Bible Hunters

The 19th and 20th centuries saw Europe and the US gripped by ‘Egyptomania’ – an overwhelming obsession with the land of the Pharaohs and its historical treasures. It attracted dedicated scholars and archaeologists involved in a race to find the oldest biblical manuscripts in the world.

In this two-part documentary, archaeologist Dr. Jeff Rose tells the remarkable stories of the real life Indiana Jones type figures who were determined to uncover the earliest bible texts, particularly the New Testament.  They were known as the Bible Hunters. And they were willing to do anything to be the first to make a discovery. At stake was the historical reliability and literal truth of the Bible, which was under attack by sceptical scholars.

The discoveries of the Bible Hunters would shed controversial new light on the Christian origins as well as uncovering strange zodiacs, hymns to Egypt’s solar god, and heretical Christian texts.