After running 150 chemical tests, an
expert claims to have linked the James Ossuary (pictured) – a
1st-century chalk box that was used for containing the bones of the dead
– to the long disputed ‘Jesus Family tomb’ in the city’s East Talpiot
neighbourhood
An Israeli
geologist claims he has ‘confirmed’ the existence and authenticity of a
tomb belonging to Jesus and his son in Jerusalem.
After
extensive chemical tests, Dr Arye Shimron says he has linked the James
Ossuary – a 1st-century chalk box that some believe hold the bones of
Jesus' brother – to the long disputed ‘Jesus Family tomb’ in the city’s
East Talpiot neighbourhood.
The
research could have enormous ramifications as it suggests that Jesus
was married, fathered a child and that a physical resurrection did not
take place.
.According
to geoarcheologist Dr Shimron, the 'son of God' was buried with nine
other people, including ‘Judah, son of Jesus’ and his wife, named Mary.
Dr
Shimron’s work has renewed controversy over the Talpiot tomb, which was
discovered in 1980 and dates back to the Second Temple period and the
time of Jesus,The Jerusalem Post reported.
Bones were discovered inside ossuaries, including one that bore the inscription, ‘Jesus, son of Joseph'.
Others included the names Maria, Joseph, Mary, Yose, Matthew and most controversially, ‘Judah, son of Jesus’.
Joseph,
Mary and Jesus were all common names at the time and a statistician
from the University of Toronto said that they each made up eight per
cent of the population.
However, a very small percentage would have had the same family name combination as described in the Bible.
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Dr Shimron’s work has renewed the
controversy over the Talpiot tomb, which was found in 1980 and dates
back to the Second Temple period and the time of Jesus (a portrait is
pictured)
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The long-disputed long disputed ‘Jesus
Family tomb’ in the city’s East Talpiot neighbourhood (marked) and is
now sealed beneath a concrete slab after building work took place some
years ago
Probing
this connection, Dr Shimron and documentary maker Simcha Jacobovici
looked closer at the ossuaries, including the James Ossuary, which is
held by a private owner and bears the inscription, ‘James, son of
Joseph, brother of Jesus’.
WHAT IS THE JAMES OSSUARY?
The James Ossuary is a first century chalk example of a box that was used to hold the bones of the dead.
But it stands out because it bears the inscription 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus' on one side.
The inscription is considered significant because it may provide archaeological evidence of Jesus,
The existence of the ossuary was announced in 2002, but its authenticity was immediately challenged.
The
box's owner was charged with forging part of the inscription and while
he was found innocent seven years later, the judge said the acquittal
'does not mean that the inscription on the ossuary is authentic or that
it was written 2,000 years ago'.
Now,
Dr Shimron claims the chemical signature on the ‘crust’ of the box
matches that of a tomb in Jerusalem known as the ‘Jesus Family tomb’
where other ossuaries were found bearing the names of Jesus and Mary as
well as ‘Judah, son of Jesus’.
The
owner of the ossuary, Oded Golan, was accused of forging the
inscription shortly after its discovery by an academic from the Sorbonne
in Paris, but he was later found innocent.
Other experts and archaeologists have rejected the claim that the Jerusalem tomb is connected with Jesus at all.
Recently
Dr Shimron gained access to the James Ossuary and scraped beneath the
box's patina, the layer that forms on metal over time.
He
ran around 150 tests on the chemistry of samples from 25 different
ossuaries – 15 of which were from unrelated tombs – and found that
traces of magnesium, iron and silicon from the James Ossuary matched the
chemical signature of Talpiot tomb.
The
Talpiot ossuaries were covered in a thick layer of ‘Rendzina’ soil,
which is characteristic of the hills of East Jerusalem when they were
found and has a unique chemistry.
Dr
Shimron worked from the assumption that an earthquake of 363AD flooded
the tomb with soil and mud to cover the ossuaries, effectively forming a
vacuum and freezing them in time.
