The Naked Archaeologist

Simcha is highly entertaining. Binged watched both seasons and his other shows a couple of times and occasionally fire up an episode to kill time. Simcha is very credible but there's holes in his theories and evidence. That which can be proved is eye-opening. As an Orthodox Jew he knows faith is unprovable in many instances and doesn't fit into laws or archaeologically.I love the quote from the archaeologist who was in charge of sifting through the rubble excavated from the Dome by Muslims. "I lived through the 6 Day War. I believe in divine intervention and I believe in miracles." The second season theme song is great!!!

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 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!

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.