Talpiot Tomb
The Talpiot grave (also: Talpiyot - grave ) is a rock grave in East Jerusalem, five kilometers south of the old town. It was discovered in 1980 during construction work near the eastern Talpiot. It contained ten bone boxes ( ossuaries ), of which six inscriptions contributed; one of which was deciphered as " Jesus, son of Joseph ", this reading is controversial.
Worldwide attention was attracted to the Fund after the filmmaker James Cameron and the journalist Simcha Jacobovici 2007 film revolved, who set up the thesis that the grave belonged to the family of Jesus and in the bone box with the inscription Yeshua bar Jehosef were the bones of Jesus was buried. This would make the biblical accounts of Jesus' resurrection from the dead and his ascension according to the traditional view into question. In addition, the report on biological siblings of Jesus, the doctrine of some Christian churches about the everlasting virginity of Mary in question.
Most archaeologists and historians consider the identification of the Talpiot tomb with the grave of Jesus' family unfounded or unreasonable.
- 4.1 The Princeton Symposium 2008
- 4.2 The Jesus grave ( film) and The family grave of Jesus (Book)
Discovery, excavation, sealing
The grave was accidentally discovered on 28 March 1980 from construction workers in preparation for laying the foundations for a residential complex, as the demolition work freely gave to the entrance of the tomb. The next day, Amos Kloner visited as a field supervisor of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums (IDAM, now Israel Antiquities Authority, IAA) to the site. Kloner created a series of preliminary sketches and asked permission for an excavation to salvage and protect the finds, which should be headed by Yosef Gat. The permit was issued on Monday 31 March, but the work was actually recorded the day before. Although it has been said, the team had only three days was granted to complete the work, to show Gats notes that the work " intermittently " lasted until its official end on April 11, where most of the work carried out in the first two days been.
The construction of the houses was completed in 1982. The children of Tova Bracha, a local resident, managed to get into the grave and to play there. Bracha notified the authorities that it sealed the entrance for security reasons. The kids found some discarded religious texts that had been placed in the grave, which was used as a Geniza.
Jacobovici and his film team opened the grave again in 2005. The footage was incorporated into the documentary The Jesus grave (2007). Since Jacobovici and his crew had failed to obtain approval of the competent authority of Antiquities, ordered an official to the resealing of the grave.
Dating and mapping
The archaeological team that uncovered the tomb, they dated to the Second Temple period (ca. 515 BC - 70 AD). In view of the excavation site is to be assumed for a grave of this kind that it had belonged to a wealthy Jewish family. In the same area about 900 similar tombs were uncovered.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA ) announced in 2003 that the inscriptions were carved on the bone boxes at a much later date and artificially coated with a patina.
The grave system
The non-public grave is located in a courtyard in the Dov Gruner Street, beneath a staircase in the corner of the streets and Avshalom Haviv olei Hagardom.
It has been carved out of solid limestone rock. Inside are six grave chambers or grave spaces and two arcosoliums or arched niche spaces in which a body could be laid for burial. The grave barg various human remains and several reliefs. The ossuaries were found in the grave chambers.
The ossuaries and the engraved names
Ten ossuaries were found in limestone, of which six epigraphs ( inscriptions ) contributed, but only four of them were accepted in place as such. The archaeological team held the bone boxes of little worth and they presented the Rockefeller Museum for analysis and storage.
According to Jacobovici, James Cameron and Tabor later disappeared one of the ossuaries which bore no inscription, as it was stored in a courtyard outside the museum. This claim was contradicted both by Joe Zias, former curator of the museum, as well as cloners. The names that should have been on the ossuaries were:
In Aramaic Joseh (Joseph ) Marjah ( Maria) Matjah (Matthew) Yeshua bar Jehosef ( Jesus son of Joseph ) Yehuda bar Yeshua ( Judah, son of Jesus)
And in Greek Mariamenou Mara
All ten bone boxes containing human remains that in an "advanced state of decay " were, according to Amos Kloner. The grave was possibly " cross-generational ", ie contained several generations of bones in each ossuary, but no report is received over the content. It was apparently made no investigation into how many individuals were represented by the bones found. In addition, under a 50 -centimeter-thick filling layer on the floor of the tomb three skulls were found. More smashed bones were heaped up in the material at the arcosolia. The fact that the bones were scattered beneath the embankment, indicates a disturbance of the grave tranquility in the ancient world. All bones were handed over to the funeral religious authorities.
Symbols
On some walls are rock carvings, including several angle symbols [? ]. An angle with circle can be seen over the grave entrance. Some believe it was a representation or simulation of the Nicanor Gate of the Temple, as it is also found on coins from this period. Just as the Nicanor Gate marks the end of a pilgrimage, the grave input may have marked the end of life's journey. Some have pointed out that angle and circle as the Greek letter lambda (L ) and omicron (O) look, while others argued that the ancient Hebrew letter Ayin Daleth and constitute probable references.
