The Holy Land Gates travels through Ghana and Benin as he looks at the transatlantic slave trade. From slave castles on the coast to royal courts in the interior, he finds both pride in these powerful African kingdoms and discomfort about the source of their wealth. The Swahili Coast Gates journeys through Egypt and Sudan in search of ancient Nubia. Nubia was said to have rivaled Egypt with its pyramids, temples and tombs found in the deserts of Sudan. Gates then travels through the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania to the island of Zanzibar.
Gates takes a look into the origins of the Swahili people.
He gains great insight into troubled and bloody history as he talks to the Canon of the Anglican cathedral and the descendent of Zanzibar s most notorious slave trader. In the early hours of Good Friday morning two thieves, awaiting their crucifixion, agonize in a lonely prison cell. As the stars go out one by one, these two men grapple with fear about their impending death. Through a small hole in the stone cell wall, they can glimpse another prisoner who will be crucified with them. Together they argue about who this man is, and wonder if he has the power to save their souls.