Pathways Through Jerusalem features 9 onscreen video guides each with their own "pathway" telling the religious, social, military and archaeological history of Jerusalem, the world's most Holy city.

This 2 CD set has been one of our most acclaimed offerings since it's inclusion in one of our very first catalogs.

Five of the video guides are historical: King David, King Herod, Queen Helena (Byzantine period -- Constantine's mother), Dirk the Crusader, and Suleiman the Magnificent (Islamic period). Their portrayals are full of wit, scholarly insights, interesting historical footnotes and humor. King David (pictured right) is insightful AND funny. When he pulls out his wallet to show you his children, it's a kick!

King Herod's scholarly tour of Jerusalem is led by a very funny actor who portrays Herod as a meglomaniac with a New York cabbie demeanor and accent. Queen Helena is expectedly regal, and Dirk the Crusader looks like the bloke just got back from a Crusade.

Throughout the tours, guides appear in the foreground via video among various re-creations and ruins, illustrations and animations. Each tour has a soundtrack and literally dozens of options to select from and "learn more" as you move through the pathways on that subject.

Throughout each of the nine presentations (which last on average 35 minutes each if you don't stop them), the program pauses to offer the user various "explore in depth" options of a scriptural, archaeological, tradition nature. They are called onscreen "Source," Discovery" and "Legend." There's a control panel (seen bottom left corner of the Temple graphic below) you can roll over to pause the pathway presentation, go forward or back. It even has a handy overview of the pathway built in. Legend is one of my favorites. In it the program presents you with interesting historical tidbits that have a twist, or whose story comes from non-biblical sources.

Another unique option in each pathway is the TIME MORPH option. Say you're in Herod's Jerusalem Temple tour and you wonder how his Temple compares to David's. Click "Time Morph" and you can jump right into David's pathway where he is touring Solomon's Temple.

Example of Pathways content: King David begins by introducing himself, and tells the story of how Israel became a nation under his leadership. His tour of Solomon's Temple is probably the most popular part of Pathways to teach with. It includes an animated-illustrated discussion of altar sacrifice and how the Israelites worshipped in the Temple. Following his presentation (which lasts about five minutes!) viewers are given the option to jump back to a spot in his presentation, or dive into four related options: SOURCE- view a scripture passage about the Temple; DISCOVERY- hear narration and view picture about the only known Temple artifact in existence; LEGENDS & Related Traditions- A brief animated retelling of the sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Moriah (temple mount); MORPH- jump to other guided tours that deal with the Temple and Temple Mount. This one section alone could fill and be the entire focus for your class.

Four of the video guides are contemporary: A Jew, a Christian, a Palestinian Muslim, and a Secular tour bus operator. Each describes the sites in Jerusalem holy to their particular faith. Those who have visited or studied Jerusalem will feast on the content.

The three religious contemporary guides also describe the major beliefs and practices of their individual faiths. For example, Raphael the Christian guide tours the locations where Jesus spent his last two days of his life in Jerusalem explaining their significance.

Users have complete control over each pathway through a pop-up control panel that includes a pause button. Each of the nine pathways runs about 30 to 40 minutes in length WITHOUT the users taking the many sidetrips each pathway offers.

Located on the right-side of each screen in Pathways are several other controls: Database, Jump to new guide, and Time Morph. The Database --seen here at the right, provides you with some interesting background reading that's printable.

See the + arrows icon in the upper right corner of this screen at the right? That's another database which allows you to search the CD's content via a map of Jerusalem. Say you wanted to learn more about the Temple Mount. You'd scroll down the index, click "Temple Mount," hear a brief narration about it while you saw the picture of it, then be presented with animated icons of EACH guide which tours the Temple Mount. Click on them and you are immediately taken inside their pathways tour directly to the spot where they discuss the Temple Mount. Very handy and very clever.

How much Video do we mean?
Those of you used to programs with skimpy video clips, be prepared. The tour guides appear AT LENGTH throughout Pathways in video windows that appear integrated with the surroundings they are discussing. This attention to artistic detail is rarely seen in videos found in other programs. And the guides are far more than "talking heads, they are well acted, and interact with their surroundings. Pathways is a very clever program.

Pathways faithfully presents the world's three great faith. It is frequently put to use in Sunday School to study other religions. Suleiman and Azziz's muslim tours are faithful and fascinating. The Crusade content and Tammar's modern Israel pathway do a good job and stoking the discussion of "holy" land and who owns it. Pathways doesn't present any political agenda. It illuminates. Our 40 page study guide contains background notes, suggestions and comments on these important subjects.

The multimedia and attention to detail in Pathways is unsurpassed in the software world --it's really quite amazing.

Theologically Speaking....the program is scholarly and well mainstream. Much of the archaeological and historical information is straight from the pages of such magazines as Biblical Archaeological Review.

Pathways is popular in older elementary and youth Sunday Schools, and it projects well to a larger adult education audience (using a data projector). It is also a favorite program for pastors, CE staff, and teachers to put in their personal collections.

System Requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/XP or Power Mac, 100 mhz or higher, 32 mb RAM minimum, 24X CD speed or higher. 256 color. Age Range: 5th graders, youth, and adults. We've sold a pile to pastors, families and resource centers. Order Info: 1 copy = $40, 2-4 copies $37 each, 5+ copies = $35 each. Pathways Through Jerusalem comes on TWO CDS. Order by calling us at 1-800-678-1948 or use our on-line order form.

Don't forget to order our Pathways Study Guide:

The 40 page spiral bound Study Guide includes: A Complete & Detailed Outline to every bit of content on the two CDs, teaching notes, questions, background articles, study devotionals, and eight sample worksheets for student use. Pathways is an extremely deep program with hundreds of places to go. Our guide helps teachers know what's where. It's $12 and only from Sunday School Software. Click here to view a sample of the guide.