Publication and media manipulation
The Talpiot Fund was first published in 1994 in the " catalog of Jewish ossuaries in the collections of the State of Israel " (No. 701-709 ). In March / April 1996, he was discussed in the British media. A little later (Vol. 29, 1996), the official publication of the Israel Antiquities Authority, an article was published in the journal Atiqot, who described the excavations. The BBC shone in 1996 as first a documentary about the Talpiot grave of this as part of their news magazine " Heart of the Matter ". At that time, said Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist who examined the find that the allegations that there was a connection to Jesus, archaeologically not withstand, and he added: ". They hope to make only money " Others were similarly skeptical while a other archaeologist who discovered the grave conceded: "I am willing, the opportunity to consider. "
Although the Israeli authorities reiterated for antiques in 2003, the inscriptions were carved much later, and was subsequently covered with a patina, 2007 was a documentary by filmmaker James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici of investigative journalists with the title
On 17 January 2008 claimed Ruth Gat, the by archaeologist Yosef Gat, who had discovered the grave widow, he had the discovery until the mid-90s kept secret, because otherwise he feared a wave of anti-Semitism.
The Princeton Symposium 2008
After the symposium in Jerusalem in January 2008, the media's interest in the Talpiot grave was rekindled. Time Magazine and CNN dedicated to him extensive coverage, but they pointed out the case for re-opened. Especially Simcha Jacobovici, was reported to have expressed to the press, the symposium had re-opened the case and he felt " completely confirmed ". Jacobovici denied he had made any such statements. During this symposium Ruth Gat announced at the posthumous award for her late husband Yosef: " My husband, the chief archaeologist of the tomb in the eastern Talpiot in Südjerusalem was convinced that the grave that he had dug up in 1980, actually the grave of Jesus of Nazareth and his family was. "
Following the presentation of media scholars who had participated in the symposium, Jacobovici and Cameron accused of leading the media astray. To say that the symposium had their theory as a viable or realistic ( " viable " ) considers, is completely absurd. Several scientists, including archaeologists and epigraphists all who had contributed to the symposium papers, wrote an open letter of complaint. They complained about the media misrepresentation. They pointed Jacobovicis and Cameron's back, claims that the symposium had supported their hypotheses: Nothing could be further from the truth.
Joe Zias, Senior Curator of Archaeology / Anthropology for the IAA from 1972-1997, quoting a leaked memorandum by James Tabor from the period prior to the symposium as evidence of an " external intervention by Simcha and Tabor to the agenda [ the symposium ] distorting and so to bring the deliberations so lopsided that it would be beneficial to their preconceived plan. " Geza Vermes issued an opinion which stated that the arguments for the Talpiot grave not only " simply not convincing but meaningless " and that " apart from a handful, led by James Tabor and Simcha Jacobovici people ... most of the approximately 50 participants were of this opinion. "
The Princeton Theological Seminary published following the controversy a letter in which it repeated fears
" That the press in the aftermath of the symposium almost the exact opposite impression aroused ( to the results of the symposium ) by noted that the conference deliberations of the identification of the Talpiot tomb were awarded with an alleged family grave of Jesus of Nazareth credibility. So it crystal clear from the comments here that have been made since the symposium, goes in the opposite direction, such representations are patently false and twist to unabashed way the mind and the scientific content of the statements. "
The proceedings of the symposium will be edited and published by James Charlesworth. The issue of the scientific journal Near Eastern Archaeology (Vol. 69, Iss. 3/4, Sept- Dec 2006 ), which is published by the ' " American School of Orientalist research," contains several articles on the Talpiot grave as well as an overview of the confrontation.
The Jesus grave ( film) and The family grave of Jesus (Book)
The film The Jesus grave was first broadcast on 4 March 2007 on the Discovery Channel, timed to coincide with the release of Jacobovics book " The family grave of Jesus " (English: The Jesus Family Tomb ). On Good Friday 2007, the controversial film was shown at the German private channel Pro Sieben.
Jacobovici claimed that the bones of Jesus, Mary and Mary Magdalene with those of some of their relatives, were once buried in the cave together. In support of his thesis he worked with statisticians (see the next section), archaeologists, historians, DNA experts, robot - camera technicians, epigraphers and a coroner together. This claim is rejected by most archaeological working biblical scholars.
The Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner, who was among the first after the discovery of the tomb, which it examined, described the names on the coffins were very common at that time. The BBC over he gave to understand that one could not refer to Jesus and his family the names simple. " The makers of the documentary use it to sell their film. "
Probability calculations to the engraved names
Was regarded as a central issue the probability that a grave contains as the present, the specific group of names. Experts such as Richard Bauckham, David Amos Kloner Mavorah and have confirmed the frequent occurrence of the name " Jesus " as the inscription. Paul Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University, notes that at least 21 " Yeshua " or " Jesuses " were famous enough to enter into the histories of Josephus. The filmmakers turn create a statistical study, made by Andrey Feuerverger, professor of statistics and mathematics at the University of Toronto, who came to the conclusion that the names were not uncommon, but that - a conservative estimate - the likelihood of such names together in to find any single grave, ( dependent variables ) between 600 to 1 and a million to 1 in favor of lies that they were genuine.
