The Naked Archaeologist

It's a lot of fun but The evidence he presents often doesn't anything like support the conclusion he comes to.

Enjoy it the way you might enjoy The Da Vinci Code or In Search of With Leonard Nimoy.

Hopefully the program will inspire you to seek better sources on the Interesting Historical and biblical topics of the show.

If you are real archaeologist and scholar, I could see getting upset with Mr. J., the "naked archaeologist." To me (not one), he is just a showboat. Calling it "Naked" means pandering to get attention. Getting himself "crucified " is a good example. I could not watch that show. But I could not watch Mel Gibson's movie about that topic either. But on the positive side, the locales they visit are real. And he does engage real people in the field who argue all the time with each other anyway. I like any approach to civil discussion about ancient times that doesn't get all misty and religious and doctrinaire. So the show is usually quite fun to watch despite the obvious ego bumping. I give the show a solid "B" and look forward to next week.

As a scientist (in technical fields rather than archeology or similar fields), I find all areas of science fascinating. Archeology presented in the regular manner is interesting. Often I see a show where a controversial theory is presented. Too often I see certain unwritten rules applied to archeology (such as the hand of God CAN NEVER be accepted as part of any explanation). As a true scientist, I accept EVERY view, and like to hear alternate views, even those that contain the mystical, spiritual and religious. Simka in this show does a fantastic job of presenting many fascinating views of the holy land on a myriad of subjects and brings it alive in a context of today. His show transports the viewer to the holy land in ancient times and you can imagine yourself living in a day to day environment there. He does this by allowing all the views in and not excluding anything that isn't Kosher (excuse the pun :-). All in all, a really really good show. I look forward to reruns of the show every week.

As an informed lay-person, a peripheral yet broadcast film-maker educated to post-grad level in archaeological theory, I love the informed energy of 'The Naked Archaeologist'. I believe archaeology pivotal in the understanding of human affairs, though political and indeed, dangerous. I even suggested the eponymous title in print, in a British archaeological journal (clue) a while back and now here we have a very engaging response. I'm not however suggesting that the producer's were necessarily inspired by my humble effort. We are currently watching the 2nd? series in the UK and I think the show is progressively finding its targets, the nature, possession and obsession of archaeology. I'll be writing a follow-up article in, yes you guessed it, 'British Archaeology' (a publication I would highly recommend to all viewers interested in this broadcasting strand). Keep watching the artefacts....

Reading the negative reviews of this show, one has to wonder if these folks have a sense of humor and actually enjoy history and archeology presented in as dry and humorless a form as possible. No wonder kids remember nothing about history from school because for the most part, this is the way it is taught: Dry and totally boring.

I LOVE Simcha's take on archeology. Middle Eastern archeology was not my field but he has sure taught me a lot more about it than any dry textbook because I actually WATCH and LISTEN and LEARN from the Naked Archaeologist. I agree that his sense of humor is not for everyone but the ranting of the negative reviews of this show is a bit much. Really, this show presents history in a way that actually makes one want to know more about the subject presented, instead of falling asleep in class or tuning out, which is unfortunately the way history is generally taught in school.

Keep the faith, Simcha!