Page 3 - Ancient Jericho News Today

Israelites came into the promised land. but its unlikely that this is actually how it happened. >> people forget that there are two versions of the so-called conquest of canaan in the hebrew bible. >> the book of joshua suggests a blitzkrieg. its a form of mass colonialism, massive slaughter. its horrible. and then we have the story of judges, a gradual infiltration into the sparsely populated hill country, do we want the blitzkrieg model or do we want the gradual settlement model. >> the questi...

Behind the stories of the bible. if these stones could talk, what would they tell us? and can a war correspondent who has seen all that tears us apart? >> christiane amanpour in israel -- >> discover what it is that can bring us together. "back to the beginning with christiane amanpour" continues. >> reporter: driving through the region known today as the west bank, the heart of canaan in biblical times, its hard to believe that this was the promised land that moses tried for so long to reach bu...

And that goes back all the way to the bible days. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: they had marched 175 kilometers overnight, a journey that ended here, in the disputed golan heights along the syrian border. the cadets families joined them for the final stretch. >> joshua used a sword to conquer, from jericho. nobody picked up their bags and said dear joshua, god promised you, here it is. >> reporter: historians who are trying to piece together the truth think the meaning of the story ...

Land. >> reporter: the bible tells us that before his death on mount nebo, with guidance from god, moses chose a man named joshua to lead the israelites on the last leg of their journey. >> and so we have this real transition, a handing over of power from one generation to the next, where moses and his generation have been wandering its the story of wandering for 40 years, joshuas more action-packed. this is where they come on in and they take over. ♪ fought the battle of jericho >> reporter: ...

Probably of a few months conquered the whole land of canaan, expelled or slaughtered the canaanites, divided up the whole land among the 12 tribes, then joshua gives a sermon at the end, and its all over. >> reporter: jericho is a highlight now on most holy land tours. the pilgrims are drawn here by the violent version of how the israelites came into the promised land. but its unlikely that this is actually how it happened. >> people forget that there are two versions of the so-called conquest o...

Conquest of land in the promised land. >> reporter: the bible tells us that before his death on mount nebo, with guidance from god, moses chose a man named joshua to lead the israelites on the last leg of their journey. >> and so we have this real transition, a handing over of power from one generation to the next, where moses and his generation have been wandering its the story of wandering for 40 years, joshuas more action-packed. this is where they come on in and they take over. ♪ fought th...

Until an unexpected patch of green comes into view, signaling our arrival into the biblical city of palms, jericho. >> jerichos one of the most interesting cities in the ancient near east. theres a spring there thats still gushing out. hundreds of gallons of water per minute. its always been a beautiful place to live. this oasis in what is now the middle of the desert. >> reporter: its believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. traces of 23 distinct civilizations have be...

Believe that this was the promised land that moses tried for so long to reach but never did. until an unexpected patch of green comes into view, signaling our arrival into the biblical city of palms, jericho. >> jerichos one of the most interesting cities in the ancient near east. theres a spring there thats still gushing out. hundreds of gallons of water per minute. its always been a beautiful place to live. this oasis in what is now the middle of the desert. >> reporter: its believed to be the...

Believe? what do we actually think happened? >> reporter: the archaeology does lend some support to the less dramatic and gentler account. >> of all the years when jericho was inhabited, the one period where we want it to be inhabited so joshua can attack it, theres nobody living there. its empty. theres no wall for joshua to knock down. >> to put it bluntly, the book of joshua is almost all fictitious. >> yes, there are some battles. yes, theres some killing. but overall, theyre coming in and t...

A few days after we visited jericho our team was invited to the graduation ceremony for jonathan friedland and his elite unit of the israeli defense force cadets. >> just like joshua and his troops came to israel and had their battles here and were able to live here, im just continuing it just like my brother did it and my father did it and my grandfather did it. and that goes back all the way to the bible days. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: they had marched 175 kilometers overnigh...