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Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
4 Episodes 2003 - 2003
Episode 1
By the River of Babylon
Wed, May 14, 2003 60 mins
Debut: A four-part history of the ancient Jews. Their monotheism and moral code "would change human history as much as any empire that ever existed," says narrator Keith David. Part 1 focuses on Abraham, Moses, David and Jeremiah, but it begins during the Babylonian captivity of the 6th century BC, when the Bible began to take its present shape. "They became a people not by fighting battles but by telling stories," says David. Voices include Derek Jacobi, Jeremy Irons, F. Murray Abraham and Rene Auberjonois.
Episode 2
The Book and the Sword
Wed, May 14, 2003 60 mins
Part 2 (of four) follows the ancient Jews from the end of the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century BC to the Maccabees' battles with the Greeks in the second. Among the key figures: Ezra, the scribe and priest sent to Jerusalem by the Persian king in the fifth century BC to rebuild the temple. "He came with the book," says David. "He said to the people: 'This is what we're about and here's how we must live'." Voices include Derek Jacobi, Jeremy Irons, F. Murray Abraham and Rene Auberjonois.
Episode 3
The End of Days
Wed, May 21, 2003 60 mins
Part 3 (of four) chronicles the brutal early years of the Roman occupation of Judea. It was a time when many Jews thought "the end of days" was at hand, and for traditional Judaism, it was. The hour begins with the arrival of the Roman general Pompey in 63 B.C. and ends with the destruction of the temple by Vespasian's troops in A.D. 70, after which, says Rabbi Perry Netter, "everything was gone." But all wasn't bloodshed: the Pharisee Hillel preached peace and, says Netter, "reduced all of tradition to a single sound bite: 'If you want to serve God, there is a way you have to treat people'." Not long thereafter, Jesus would say similar things. Keith David narrates.
Episode 4
The Gifts of the Jews
Wed, May 21, 2003 60 mins
The series concludes by following the Jews as they adjust to the loss of their temple in the 1st century A.D. and their homeland in the second. "But it wouldn't be the death of Judaism," says narrator Keith David. "In the years [that followed], some of the greatest minds in religious history would struggle to reinvent the religion of Moses and David" amid threats, first by the Romans, then by Christian anti-Semitism. Among them: Yochanan ben Zachai, the Pharisee who was instrumental in developing the concept of the synagogue, where everyone---not just priests---could worship and study; and Akiva, who organized oral tradition into what would later become the Talmud, what David calls "a how-to book for practicing Judaism."