The Jesus Tomb? ‘Titanic’ Talpiot Tomb Theory Sunk from the Start
by Ben Witherington
continuation of Dr. Witherington’s analysis of the Jesus Tomb
5) One more thing of importance. The James ossuary, according to the report of the antiquities dealer that Oded Golan got the ossuary from, said that the ossuary came from Silwan, not Talpiot, and had dirt in it that matched up with the soil in that particular spot in Jerusalem.
In fact Oded confirmed this to me personally when I spoke with him at an SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) meeting. Why is this important? Well because the ossuaries that came out of Talpiot came out of a rock cave from a different place, and without such soil in it.
To theorize that there was a Jesus family tomb, and yet the one member of Jesus’ family who we know was buried in Jerusalem for a long time did not come out of the ground from that locale contradicts this theory. Furthermore, Eusebius reports that the tomb marker for James’ burial was close to where James was martyred near the temple mount, indeed near the famous tombs in the Kidron valley such as the so-called tomb of Absalom. Talpiot is nowhere near this locale.
6)What should we make of James Tabor’s being co-opted into this project? You will remember his book which came out last year The Jesus Dynasty. In that book he had quite a good deal to say about the Talpiot Tomb, and about Panthera being the father of Jesus, and about Jesus being buried in Galilee, and of course nothing about a ossuary which claims that Joseph is the father of Jesus.
Why such a quick reversal of his earlier opinions?
This makes him appear very quixotic, not a very reliable witness who sticks by his guns when he draws a conclusion, for he has now reversed himself not just on one or two minor points, but on several major ones. My advise to James, whom I respect and who has not only done some fine archaeological work but is a nice guy, is to disassociate himself from this speculative and flawed theory just as quick as possible if he cares for his reputation as a scholar.
In the Toronto Star article from Sunday’s paper, we find that the unraveling has begun before they even held the news conference on Monday, February 26, 2007— here is a brief quote from the article written by Stuart Laidlaw—
“But there is one wrinkle that is not examined in the documentary, one that emerged in a Jerusalem courtroom just weeks ago at the fraud trial of James ossuary owner Oded Golan, charged with forging part of the inscription on the box.
Former FBI agent Gerald Richard testified that a photo of the James ossuary, showing it in Golan’s home, was taken in the 1970s, based on tests done by the FBI photo lab. The trial resumes tomorrow.
Jacobovici conceded in an interview that if the ossuary was photographed in the 1970s, it could not then have been found in a tomb in 1980.
But while he does not address the conundrum in the documentary, he said in an interview that it’s possible Golan’s photo was printed on old paper in the 1980s.”
Read the Toronto Star article here.
In fact the same article reports that Professor Amos Kloner from Bar-Ilan University has already told the German press, “It’s a beautiful story but without any proof whatsoever.”
Professor Amos Kloner is important since he did extensive work and research on this very tomb and its ossuaries and came to negative conclusions published in a journal in 1996. In short, this is old news, to which has been added only the recent DNA testing and statistical analysis neither of which makes the case the film makers want to make.
I feel sorry for Simcha, but I know how these things happen. One’s enthusiasm for a subject propels one into over-reaching when it comes to drawing conclusions. The problem with keeping these ideas secret for the sake of making a big splash of publicity, and lots of money, is that peer review by a panel of scholars could have saved these folks a lot of embarrassment down the road. ‘C’est la vie.’
So my response to this is clear— James Cameron, the producer of the movie Titantic, has now jumped on board another sinking ship full of holes, presumably in order to make a lot of money before the theory sinks into an early watery grave. Man the lifeboats and get out now.
For those wanting much more on the historical Jesus and James and Mary see now my book What Have They Done With Jesus? (Harper-Collins, 2006).
New Addendum
And one more thing to add—Eusebius the father of church history (4th century) tells us that there had been since New Testament times a tomb of James the Just, the brother of Jesus, which was near the Temple mount and had an honoric stele next to it, and that it was a pilgrimage spot for many Christians. It was apparently a single tomb, with no other Holy family members mentioned nor any other ossuaries in that place.
The locality and singularity of this tradition rules out a family tomb in Talpiot.
Christians would not have been making pilgrimage to the tomb if they believed Jesus’ bones were in it– that would have contradicted and violated their faith, but the bones of holy James were another matter. They were consider sacred relics.
Here is part of the passage from Eusebius on Jesus’ brother— James “was buried on the spot, by the Sanctuary, and his inscribed stone (stele) is still there by the sanctuary.” (Hist. Eccles. 2.23.18).
This is clearly not in Talpiot, and remember to claim there is a Talpiot family tomb means that Jesus would have been buried there long before James was martyred in A.D. 62. In other words, the James tradition contradicts the Talpiot tomb both in locale and in substance. James is buried alone, in another place.
Back to the start of Witherington’s Jesus Tomb 1.2.
Dr. Ben Witherington III is currently a professor at the Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky since 1995. He completed his Ph.D at the University of Durham, England in 1981. During his career, he has written more than 30 books and six commentaries including: The Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci (2004) and The Brother of Jesus. The Dramatic Story and Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family (2003) with Hershel Shanks. Learn more about Dr. Witherington’s credentials and work.
