Monthly Archives: March 2007

I just finished watching the documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus by the filmmaker Simcha Jacobovichi. I thought it was really intriguing! It’s all about these first-century ossuaries (bone boxes) that were discovered in 1980 accidently during construction in Jerusalem. Originally uncovered by Archeologist Shimon Gibson, Now Jacobovichi and a team have been examining the inscriptions and the history behind the names on the boxes. They also rely on “expert of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine archeology, Amos Kloner, who also specializes in ancient Jewish secondary burial practices.” “Of the ten ossuaries, or stone coffins, found inside the first-century tomb, six bore inscriptions: Jesus, son of Joseph; Maria; Mariamene (the name by which Mary Magdalene was known), Joseph, Matthew, and Judah, son of Jesus.” [source] In the documentary they do the math on the statistics – based on popularity of the names, and the probability that two Mary’s would be with a “Yeshua, bar Yosef” (Jesus, son of Joseph). They also try to prove that the Marys are “Maria” (the Virgin Mary – Jesus’ mother) and “Marianme” (Mary Magdalene), apparently Jesus’ wife. They do a DNA test at a Paleo-DNA lab on material found in the Jesus, son of Joseph ossuary and the Mary Magdalene ossuary; it confirms that they do not share DNA, yet were buried in close proximity of each other. The reason why it’s a huge deal is because the names from first-century Israel, are all common names. When the ossuaries initially discovered, catalogued, and placed in the [...]

The Editors’ Association of Canada – BC Branch has selected me (due to my educational focus and high GPA) to receive a scholarship. I’m accepting at an official ceremony and reception March 14th! Now, I must write a thank-you letter.