The Jesus Family Tomb
Encyclopedia
Simcha Jacobovici
Simcha Jacobovici is a Canadian film director, producer, free-lance journalist, and writer. He is a three-times Emmy winner for Outstanding Investigative Journalism....
and Charles R. Pellegrino
Charles R. Pellegrino
Charles R. Pellegrino is the controversial author of several books relating to science and archaeology, including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Ghosts of the Titanic, Unearthing Atlantis and Ghosts of Vesuvius....
(with a Foreword by James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
) published in February 2007. It tells the story of the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb
Talpiot Tomb
The Talpiot Tomb is a rock-cut tomb discovered in 1980 in the East Talpiot neighborhood, five kilometers south of the Old City in East Jerusalem. It contained ten ossuaries, six of them with epigraphs, including one with the inscription that has been interpreted as "Jesus, son of Joseph", though...
and makes an argument that it is the tomb of Jesus Christ and his "family
Desposyni
The term Desposyni refers to alleged blood relatives of Jesus. The term was coined by Sextus Julius Africanus, a writer of the early 3rd century. Some scholars argue that Jesus' relatives held positions of special honor in the Early Christian Church...
."
The book is a tie-in with the documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
The Lost Tomb of Jesus is a documentary co-produced and first broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007, covering the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb. It was directed by Canadian documentary and film maker Simcha Jacobovici and produced by Felix Golubev and Ric...
, which was released on the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
in early March 2007.
The Names in the Tomb
The tomb in TalpiotTalpiot
Talpiot , is a neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem, Israel, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers.-Etymology:The name Talpiot derives from a verse in Song of Songs 4:4 – "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets." According to rabbinic sources, Talpiot refers to the Temple...
, excavated in 1980 during salvage archaeology, originally contained ten ossuaries - bone boxes for secondary burial. Of the ten, one has disappeared - presumably stolen. Of the other nine, six were inscribed with names:
- Yeshua bar Yosef - inscription in Aramaic, meaning "Jesus son of Joseph." By itself, it does not constitute conclusive evidence, since there must have been over a thousand men named "Yeshua bar Yosef" in first-century Jerusalem. However, the other five names are all allegedly connected with the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
Jesus. - "Mariamne, also known as Mara", an inscription in GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. "Mara" could be the Aramaic word for "Lord" or "Master", the Hebrew name meaning "Bitter" (found in Ruth 1:20), or a nickname, a shortened version of "Mariamne." - Maria - a name apparently in Latin, but written in Hebrew letters.
- Yosa - believed to be the same as Ioses or JosesJosesSaint Joses is the second of the brothers of Jesus appearing in the New Testament. Joses is first mentioned in , which related people talking about Jesus:...
, the name of one of the brothers of Jesus listed in the New Testament's book of Mark (6:3). Yosa is the diminutive of Yosef similar to Joey being the diminutive of Joseph in English. Such a name has not been found in any ossuary other than this and it is noteworthy that the ossuary was that of an adult. Hence, the book speculates, this would be a strong indication that Yosa would be the son of Yosef, or Yeshua's brother ("Yeshua bar Yosef") just as in Mark. - Yehuda bar Yeshua - "Judah, son of Jesus." (Inscription in Aramaic). Otherwise unknown. According to the authors, same as JudeJude, brother of JesusJude was the brother of Jesus, according to the New Testament. He is traditionally identified as the author of the Epistle of Jude, a short epistle which is reckoned among the seven General epistles of the New Testament and considered canonical by Christians.-Sources: and write of Jesus family:...
, known also as ThomasThomas the ApostleThomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
, the "Twin." Among the several theories presented in the book is that he was the son of Jesus, but was publicly presented as the brother of Jesus, in order to save him from being executed as a pretender to the throne of IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He was known as "Twin" (Thomas, Didymus, etc.) presumed to be his brother but really his father. - Matiah - a name in Hebrew, the original form of the names of the apostles MatthewMatthew the EvangelistMatthew the Evangelist was, according to the Bible, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the four Evangelists.-Identity:...
and MatthiasSaint MatthiasMatthias , according to the Acts of the Apostles, was the apostle chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas' betrayal of Jesus and his suicide.-Biography:...
. His presence in the family tomb implies he was also a relative of Jesus, as were some of the other apostles.
