OLLI0128 - From Galilee to Jerusalem: Archaeology at Work Uncovering the World of Jesus of Nazareth

Course Description

This course explores how recent archaeological excavations in Galilee and Judea/Jerusalem are impacting the search for the ever-elusive Jesus of Nazareth. The dramatic increase in excavations focused on the villages and urban centers of early Roman Galilee along with intriguing finds relating to the death and burial of Jesus in Jerusalem have brought clarity to our understanding of Jesus and his earliest followers as well as raised a host of new questions that beckon us in our quest for greater lucidity. The course will use archaeological finds to engage such topics as the complexity of the Jewish world into which Jesus entered (e.g., Hasmoneans, Essenes, Zealots) and where Jesus might fit into this landscape. We will look closely at the contested space of Galilee as Roman colonization imposed itself by way of a daunting urban presence, and we will follow Jesus into the villages of Galilee where the excavations have exposed a much more complex world than was previously acknowledged. We conclude the course by going with Jesus to Jerusalem exploring what sort of city it had become under Roman occupation and how archaeology has provided insights into Jesus’s death and burial. This course will be recorded.