Geochemical tests on a burial box found in a tomb in 1980 have renewed questions about whether Jesus Christ was buried there. If he was buried there, in a family grave, there was no resurrection,
The ossuaries have names like “Jesus son of Joseph”, “James son of Joseph brother of Jesus” and “Mary”, which is so conveniently consistent with the New Testament it could be a George Lucas film plot.
Dr. Aryeh Shimron, a plaster expert, says he has made a geochemical match between samples collected from the interiors of the Talpiot Tomb ossuaries and of the James ossuary. There are inconsistencies. The collector who bought the ossuary did so in 1976, whereas the Talpiot Tomb was discovered in 1980.
Nonetheless, look for Discovery Channel to keep running their 2007 documentary “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” well into this week to take advantage of the renewed controversy.
Findings Reignite Debate on Claim of Jesus’ Bones By Isabel Kershner, New York Times. Image: A 1st century AD stone ossuary (bone box) found in a burial tomb in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot. (Getty Images)
