around.

After learning all about the biblical love triangle

of David, Bathsheba and Uriah, is it possible

we're actually at the place where it all happened?

We're standing, what's over here?

- Right now, we're standing at the very top

of the mountain that the ancient

City of Jerusalem was built.

When King David conquered the City of Jerusalem,

one of the things we know

that he built was a palace for himself.

The question is where is that palace?

Just north of where scholars believe the Citadel is,

that is where archeologists proposed

they should dig to look for the palace.

And when they dug,

they discovered this huge, huge, huge wall.

Okay, dating exactly to the th century,

there's fill inside.

In between the rocks they found pottery shards

from the th and th century,

which means it couldn't have been later than that.

- [Simcha] Finding pottery is the key

to dating an excavation,

because while stone doesn't change

its fashion very often, pottery does.

And the pottery found here dates exactly

to the time of King David.

- For the first time, the description of Jerusalem

in the Bible at the time of David and Solomon

as being the capital of an important kingdom was verified.

By the size of the rocks you can also see

that it was a huge structure, right?

The bigger the rocks you have,

the bigger the building it supported.

- I you're a big King, you build big

and all they found were little things, no big things--

- Until this wall.

- So we could be sitting in King David's palace.

- We could be sitting right now in King David's palace.

- King David might have walked where we're sitting?

- He might've walked where we're sitting.

- That's amazing.

One of these bedrooms may have belonged

to David and Bathsheba.

Solomon may have been conceived (chuckles)

inches from me.

- [David] Very close to where you're sitting.

- [Simcha] So here it is for the first time in history,

we can say that we may be at the exact spot

where David gazed down, saw Bathsheba bathing,

and their fateful love story began.

It affected the destiny of the world.

Bathsheba took a new oath

and was rewarded with the Messianic line.

What began as a physical encounter,

transformed into something spiritual.

And even if the Messiahs come

by the time you watch this show,

the love story of David and Bathsheba still goes on.

♪ He's a tall tall man ♪

♪ From a tall, tall land ♪

♪ He makes no apologies ♪

♪ For his archaeologies ♪

♪ Tall tall man ♪

♪ Tall tall man ♪

♪ No apologies ♪

♪ For his archeologies ♪