SILVER SPRING, Md., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- New scientific evidence,
including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular
genetics laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a
2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of
Nazareth and his family. The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary
Magdalene might have produced a son named Judah.
The DNA findings, alongside statistical conclusions made about the
artifacts -- originally excavated in 1980 -- open a potentially significant
chapter in Biblical archaeological history.
A documentary presenting the evidence, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," will
premiere on the Discovery Channel on March 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The
documentary comes from executive producer James Cameron and director Simcha Jacobovici.

http:thejesusfamilytomb.com

The Talpiot Tomb
On March 28, 1980, a construction crew developing an apartment complex
in Talpiot, Jerusalem, uncovered a tomb, which archaeologists from the
Israeli Antiquities Authority excavated shortly thereafter. Archaeologist
Shimon Gibson surveyed the site and drew a layout plan. Scholar L.Y.
Rahmani later published "A Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries" that described 10
ossuaries, or limestone bone boxes, found in the tomb.
Scholars know that from 30 B.C. to 70 A.D., many people in Jerusalem
would first wrap bodies in shrouds after death. The bodies were then placed
in carved rock tombs, where they decomposed for a year before the bones
were placed in an ossuary.

Five of the 10 discovered boxes in the Talpiot tomb were inscribed with
names believed to be associated with key figures in the New Testament:
Jesus, Mary, Matthew, Joseph and Mary Magdalene. A sixth inscription,
written in Aramaic, translates to "Judah Son of Jesus."
"Such tombs are very typical for that region," Aaron Brody, associate
professor of Bible and archaeology at the Pacific School of Religion and
director of California's Bade Museum told Discovery News.
Ossuary Inscriptions

At least four leading epigraphers have corroborated the ossuary
inscriptions for the documentary, according to the Discovery Channel.
Frank Moore Cross, a professor emeritus in the Department of Near
Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, told Discovery
News, "The inscriptions are from the Herodian Period (which occurred from
around 1 B.C. to 1 A.D.). The use of limestone ossuaries and the varied
script styles are characteristic of that time."

Jodi Magness, associate department chair of religious studies at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Discovery News that,
based on the New Testament writings, "Jesus likely lived during the first
century A.D."

In addition to the "Judah son of Jesus" inscription, which is written
in Aramaic on one of the ossuaries, another limestone burial box is labeled
in Aramaic with "Jesus Son of Joseph." Another bears the Hebrew inscription
"Maria," a Latin version of "Miriam," or, in English, "Mary." Yet another
ossuary inscription, written in Hebrew, reads "Matia," the original Hebrew
word for "Matthew." Only one of the inscriptions is written in Greek. It
reads, "Mariamene e Mara," which can be translated as, "Mary known as the
master."

Francois Bovon, professor of the history of religion at Harvard
University, told Discovery News, "Mariamene, or Mariamne, probably was the
actual name given to Mary Magdalene."  Bovon explained that he and a colleague discovered a fourteenth century copy in Greek of a fourth century text that contains the most complete version of the "Acts of Philip" ever found. Although not included in the Bible, the "Acts of Philip" mentions the apostles and Mariamne, sister of the apostle Philip.
"When Philip is weak, she is strong," Bovon said. "She likely was a
great teacher who even inspired her own sect of followers, called
Mariamnists, who existed from around the 2nd to the 3rd century."
DNA Analysis

Jacobovici, director, producer and writer of "The Lost Tomb of Jesus,"
and his team obtained two sets of samples from the ossuaries for DNA and
chemical analysis. The first set consisted of bits of matter taken from the
"Jesus Son of Joseph" and "Mariamene e Mara" ossuaries. The second set
consisted of patina -- a chemical film encrustation on one of the limestone
boxes.

The human remains were analyzed by Carney Matheson, a scientist at the
Paleo-DNA Laboratory at Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada.
Mitochondrial DNA examination determined the individual in the Jesus
ossuary and the person in the ossuary linked to Mary Magdalene were not
related.

Since tombs normally contain either blood relations or spouses,
Jacobovici and his team suggest it is possible Jesus and Mary Magdalene
were a couple. "Judah," whom they indicate may have been their son, could
have been the "lad" described in the Gospel of John as sleeping in Jesus'
lap at the Last Supper.

