The two founding texts of Israeli identity, the Declaration of Independence and the Passover Haggadah, offer seemingly contradictory answers to the question of where our forefathers came from. On the one hand, “the Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.” On the other, “in every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he personally left Egypt.”

So are we immigrants or natives? And can archaeology offer a meaningful answer?

This episode follows a journey in search of the roots of the ancient Israelites, moving through the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the mysterious cult sites of the Jordan Valley, and an archaeological investigation into the identity of the new populations that settled in Canaan. Were they connected to those who left Egypt, and what can the material evidence tell us about the origins of a people?