The tenth ossuary
The authors present a case for the ossuaryJames Ossuary
The James Ossuary is a 2,000-year old chalk box that was used for containing the bones of the dead. The Aramaic inscription: Ya'akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua is cut into one side of the box...
of James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus (Yaakov ben Yosef akhui diYeshua). This controversial relic, accepted as legitimate by some, is believed by others in the field as fraudulent. Prominent among those who believe its authenticity is Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review. An ongoing forgery trial in Israel has failed to disprove its authenticity. These doubts are the result of the ossuary being unprovenanced - that is, not found in a legitimate excavation. The book presents what the authors purport to be firm scientific evidence that the James ossuary is the missing tenth ossuary from the Talpiot tomb.
The film makers from The Lost Tomb of Jesus had the outside layer of dirt tested against the other 9 ossuaries that were found in the tomb, and the dirt on the outside of the James ossuary was proven to be made up of the same minerals as the other 9 ossuaries. In the documentary they stated that this was nearly impossible if not from the same tomb.
Controversy
Not only are some of the names on the bone boxes relatively common names, but no writings of Jesus' life, canonical or apocryphal, reported a marriage or children. The authenticity of the nine remaining ossuaries, and of the names inscribed on them, is under no doubt or suspicion. However, the identities of these people are open to much controversy and debate. They are either nine otherwise unknown Jewish people from first-century Jerusalem, or JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
himself and, presumably, eight members of his family. Recently, some of the scholars quoted in the Discovery Channel documentary have issued strong clarifications, backtracking on some of the central claims made in the film and book. Namely, University of Toronto statistician Professor Andrey Feuerverger, whose conservative statistical analysis claimed that the odds were 600:1 in favor of the tomb being the burial site of Jesus' family, has clarified his opinion, saying that these odds relate to the chances that these particular names would be found in one tomb, and not to the particular identification of individuals in the tomb.
Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner, who was among the first to examine the tomb when it was first discovered, said the names marked on the coffins were very common at the time.
"I don't accept the news that it was used by Jesus or his family", he told the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
News website.
"The documentary filmmakers are using it to sell their film."
Following a symposium at Princeton in January 2008 the media interest in the Talpiot tomb was reignited with most notably Time and CNN devoting extensive coverage, hailing the case as being re-opened.
Following the media's portrayal scholars present at the symposium accused Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron for misleading the media in claiming the symposium re-opened their theory as viable. Several scholars, including significantly several of the archaeologists and epigraphers, who had delivered papers at the symposium issued an open letter of complaint claiming misrepresentation, saying that Jacobovici and Cameron's claims of support from the symposium are "nothing further from the truth".
The list of scholars included:
- Professor Jodi MagnessJodi MagnessJodi Magness is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She previously taught at Tufts University. She received her B.A. in Archaeology and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , and her Ph.D. in...
, University of North CarolinaUniversity of North CarolinaChartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
at Chapel Hill - Professor Eric M. Meyers, Duke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
- Choon-Leon Seow, Princeton Theological SeminaryPrinceton Theological SeminaryPrinceton Theological Seminary is a theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey in the United States...
- F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Princeton Theological Seminary
- Lee McDonald, Princeton Theological Seminary, visiting
- Rachel Hachlili, University of HaifaUniversity of HaifaThe University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
- Motti Aviam, University of RochesterUniversity of RochesterThe University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
- Amos KlonerAmos KlonerAmos Kloner is an archaeologist and professor emeritusin the Martin Szusz Department of the Land of Israel Studies at the Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, where he teaches Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine archaeology....
, Bar Ilan University - Christopher Rollston, Emmanuel School of ReligionEmmanuel School of ReligionEmmanuel Christian Seminary is a graduate theological seminary near Johnson City, Tennessee. It was founded in 1965 by church leaders and scholars within the Christian Church and Churches of Christ and the Christian Church who recognized a need for a seminary deeply rooted in the heritage of the...
- Shimon GibsonShimon GibsonShimon Gibson leads the team that found the 10-line ritual cup at Mount Zion.Gibson is the editor of The Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible....
, University of North Carolina at Charlotte - Joe Zias, Science and Antiquity Group, Jerusalem
- Jonathan PriceJonathan PriceJonathan Price is an American composer who is best known for his musical Lao Jiu and for the film scores to Cyber Wars and Rustin.- Musicals :*Escape From Eldorado , Bar Harbor, The Unusual Cabaret...
, Tel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:... - C.D. Elledge, Gustavus Adolphus CollegeGustavus Adolphus CollegeGustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly...
External links
- Official Site for the "Lost Tomb of Jesus"
- Discovery Channel article
- A paleographer discusses what can and cannot be said about the names on the Jesus Family Tomb ossuaries
- A critical review
- Special Report: Has James Cameron Found Jesus's Tomb or Is It Just a Statistical Error?, Scientific AmericanScientific AmericanScientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
- Jesus Family Tomb: The Window Dressing of Science