An exploration into how a small arid town with no natural resources became a place of pilgrimage for three of the most prominent world religions, and how 3,000 years of conflicts have led directly to the struggles of today.
Seasons
EPS01
After seizing Canaan, the Israelites wage war, ending in the battle of David and Goliath. David is made ruler and names Jerusalem as the new capital of the United Kingdom of Israel. Upon his death, David's son ascends to the throne, but proves to be a different ruler.
EPS02
When King Herod claims Jerusalem from the Hasmoneans, he angers Cleopatra, who wants to reclaim Judea for her Kingdom of Egypt. Despite this conflict, Herod the Great manages to modernize the ancient city, revolutionizing the city of God forever.
EPS03
Jerusalem has become a holy city for three of the major faiths of the world, and this brings them into conflict. Tension reaches a climax during the epic battle between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade. As these two prominent military strategists go to war, the fate of the holy city hangs in their balance.
EPS04
EPS05
While World War II rages, in the Middle East, Palestinian Arabs feel trapped between competing forces. When the British Mandate ends and the state of Israel is declared, war breaks out immediately. At its end almost a year later, Israel's independence is secured, while Transjordan too has made gains. But the Holy City lies divided, with a no-man's land of barbed wire separating East from West.
EPS06
Israel and its Arab neighbors are at war again on the streets of the Old City itself. War comes directly to Jerusalem, with fighting taking place in the narrow streets of the Old City itself. But while Israel emerges victorious, its control of Palestinian Arab communities, on territory ear-marked for a Palestinian state, creates the dilemma still plaguing the Holy Land to this day.