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One of the designs etched on a bone box found within a 1st-century Jerusalem tomb suggests the biblical story of Jonah and the fish, which held significant symbolism for early Christians.
Using a remote-controlled camera on the end of a robotic arm, investigators have found what could be the earliest evidence of a Christian iconography in Jerusalem, engraved on a set of "bone boxes" inside a nearly intact 1st-century tomb.
One of the limestone boxes, known more formally as an ossuary, carries a Greek inscription calling on God to "rise up" or "raise up" someone. Another box appears to show the carved image of a fish, perhaps with the prophet Jonah in its mouth. Allusions to fish and the "sign of Jonah" came to be widely used among early Christians, but not among Jerusalem's Jews.
Update: Doubts raised about the 'Jesus Discovery'
Those discoveries alone would be enough to get biblical scholars excited. But the investigators in this case are the same people who claimed five years ago that ossuaries from a nearby tomb were engraved with the names of the biblical Jesus and his family. They're putting forth this new find as supporting evidence for their earlier claims, and resurrecting the topic in a newly published book ("The Jesus Discovery") as well as a Discovery Channel documentary that's due to air this spring.
"This does reopen the whole question about the 'Jesus Tomb,'" James Tabor, a scriptural scholar at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, told me.
That almost guarantees that the link to Jesus will take center stage once again in the discussion of the discovery, with most archaeologists discounting the connection. There's even a chance that the renewed controversy would push this most recent find out of the spotlight. That would be a terrible shame, said John Dominic Crossan, an expert on 1st-century Christianity and former Catholic priest who is a professor emeritus at DePaul University.
"It's a stunning discovery," he said. "It's a stunning piece of technology. As a scholar, I really don't want to get lost in saying, 'Oh, come on, it's off the wall.' Yeah, it's off the wall. But look at the wall!"
James Tabor / UNCC
Engineer Walter Klassen and filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici hold the camera-equipped robotic arm in its folded-up configuration.
Or in this case, look at the box.
How the boxes were found
Tabor and documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici located both of the 1st-century tombs — the so-called Jesus Family Tomb as well as the one with the newly revealed inscriptions — in a Jerusalem neighborhood known as Talpiot years ago. They looked into previous claims that the bone boxes in the Jesus Family Tomb were marked with names that meshed with the names of Jesus' brothers and sisters, as mentioned in the Gospels. The investigators went on to cite a statistical analysis of name frequency as evidence that the family interred in the caskets was that of Jesus.
Most provocatively, they pointed to one box that was said to contain the remains of Jesus, and another containing the remains of "Judah, son of Jesus." These claims ran counter to the mainstream Christian view that Jesus made a bodily resurrection after his crucifixion and death, and that he did not marry or have children. To explain the seeming discrepancy with the Gospels, Tabor and his colleagues suggested that early Christians did not necessarily believe in a bodily resurrection, but rather a spiritual resurrection in which Jesus left behind the "old clothes" of the flesh.
The first book ("The Jesus Family Tomb") and TV documentary ("The Lost Tomb of Jesus") set off a wave of protests, with skeptics saying that Tabor and Jacobovici were sensationalizing an unprovable assertion. Despite the criticism, the team continued their work, focusing on the other tomb. This tomb was only briefly examined in 1981 before protests by Orthodox Jews, concerned about the disturbance of a gravesite, forced an end to the archaeological study. The tomb was sealed back up, and a condominium was built over it. Tabor and his colleagues refer to this tomb as the "Patio Tomb," because a patio sits almost directly above the tomb.
Israel's civil and religious authorities were resistant to efforts to reopen the Patio Tomb, so Tabor, Jacobovici and their colleagues came up with an unorthodox alternative: They suggested building a robotic arm that could be extended down vent holes and drill holes into the tomb, to a maximum length of more than 15 feet. The authorities gave their permission, and the documentary team proceeded with their remote-controlled video exploration in June 2010.
James Tabor / UNCC
Investigators shot imagery of the 1st-century Jerusalem tomb and the bone boxes inside the tomb using a robotic arm, as shown in this video frame.
The filmmakers peered into niches cut into the tomb and found several inscribed bone boxes, including one that was left ajar to reveal the bones still within. In one of the niches, two boxes were jammed close together. As the robotic arm maneuvered to look at the side of one of the boxes, one of the investigators cried out, "Wait, wait, stop there!" A design had been etched into the limestone — a design that could be interpreted as a fish with a stick figure hanging out of its mouth.
