Respected Geologist Claims Discovery of “Jesus Family Tomb” With Jesus’ Son

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Jesus Family Tomb
Jesus Family Tomb

Geologist Claims “James Ossuary” Box Is Jesus Family Tomb

Did Jesus exist?  If he did, did he die on the cross as millions across the world believe, or did he marry and have a family?  These are questions that respected geoarcheologist Dr Shimronm is claiming to have answered, according to an article in The Daily Mail (link).  Dr. Shimronm, an Israeli, is making claims linking “the James Ossuary – a 1st-century chalk box that some believe hold the bones of Jesus’ brother – to the long disputed ‘Jesus Family tomb’ in the city’s East Talpiot neighborhood.

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But the even bigger claim being made by Dr. Shimronm is that Jesus not only had a brother, but also birthed a son.  According to the article, published this week, “An Israeli geologist claims he has ‘confirmed’ the existence and authenticity of a tomb belonging to Jesus and his son in Jerusalem.

After extensive chemical tests, Dr Arye Shimron says he has linked the James Ossuary – a 1st-century chalk box that some believe hold the bones of Jesus’ brother – to the long disputed ‘Jesus Family tomb’ in the city’s East Talpiot neighbourhood.
The research could have enormous ramifications as it suggests that Jesus was married, fathered a child and that a physical resurrection did not take place.

According to geoarcheologist Dr Shimron, the ‘son of God’ was buried with nine other people, including ‘Judah, son of Jesus’ and his wife, named Mary.”

Jesus Family Tomb

So, is this evidence of the famed mysterious Jesus Family Tomb of legend and lore that has traversed time?  The article goes on to say:

Dr Shimron’s work has renewed controversy over the Talpiot tomb, which was discovered in 1980 and dates back to the Second Temple period and the time of Jesus, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Bones were discovered inside ossuaries, including one that bore the inscription, ‘Jesus, son of Joseph’.

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Others included the names Maria, Joseph, Mary, Yose, Matthew and most controversially, ‘Judah, son of Jesus’.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus were all common names at the time and a statistician from the University of Toronto said that they each made up eight per cent of the population.

However, a very small percentage would have had the same family name combination as described in the Bible.

Probing this connection, Dr Shimron and documentary maker Simcha Jacobovici looked closer at the ossuaries, including the James Ossuary, which is held by a private owner and bears the inscription, ‘James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus’.

The owner of the ossuary, Oded Golan, was accused of forging the inscription shortly after its discovery by an academic from the Sorbonne in Paris, but he was later found innocent.

Other experts and archaeologists have rejected the claim that the Jerusalem tomb is connected with Jesus at all.

Recently Dr Shimron gained access to the James Ossuary and scraped beneath the box’s patina, the layer that forms on metal over time.

He ran around 150 tests on the chemistry of samples from 25 different ossuaries – 15 of which were from unrelated tombs – and found that traces of magnesium, iron and silicon from the James Ossuary matched the chemical signature of Talpiot tomb.

The Talpiot ossuaries were covered in a thick layer of ‘Rendzina’ soil, which is characteristic of the hills of East Jerusalem when they were found and has a unique chemistry.

Dr Shimron worked from the assumption that an earthquake of 363AD flooded the tomb with soil and mud to cover the ossuaries, effectively forming a vacuum and freezing them in time.

Soil that seeped into the box matched that found in the Talpiot ossuaries, indicating that it had lain for years alongside others in the ‘holy’ location.

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Jacobovici told The Jerusalem Post: ‘This find illustrates that the James Ossuary is authentic and the Jesus Family tomb indeed belongs to the family of Jesus of Nazareth.’

Dr Shumron told The New York Times: ‘I think I’ve got really powerful, virtually unequivocal evidence that the James ossuary spent most of its lifetime, or death time, in the Talpiot Tomb.’

The retired senior researchers of the Geological Survey of Israel, added: ‘ The evidence is beyond what I expected.’

The duo are aware that the findings could rock the Christian church, but insist the research is scientific and not theological.

Because bones were found in the ossuaries, it could be argued that there was no bodily resurrection, which is the belief of more traditional Christians, while others accept the event was spiritual.

The Talpiot tomb is now sealed under a concrete slab, while the ossuaries found there are in the hands of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The James Ossuary is kept in a secret location by its owner, who lives in Tel Aviv.”

So what do you think, has evidence for the Jesus Family Tomb been discovered, or is this just more unsubstantiated claims that add to the mystery surrounding the supposed “Christ Bloodline”?

 

 

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

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