Hieroglyphs. Hieratic.
When someone’s already put in the effort to fight ignorance, even if you don’t give a crap it’s courteous to acknowledge it. And what’s with the no capitals?
In other words, you have a valid point that is getting broad agreement (including from me, who gets annoyed easily by the kind of misinformation you describe), but not really supporting your case by making basic errors over and over again.
If only. Unfortunately, the show is more like redtail23 described.
I’ve seen three episodes, and they all have pretty much followed the above pattern. Anyone serious about learning about biblical archeology, I would recommend the Nova episode from this past October.
Actually, there I think she means Amharic. Not sure why she went from Hieratic to Demotic, though, and I’ve never heard of Amharic (although it is Semitic) being found so early.
Expert in Arabian Nose Flutes: Here is an example of a pre-historic Arabian Nose Flute.
Naked Archeologist: Ah but did you notice how the handle forms a curl. . . just like ancient Jewish writing. . . the curl is an old symbol of Jewish music. Jews invented music!
African Cheiftan showing off sacred walking stick: The craftmanship of our forefathers is easily seen in this fine example of an ancient African Walking Stick.
NA: Why, it looks just like the depiction of an cane drawn in a cave under the Temple Mount. Jews invented walking!
Jacobovici is pretty much a fraud. It should probably be made clear that he’s not an archaeologist, and has no credentials in archaeology, history or any other related field. What he is, is a documentary filmmaker and a sensationalist who is willing to play fast and loose with facts – ignoring or inventing them as needed – in order to contrive whatever narrative he finds most appealing.
He’s the guy who made the “Jesus Tomb” special, if anybody remembers that, and that special approaches the high end of his academic rigor. He also did a special on the “real” Exodus story. He’s a proponent of the hypothesis that the Hyksos expulsion was the basis for Exodus story (which is uncontroversial in itself), but he takes it to a tendentious extreme trying to argue that the Hyksos were Israelites or some kind of proto-Hebrews (they weren’t), and I believe he also trie dto argue that some Egptian statue of a Pharaoh was really a statue of Joseph.
Oh…and he belives that Moses wrote the Torah. I saw an episode of NA where he kept saying that Genesis “doesn’t look like the work of multiple authors to me,” despite being shown the overwhlming evidence that it’s exactly that.
He’s slick, has a facile way with arguments and can come off superficially as knowing what he’s talking about (I even saw him dominate a panel discussion about the Jesus Tomb much better credentialled experts). He’s smart and knows how to appear convincing, but he’s still almost aways full of shit.
Jacobovici is neither an archeologist or a historian.
Lets see, i amnot an egyptologist, only a casual reader, i amalso at work and really cant spend time googliing every damn thing and am going on memory for naiming and spelling/.
from wiki:
As writing developed and became more widespread among the Egyptian people, simplified glyph forms developed, resulting in the hieratic (priestly) and demotic (popular) scripts. These variants were also more suited than hieroglyphs for use on papyrus. Hieroglyphic writing was not, however, eclipsed, but existed alongside the other forms, especially in monumental and other formal writing. The Rosetta Stone contains parallel texts in hieroglyphic and demotic writing.
fucking deal with limitations. i mixed up a couple terms, fucking deal with it,.
DO I OR DO I NOT HAVE A POINT HE IS FUCKING UP INFORMATION?
He is fucking up information. So are you, to a lesser extent.
Dio, good to know. I hadn’t really heard of him before. I have seen some pretty whacked-out stuff from actual archaeologists and prehistorians, though…
Um … why “naked”?
I think he has some bit about taking archeology down to the basics or some shit, but really it’s about marketing. That word catches they eye and some folks tune in out of curiosity.
So the Naked Archaeologist is neither Naked nor an Archaeologist?
He should do a special on artifacts from The Holy Roman Empire.
Supposedly, he’s “stripping away myths” to find out what really happened. :rolleyes:
Really, what he does is try to sweep away legitimate academic research and data in order to arrive at the predetermined story he wants to tell.
Basically, Jacobovici is to archaeology what Joe the Plumber is to journalism.
And here I was thinking about some unholy cross between Indiana Jones and Ron Jeremy.
Firstly, I would add that archaeology has historically been affected by people’s preconceived notions. That’s one of the reasons people still see Egypt as the “cradle of civilization” and why people continue to be amazed every time they find something far older in the jungles of Brazil or discover that the Maya were more advanced at math than the Egyptians at the same time. People fail to realize that, despite British finds in Egypt, there are no new ideas anywhere and that early civilization, law and technological, scientific and mathematical advances are not limited to Sumeria and Egypt.
That said, the Naked Archaeologist is a) a moron and b) completely unqualified to discuss the subject matter he’s covering. According to this Wikki Link, the guy has a degree in philosophy and an MA in international relations. Regardless of how much the guy has studied, the reality is that his interest probably lies not in debunking or proving anything, but getting the channel higher ratings. So, great - he interests people in archaeology. But he has no qualifications and shapes archaeological finds into stories that fit whatever sensationalist idea his producers have encouraged.
“I can think of at least two things wrong with that title.”
He pushed the idiotic “family tomb of Jesus” thing, so he has little credibility in my book.
Even if it was JC’s Tomb and his family, the idea that the “Mary” in the tomb was his wife and some of the other ossuaries thus contained JC’s kids is unsupportable by any evidence.
http://www.sbl-site.org/publications/article.aspx?articleId=649
Yeah, the tag line is that he “lays history bare.”
I love shows about anthropology, archeology, etc., and I especially enjoy shows where a specific credentialed expert makes an effort to demystify his or her discipline for a lay audience. I had never heard of this show when it popped up on my TiVo’s suggestion list. “Naked Archeologist,” thinks I? Sounds a little sensational, but potentially promising, I thought. I was :dubious:-ing after ten minutes. I was :rolleyes:-ing by the half hour mark. And by the end I was :mad:.
It really is that bad.
I’d hate to see his whip.
I don’t know what all the anger is about here. I’ve watched this program now and then and never once came away with the sense that what Jacobovici theorizes should be taken as anything more than speculation based on his own interpretation.
He often admits that he’s at odds with other scholars.