However Feuerverger later said: "It is not within the scope of the statistics to conclude whether this tomb was that of [ Jesus ] Family of the New Testament or not. Any conclusion of this kind takes a lot of justified in the area of historical bible scholars who are much better able to assess the assumptions that should be included in the calculations " Feuervergers assessment was based on several assumptions. :
- That Mary, who is mentioned on an ossuary, the Mother of that Jesus, whose name is on a different
- That Mariamne is his wife
- That Joseph ( inscribed with the nickname Joseh ) is his brother
Support for these assumptions it follows, according to the film, by the following assertions:
- Mariamne is the Greek form of Marjah and according to François Bovon the name of Mary Magdalene in the Philip file ( Acta Philippi )
- Mary Magdalene has Greek spoken and preached in Greek
- " Joseh " was the nickname that was used for the little brother of Jesus
- The Talpiot grave is the only place where ossuaries were ever with the names Mariamne and Joseh found, although the short forms of the name were very popular and thousands of ossuaries have been unearthed.
On February 25, 2007 Feuerverger presented a statistical calculation for the group name as part of the movie The Lost Tomb of Jesus. He gave as a conclusion to a probability of at least 600 to 1, that the name combination in the grave by accident comes about. The procedure of this study is documented in a journal, a summary of which is available as well as other documentaries pages on the website of the Discovery Channel.
A more accurate representation of the random access is also available on Feuervergers website. See the interview with Scientific American. The frequency of the predominant name used during the period were completed in the bone burials, it was concluded from the study of two key sources:
- Rahmanis catalog of Jewish ossuaries in the collections of the State of Israel
- Tal Ilan's Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity
According Feuerverger there is the goal of the statistical analysis in the determination of the degree of probability of a null hypothesis:
"As a ' null hypothesis ' can here be thought of the claim that this collection of names arose purely by chance under indiscriminate samples from the Onomastikon. The alternative hypothesis is the opposite of in some way. It is not in the field of statistics, to draw conclusions about whether this tomb was that of [ Jesus ] Family of the New Testament or not. "
Feuerverger multiplied the probability that each name appeared during the period of the grave, with the probability of each individual case different name. First, he found that " Jesus, son of Joseph " appearing in one of 190 times, Mariamne in one of 160 painting etc.:
In the next step, he shared 2.432 million by 4 to demonstrate the preference in historical records and divided the result ( 608.000 ) by 1000 in order to provide evidence of the number of explored tombs in Jerusalem of the first century.
Feuervergers conclusions have been questioned:
- Some argued that multiplying the probabilities of each name is wrong, because many variants of the same name are possible.
- The inclusion of Mariamne in the calculation based on two unproven assumptions: The Mary Magdalene of the New Testament had been the wife of Jesus. ( There is no historical clue. )
- Mary Magdalene's real name was Mariamne. ( This assumption is discussed seriously by some experts. )
- The calculation is only matched to the 1,000 found in Jerusalem tombs, rather than the entire Jewish population that lived in the area. This presupposes fact that Jesus' family really had a family grave and it was among the 1,000 found in the Jerusalem tombs. For this assumption there is no historical clue. Some professionals, among others, the excavation director Amos Kloner considers it possible that a poor family from Nazareth could have had a family grave in Jerusalem.
- The inscription " Judah son of Jesus " will be ignored in the calculation. Since there is no historical indication that Jesus had children, this inscription would have to be included in the calculation to [ correctly ] to reduce the probability that the grave of the Jesus family belonged.
Randy Ingermanson and Jay Cost presented to your own statistical analysis, in which it directed the attention to the probabilities on the basis of different assumptions. Depending on erkenntnisleitendem interest of various imaginary historian they came to probabilities between 1 to 18 and 1 to 5,000,000.
Stephen Pfann, president of Jerusalem's University of the Holy Land, says that Allgemeinüblichkeit these names put a much lower probability close.
Richard Bauckham and Bishop Wardlaw, both with chairs in St Andrews, put together the following data to show how widespread the name in question were:
From a total of 2625 men, these are the numbers of the ten most popular male names among Palestinian Jews. The first number denotes the total number of occurrences, the second quantifies the occurrence on ossuaries:
For a total of 328 occurrences of female names is obtained for the four most popular names following distribution:
Colin Aitken, a professor of forensic statistics at Edinburgh University, said that Feuervergers study based on a series of assumptions and that, " even if we accept the assumptions, the odds certainly are not in the ratio 600 to 1 in favor of the tomb of Jesus. "
Peter Lampe, professor of New Testament at the University of Heidelberg and active archaeologist, pointed out that in the 20er/30er years of the 1st century AD in the port city Maoza at the southern end of the Dead Sea, a Jewish household included the following names: Jesus, Simon, Mariame, James and Jude ( 17 Babatha papyri, dated to 128 AD, . 25-26 and 34 to 131 AD). These people had nothing to do with the New Testament or the Talpiot grave. " According to the logic of the filmmakers these people should not have existed. "