Soil
that seeped into the box matched that found in the Talpiot ossuaries,
indicating that it had lain for years alongside others in the ‘holy’
location.
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Bones were discovered there in
ossuaries, or chalk boxes, including one that bears the inscription,
‘Jesus, son of Joseph with others bearing the names of Maria, Joseph,
Mary, Yose, Matthew and most controversially, ‘Judah, son of Jesus’.
Here an inscription that says 'Yoseph' on an ossuary
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Because bones were found in the
ossuaries, it could be argued that there was no bodily resurrection
(portrayed in this tapestry) which is the belief of more traditional
Christians, while others accept the event was spiritual
JESUS IS A MYTH AND WAS PROBABLY MANY PEOPLE, WRITER CLAIMS
Jesus
Christ was not a real person and is probably the result of a
combination of stories about several different individuals, according to
a writer and leading atheist activist.
David Fitzgerald, a San Francisco based author, believes he has compiled compelling evidence that proves Jesus did not exist.
He
claims there are no contemporary mentions of Jesus in historical
accounts from the time when he was supposed to have lived, yet other
Jewish sect leaders from the time do appear.
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Jesus Christ was not a real person and
is probably the result of a combination of stories about several
different individuals, according to a writer and leading atheist
activist. A mosaic of Christ is shown
He
also points to discrepancies in the early gospels of Mark, Matthew and
Luke, claiming these were written decades after the supposed time of
Jesus.
Instead
he insists the disciples of Jesus were also probably not real and their
names only later attached to the gospels to lend them credence.
Speaking
to MailOnline, he said: 'There is a paradox that Jesus did all these
amazing things and taught all these amazing things yet no one heard of
him outside his immediate cult for nearly 100 years.
'Or it means he didn't do all these things at all.
'The
first gospel of Christianity appears to have been a literary allegory
that were written decades after the time they portray.
'I
believe that Christianity started as one of the many mystery faiths
that appeared at the time where old Gods and old traditions were
rebooted.
'Christianity appears to have been a Jewish mystery faith.
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David Fitzgerald told MailOnline:
'There is a paradox that Jesus did all these amazing things and taught
all these amazing things yet no one heard of him outside his immediate
cult for nearly 100 years'. The famous statue of Christ the Redeemer in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is shown
'By
the time of Paul there appears to have been plenty of different "Lord's
suppers" as he complains about the existence of other gospels and
messiahs.
'It
appears that early Christianity managed to take the stories from these
other faiths and incorporate them into the story of Jesus.'
Mr
Fitzgerald said: 'There is nothing implausible to think that Jesus was a
real person, but I just don't think that he can have been a single
person if he existed at all.
'We
also have no mention of Jesus in other historical texts from the time.
There were certainly people writing about Judea at the time like Philo
of Alexandria.
'During
this period there were many other messiahs and wannabe messiahs who did
far less exciting things than Jesus, but all of them managed something
Jesus did not - to make a dent on the historical record.
'Two billion people believe all these miracles happened yet there is no evidence they did.'
Jacobovici
told The Jerusalem Post: ‘This find illustrates that the James Ossuary
is authentic and the Jesus Family tomb indeed belongs to the family of
Jesus of Nazareth.’
Dr Shumron told The New York Times:
‘I think I’ve got really powerful, virtually unequivocal evidence that
the James ossuary spent most of its lifetime, or death time, in the
Talpiot Tomb.’
The retired senior researchers of the Geological Survey of Israel, added: ‘ The evidence is beyond what I expected.’
The duo are aware that the findings could rock the Christian church, but insist the research is scientific and not theological.
Because
bones were found in the ossuaries, it could be argued that there was no
bodily resurrection, which is the belief of more traditional
Christians, while others accept the event was spiritual.
The
Talpiot tomb is now sealed under a concrete slab, while the ossuaries
found there are in the hands of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The James Ossuary is kept in a secret location by its owner, who lives in Tel Aviv.