Final Jeopardy: Biblical Archaeology (9-9-19)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (9/9/2019) in the category “Biblical Archaeology” was:

A site excavated since 1899, Tell es-Safi has been identified as this Philistine city, home to a giant warrior

6x champ Jason Zuffranieri, a math teacher from Albuquerque, NM, is back for the first game of Season 36. Jason won $137,300 in his last 6 games. In Game 7, he is up against: Holly Palmer, a nurse from Colorado Springs, CO; and Victor C. Li, an advanced analytical developer from Jacksonville, FL.

Round 1 Categories: Motor Trend Car of the Year – Health Watch – Parts of Speeches – From Page to Screen – Kitchen Origins – Greek & Latin Prefixes

Jason was playing bottom rows first, Jeopardy James-style. He found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “From Page to Screen” under the $1,000 clue on the 9th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $3,400, $2,600 more than Holly in second place. He bet $2,700 and took a guess with “On the Road.” That was WRONG.

Emma Stone played aspiring writer Skeeter Phelan in this ’60s-set film based on the novel of the same name. show

WHAT IS “THE HELP”?

Jason finished in the lead with $5,500. Holly was second with $3,000 and Victor was last with $400.

Round 2 Categories: Broadway Musicals by Character – The 1820s – World Currency – Last Name Flow-Togethers – Jack London – The “Bean” Stalk

Jason found the first Daily Double in “The 1820s” under the $1,600 clue on the 5th pick. He was in the lead with $12,700 now, $8,100 more than Holly in second place. He bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.

In 1828 explorer René Caillié became the first European to visit this city now in Central Mali & to survive to tell the tale. show

WHAT IS TIMBUKTU?

Jason found the last Daily Double in “World Currency” under the $1,200 clue on the 14th pick. In the lead with $23,900, he had $19,300 more than Holly in second place. He bet $2,500 and he was RIGHT.

In 2018, its Pres. Erdogan urged his people to take euros & dollars from under their pillows & convert them to native lira. show

WHAT IS TURKEY?

Jason finished in the lead with a runaway $29,600. Holly was next with $7,800 and Victor was in third place with $400.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS GATH?

From the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaelogical Project weblog: “From the biblical text it would appear that Gath was the most important of the Philistine cities during the early period of Philistine history. It was from Gath that Goliath, the fabled champion of the Philistines came, and it was the king of Gath, Achish, who played an important role in the story of the young King David.” The project began in 1996 and will continue until the summer of 2021. This page, Gath in the Bible, explains why they believe Tell es-Safi was Gath back in the biblical day, although they do not have incontrovertible proof.

From the Old Testament, 1 Samuel 17:4: “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”

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Victor gave it a shot with Baghdad. He lost his $399 bet and finished with one dollar.

Holly got a big laugh with Goliathtown. “I wanna move there,” Alex joked, “Don’t you?” That cost Holly $5,000 and left her with $2,800.

Jason just had Goliath. He lost $400, winning the game with the remaining $29,200. His 7-day total is $166,500.

A triple stumper from each round:

KITCHEN ORIGINS ($1000) Peter Schlumbohm used a Pyrex glass carafe when he invented the Chemex brand of this

THE “BEAN” STALK ($800) Scientifically known as glycine max, this member of the pea family is native to Asia

2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “Artists & Authors”

In 1929 Georgia O’Keeffe painted the tree in New Mexico under which this British-born author used to write. show

WHO IS D.H. LAWRENCE?

It’s so great to see Alex Trebek back on the Jeopardy! stage for Season 36 in good spirits. Click here to leave well wishes and prayers for continuing success in his battle against cancer. There’s also a link to where you can make a donation to pancreatic cancer research in his honor.