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Israelites came into the promised land. but it's 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. it's a form of mass colonialism, massive slaughter. it's 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 question is what do we believe? what do we actually think happened? >> reporter: the archaeology does l...

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, it's hard to 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 bib...

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 is less clear-cut. >> one of the problems that we've got is it's very difficult frankly to tell an ...

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 it's the story of wandering for 40 years, joshua's more action-packed. this is where they come on in and they take over. ♪ fought the battle of jericho >> reporter: as told in the book of joshua the conquest of canaan has all the trappings of a summer blockbuster...

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 it's 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 it's 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. it's a form of mass col...