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SOUTHFIELD

December 15 & 16, 2001

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Truth Be Told

Opto

Opus is a whimsical penguin who
takes matters into his own hands
when his Granny falls asleep in the
midst of reading Goodnight .00m
a spoof of Good Night Moon). With
friends in tow, he embarks on a
remarkable and imaginative voyage
to say good night in person to the Milky
Way. Another lovely black light production
from The Mermaid Theatre Company

Cable documentary takes aim at some
favorite biblical stories.

(

Recommended for
ages 3 and above

of Nova Scotia.

Performances are held at the Millennium Centre,15600 J. L Hudson Drive, Southfield (adjacent
Providence Hospital). Show times are Saturdays at 11a.m. & 2 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. only.
Tickets just $8 (advance) or $10 (at the door). Call the Youtheatre Ticket Office for more
information at (248) 557-PLAY or on-line at www.youtheatre.org

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TOM TUGEND
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

establishing the Palestine Exploration
Fund in 1865.
In the past two decades, battle lines
ome of the most cherished
have been drawn between two schools
Bible stories come under
of Israeli archaeologists who, looking
attack by a new breed of
at the same evidence, have arrived at
archaeologists in an upcom-
wildly different conclusions.
ing two-hour documentary on U.S.
On one side are the "minimalists."
cable television.
They are skeptics who, one of their
The stated thesis of Digging for the
opponents charges, think that if some-
Truth: Archaeology and the Bible is that thing is written in the Bible, it must
both Israelis and Palestinians are using
be wrong.
archaeological discoveries to justify
The champion of the minimalists is
their historical claims to the Holy
Israel Finkelstein, who leaves few
Land and to de-legitimize the claims
icons unsmashed.
of the other side.
According to the Tel Aviv University
The program, narrated by James
professor, Kings David and Solomon
Woods, premieres 9 p.m. Monday,
were not rulers of a strong, unified
Dec. 17, on the History Channel.
monarchy, but were insignificant
Author Amy Marcus explains the
southern tribal chieftains. On the
confrontation by noting that one can-
other hand, King Ahab — the hus-
not understand the conflict between
band of Jezebel and one of the more
Israelis and Palestinians without
despised biblical characters — ruled
understanding what's happening in
over a major northern kingdom in the
archaeology.
ninth century BCE, when Jerusalem
"The reason is because archaeology
was a village of little importance.
touches on their national identities,
An even more heretical theory
on their religious identities, and also . advanced by the minimalists is that
on their political aspirations, says
the ancestors of the Jewish people
Marcus, a former Wall Street Journal
were not the conquering Israelites, but
Mideast correspondent who wrote a
the idol-worshipping Canaanites —
book on the political use of archaeolo-
the same ancestors claimed by the
gy in the Arab-Israeli conflict. "By
Palestinians.
writing each other out of the biblical
Representing the more traditional
narrative, they write each other out of
interpretation of archaeological dis-
the modern narrative."
coveries, still the majority view, is
In the film, however, this thesis
Amnon Ben-Tor.
plays out not in confrontations
The Hebrew University professor —
between Muslim and Jewish scholars
and a former student of famed Israeli
— only a single Palestinian
archaeologist Yigael Yadin — gives as
spokesman is presented briefly, near
good as he gets in the battle against
the end — but as an internecine
the minimalists. ❑
struggle among Israeli experts.
Digging for the Truth opens calmly
enough with a useful overview of
Holy Land archaeology since 1831,
when Ottoman ruler Mehmet Ali
Digging for the Truth airs 9 p.m.
opened Palestine to Western travelers
Monday, Dec. 17, on the History
after a 600-year ban.
Channel and will be repeated 1
The pioneering 19th-century
a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18, and 6
research of such men as Edward
p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23. Check
Robinson and Charles Warren is given
your local listings.
due credit, as is Queen Victoria for

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