Still More on the Jesus Tomb

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When this stops being a topic of interest, I'll stop writing about it. However, until that time, I will (at minimum) be referencing you to articles that I find interesting that come across my e-mail. Today, there are two. The first comes from Michael Heiser,

Dear Professors and other Bloggers

I’d like to report something of potentially great interest with respect to assessing the Jesus tomb theory offered by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino (and, by extension, James Tabor).

Many scholars have demonstrated the glaring weaknesses of this theory with respect to the inscriptions, the names themselves, the shaky logic, etc. And despite the clear, coherent response to the statistical framework and analysis offered by my friend Randy Ingermanson, the public continues to be bludgeoned with the “improbability” of it all. Well, it appears that having the names of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Matthew, and Martha (“Mara”) on ossuaries at one location isn’t as improbable as Jacobovici, Pellegrino, and Tabor would have the world believe.

I want to draw your attention—and the attention of scholars and interested parties who read your blog—to a SECOND site that has all those names. In 1953-1955, Bellarmino Bagatti excavated the site of Dominus Flevit ("The Lord wept") on the Mount of Olives. The excavation uncovered a necropolis and over 40 inscribed ossuaries – including the names of Mary, Martha, Matthew, Joseph, Jesus. These ossuaries are not, as far as I can tell, in Rahmani’s catalogue. I’m guessing the reason is that they are not the property of the Israel Antiquities Authority (see Rahmani’s Preface). The necropolis was apparently used ca. 136 BC to 300 AD. Here is a link that discusses the site. A few scanned pages of Bagatti’s excavation report (written in Italian) can be found here as well.

I’ll be tracking down this report (and perhaps buying an Italian dictionary). I found this information last night (actually 2:00am) while working on my portion of a lengthy response to the Jesus tomb theory (to be co-authored with Randy Ingermanson). I didn’t want to wait until that was done to alert scholars to this so we can collectively look at this data. It appears that the statistical odds touted in such assured terms have taken a sound beating – fifty years ago.

There’s one more really intriguing thing about the Dominus Flevit site. It is referenced by Jacobovici with respect to his argument about the cross symbol’s antiquity, and Bagatti’s book is in his bibliography. And yet he and Charlie Pellegrino somehow overlooked the fact that ossuaries were found at that site with all the names accounted for. One can only guess whether the omission was due to careless scholarship or an effort to deceive the public.

Mike Heiser, PhD
Academic Editor, Logos Bible Software

Also, of interest for later today:

Power up your computers for a special Converse with Scholars program on Wednesday, March 14th at 8 PM EST!

Our first half hour will feature a special presentation on the Talpiot tomb by author and speaker Robert M. Bowman, Jr.

The following hour will feature a panel discussion between Robert M. Bowman, Jr., Michael R. Licona, and Daniel B. Wallace. The panel will share its insights and answer your questions about the latest media craze surrounding Jesus!

Main Presenter
8-8:30 PM EST

Robert M. Bowman, Jr., is the award-winning author of a dozen books and over two dozen published articles. Rob is Manager of Apologetics & Interfaith Evangelism at the North American Mission Board and is currently writing a book (to be published by Kregel later this year) on the Talpiot tomb.

Panelists
8:30-9:30 PM EST

Michael R. Licona, a New Testament historian specializing in evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, is Director of Apologetics & Interfaith Evangelism at the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mike is the author of four books, the most recent being Paul Meets Muhammad: A Christian-Muslim Debate on the Resurrection (Baker, 2006).

Daniel B. Wallace is Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, and senior New Testament editor of the NET Bible. His numerous publications include Reinventing Jesus (Kregel, 2006) and Dethroning Jesus (Nelson, forthcoming).

Join the discussion Wednesday, March 14th at 8 PM EST.

Comments

Jason Pratt said…
Oh yeah!!? Well... well... well.. ... I bet the _other_ Jesus ossuary doesn't say 'son of Joseph'! Hah! Take _that_!

{g} (It's really the only established point Jacobovici et al have to work with, so I expect this will be their reply at minimum. This is still pretty funny, though! I'd be willing to bet a Coke there was a novel written about the Church 'covering this up' sometime between then and now, too.)

JRP
3/15/2007 06:27:00 AM
slaveofone said…
I ran across this same note about Dominus Flevit just last night... However, the note is neither here nor there... Let's see the evidence!
3/15/2007 08:30:00 AM
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