Panel Defends Discovery of Alleged Jesus Family Tomb
- By Jeremiah Gregier

A panel of experts, as well as producer and Oscar-winner James Cameron and Jewish archaeologist Simcha Jacobovici, met Monday at a press conference at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street to discuss the discovery of boxes that they allege carried the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family, including a possible son to Jesus named Judah.

While at the conference, the group presented evidence to support their claims and unveiled the ossuaries, boxes that they believe hold bones of Jesus and Mary Magdalene for the first time to the general public.

The full research has been documented in a new production called “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” which will be aired on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, Mar. 4.

The discussion brought up two key questions. First, is the evidence credible and can the remnants be conclusively from Jesus? And second, if the bones are indeed from the Christ, does this destroy Christian theology that says Jesus resurrected from the dead?

“My expertise is investigative journalism,” said Jacobovici. “What we do as journalists and filmmakers are connect dots and go to experts. Our job, like detectives, is to connect the dots and uncover the big picture.

“Every fact was checked, double checked, triple checked, quadruple checked.”

Critics of the investigations have noted the commonness of the names found in the tomb. A large portion of people during the first century had the names found inside the tomb. For instance, the name “Mary” was shared by 25 percent of all women back then.

The panel, however, pointed out the uniqueness of the names, such as “Yeshua bar Yosef” (Jesus, son of Joseph), which they say is not ordinary.

“There's never been a ‘Jesus, son of Joseph' ossuary found in a provenance,” explained James Tabor, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “Those claims (that there are others) are false.”

The panel also noted the name “Matia” (Matthew), who is thought to have been Jesus' brother because the name is frequent in Mary's lineage. They also believe “Yose” (Joseph) was another brother. “Yose,” the panel noted, is much like “Joey” in English.

Many have said that these names happen to be simply coincidence, but Cameron said what set the investigation in motion was the name inscribed upon the second Mary's ossuary. On the side, it reads “Mariamene e Mara.”

“Mariamene is the name of Mary Magdalene,” said the Titanic director.

Statistically, it appears that these names, although common back then, would have small probability when looked at all together.

“Based upon the assumptions I've made, I see numbers that should make you stop and pause,” described Andrey Feuerverger, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Toronto.

Still, theologians have pointed out that historical evidence itself makes the filmmakers' claims hard to believe. George Guthrie, the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., noted that bodies in first century Jerusalem were typically buried temporarily for a year and then their bones gathered and placed in the ossuary in the family tomb. These ossuaries were often marked with names, as in the Talpiot discovery.

“The filmmakers are therefore suggesting that the body of Jesus lay decaying in a family tomb in Jerusalem at the same time the early Jerusalem Church was expanding because of its belief in a resurrected Messiah,” Guthrie said in a statement released by Union following the Monday press conference. “Yet, we have no evidence from any ancient document, Christian or non-Christian, that points even to rumors that the body or bones of Jesus were there in Jerusalem.”

Guthrie added that both biblical and extra-biblical sources point to the brothers of Jesus, most notably James, as among the Christians of the first century.

“Yet, would James and the others not known of this family tomb and the body of Jesus there?” Guthrie asked. “As believers, his family members confess the resurrected Jesus. No opponent of Christianity points to the tomb. No followers of Jesus revere the tomb. There is no evidence – beyond the circumstantial evidence of exceedingly common names – that points to this as being the tomb of Jesus' family. The name associations are interesting, but the evidence does not bear the weight of the proposition.”