Robert Genna, director of the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory in New
York, analyzed both the patina taken from the Talpiot Tomb and chemical
residue obtained from the "James" ossuary, which was also found around
1980, but subsequently disappeared and resurfaced in the antiquities
market. Although controversy surrounds this burial box, Genna found that
the two patinas matched.
"The samples were consistent with each other," Genna told Discovery
News.

Upon examining the tomb, the filmmakers determined a space exists that
would have fit the "James" ossuary. Given the patina match and this
observation, Jacobovici theorizes the lost burial box could, in fact, be
the "James" ossuary.

http:thejesusfamilytomb.com

Statistical Data
A possible argument against the Talpiot Tomb being the Jesus Family
Tomb is that the collection of names on the ossuary inscriptions could be
coincidental.
But Andrey Feuerverger, professor of statistics and mathematics at the
University of Toronto, recently conducted a study addressing the
probabilities that will soon be published in a leading statistical journal.
Feuerverger multiplied the instances that each name appeared during the
tomb's time period with the instances of every other name. He initially
found "Jesus Son of Joseph" appeared once out of 190 times, Mariamne
appeared once out of 160 times and so on.

To be conservative, he next divided the resulting numbers by 25
percent, a statistical standard, and further divided the results by 1,000
to attempt to account for all tombs -- even those that have not been
uncovered -- that could have existed in first century Jerusalem.
The study concludes that the odds are at least 600 to 1 in favor of the
Talpiot Tomb being the Jesus Family Tomb. In other words, the conclusion
works 599 times out of 600.

Another Tomb?
The researchers discovered a second, as-yet unexplored tomb about 65
1/2 feet from the Talpiot Tomb. During the documentary, they introduced a
robotic camera into this second tomb, which captured the first-ever
recorded footage of an undisturbed burial cave from Jesus' time. The team
speculates that this other tomb could contain the remains of additional
family members, or even disciples, though further examination and analysis
are needed.

In the meantime, Discovery has set up a special Web site,
http://www.discovery.com/tomb, to provide related in-depth information and
to allow viewers to come to their own conclusions about the entire matter.
As Academy Award-winner Cameron said in a press release, "It doesn't
get bigger than this. We've done our homework; we've made the case; and now
it's time for the debate to begin."

For the complete release, go to:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/25/tomb_arc.html?category=
archaeology&guid=20070225073000

This incident has actually inspired a movie!  To check it out, go to:

http:thejesusfamilytomb.com

Thanks for the fiction there Brian. oh by the way HAPPY EASTER! my Friend.

I like your comment Thomas...fiction. there is a tomb for JESUS................. it's empty for HE IS RISEN.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JEFF

Hi Thomas!  :-)

Thanks for stopping by my good friend! 

Ya know.....I had actually seen the video of this supposed "discovery" awhile ago.  Intriguing to say the least.  If you really go over the particulars of this.....it opens a whole new realm of possibilities.  I wish I could have found the video I had originally seen to share with everyone.  It is a lot more revealing & explanatory than this article.

It just makes one wonder......NOT DOUBT ---> if what we have been taught is really 100% correct.  We are lied to everyday by our own government.  The facts are twisted every single day.  They tell us what they want us to hear.....knowing that most people will just accept what is being told.  We live in the greatest country in the world.....but it does not operate the way everyone thinks it does. (thats a whole other subject)

The religious leaders of the past had tremendous influential power........The Bible is very clear about that.  Without pointing fingers in any direction......one does have to wonder if the facts have been tainted at all.  The Bible instructs us to test the spirits.......

I intend on fully doing that. 


"The most expensive thing anyone can ever have.......is a closed mind."

Good posts Thomas and Jeff...

Brian.. are you still wondering why I called you a "New Ager"? Because you are promoting the "Secret" and  so called "Law of attraction"

Now what you are doing, is spreading "fiction" and trying to throw doubt about the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is what "New Agers" do! You can't harm those of us that are grounded in the gospel, it's the new Christian that can be harmed!

A closed mind may be expensive, but a mind filled with garbage is worse!