The Naked Archaeologist was a series I discovered on YouTube. It’s not a YouTube production per se, meaning there’s no YouTuber as a main star in this series; it’s just a show people have uploaded. I believe it may have originally been a Canadian show, maybe on their version of public access television. This is just a guess. I guess I could have done a little more research before deciding to write this but where it was made and which channel in which country it appeared is not what this article is about. Hosted by the charismatic and funny Simcha Jocobovici, The Naked Archaeologist reviews the many bible stories by interacting with experts, looking for archaeological evidence and travelling to the many countries in the near and mid-east, the so called Holy Land, and then attempts to find proof for them. In fact he was charismatic and funny enough to even elicit James Cameron as a partner in producing the very polished and made for prime time documentary, The Exodus Decoded, which by the way is also highly recommended and fascinating watch.
The Naked Archaeologist ran for three seasons with the first two seasons producing 26 episodes and the final or third season with thirteen episodes. I was hooked on the show from the very first episode I came across on YouTube. That started me on a binge watching session and over some weeks or months I went ahead and watched all of the episodes in this fascinating series, topping it off at the end with The Exodus Decoded.
Simcha Jocobovici is himself an Emmy Award winning journalist and presents the information in a very objective way. I think Simcha might be Jewish as evidenced by the Yarmulke (spelled it right on the first try!) he’s always seen wearing, but this in no way clouds his judgement or gets in the way of his objectivity. He presents the various bible stories in a very entertaining and engaging format. Sometime with great comedy and at other times with stoic seriousness. Some might find Simcha a bit brash at times, as evidenced in a scene in one episode where he visits an ongoing archaeological dig and then while talking with the archaeological expert begins to start digging up some ground himself. I don’t know if he’s actually a trained archaeologist but by the way he was scraping at the ground looking for whatever it seemed he may have been doing more harm then good, but it really wasn’t a big deal. Simcha appears to be a very tactile person and HAS to TOUCH everything, lol. I’m sure he’s been verbally restrained in some instances but that is only a guess. I guess it just goes hand in hand with making a great show. I personally didn’t take issue with it though I did think he could be a little more careful, but then I think we might miss out on what makes Simcha so great, his personality, at least in my opinion.
With 65 episodes there’s a lot to watch and even if you’re not too interested in bible lore, there will surely be subjects in those 65 episodes that will pique anyone’s interest. Where is the Ark of the Covenant? Was Bilaam a real talking donkey? Was Jesus real? There’s an episode in season two entitled, ‘Hanging With Judas‘ and another episode called ‘Moses vs Akhenaten‘. There’s a wealth of material in those 65 episodes and I’m of the opinion that they are all good things to know whether from a religious standpoint or simply for the entertainment, at times highly comedic as Simcha interacts with people near and far or just to see Simcha post jumping broken down Egyptian columns.
I highly recommend The Naked Archaeologist not only for it’s great entertainment value, but who knows, you just might learn something, or become a better person. Either way you’ll be more worldly for simplay having watched it.
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