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.