The meaning of the inscriptions
After consulting with other scriptural experts, the investigators concluded that the etching showed a representation of Jonah and the fish. The biblical tale of the prophet who was swallowed by a giant fish, only to be vomited up alive three days later, had a special resonance for early Christians, who believed in Jesus' resurrection after three days in a tomb. The image of the fish, which would not typically be carved on a Jewish ossuary, suggested to Tabor and his colleagues that this might be the earliest surviving example of a Christian marking on an artifact in Jerusalem.
The team's excitement grew when they saw the inscription on the box sitting next to the one with the fish: A four-line inscription in Greek appeared to refer to a belief in the resurrection. The inscription could be read as "Divine Jehovah, raise up, raise up," or "The Divine Jehovah raises up to the Holy Place," or "Divine Jehovah, raise up [abbreviated name]."
"This inscription has something to do with resurrection of the dead, either of the deceased in the ossuary, or perhaps, given the Jonah image nearby, an expression of faith in Jesus' resurrection," Tabor said in a news release.
The Jesus connection
Tabor and his colleagues tie this latest discovery to their earlier claims by suggesting that the two tombs were part of one complex, which might have been chiseled out by a wealthy supporter of Jesus and his disciples. They even name their prime suspect: Joseph of Arimathea, a high-ranking religious official who was said in the Gospels to have arranged Jesus' burial. In the investigators' view, the fact that they found such a strong connection to early Christianity in the Patio Tomb strengthens their original claims for the Jesus Family Tomb, which is 200 feet away.
"We now have the new archaeological evidence, literally written in stone, that can guide us in properly understanding what Jesus' earliest followers meant by their faith in Jesus' resurrection from the dead — with his earthly remains, and those of his family, peacefully interred just yards away," Tabor and Jacobovici wrote.
Crossan said that was too much of a leap. "There's nothing that associates [the Patio Tomb] with Joseph of Arimathea," he said.
He said the two tombs may well have no relationship to each other: "This whole area is riddled with tombs, as far as we can tell."
Ben Witherington, a New Testament scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary, voiced a similar view. "The attempt to connect [the Patio Tomb] to the other tombs is sheer conjecture, unless the tombs were connected," he told me.
Witherington said the connections made in the newly published book were similar to those put forth in Tabor's earlier work. "Most of us who have evaluated his work would say, OK, all very interesting, but it's building one speculation on another speculation," he said.
However, Witherington was intrigued by the fish carving. "We have early Christian ossuaries with the fish symbol ... in the 2nd century, if not back into the 1st century," he said. "That is the early Christian symbol for I-Ch-Th-Y-S ... 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.' What we don't have any evidence for is that symbol on Jewish ossuaries."
The words of the inscription also caught Witherington's interest. "They imply a belief about the resurrection," he said.
It is thought that the use of such bone boxes in Jerusalem ceased in the year 70, due to the Roman destruction of the city. Thus, there's a chance that the residents buried in the Patio Tomb actually lived during the time of Jesus and his first disciples. However, Crossan noted that Christians weren't the only ones in 1st-century Jerusalem who held a religious belief in resurrection. The Pharisees and the Essenes also looked forward to the resurrection of the righteous, he said.
"What I would say is ... this is a rich Pharisee, a rich person in the 1st century who believes in the resurrection," Crossan told me. "We always thought that [the image of] Jonah coming out of the fish was peculiarly Christian. Maybe that's one more thing that the early Christians took from Jewish tradition, and this would be the first evidence."
More about biblical archaeology:
- Messianic message stirs debate
- Return to King Solomon's mines
- Help scientists decipher 'lost' gospel
- Gallery: The archaeology of Christianity
- Experts stumped by markings in Jerusalem
- Claims about Jesus' 'lost tomb' stir up tempest
An academic paper on the Patio Tomb project is being posted to The Bible and Interpretation on Tuesday, and Tabor says the paper will be submitted for print publication as well. A press event about the project and the Discovery Channel documentary has been scheduled for 11 a.m. ET Tuesday at Discovery Times Square in New York City. Funding for the project was provided by Discovery Channel / Vision Television / Associated Producers. Tabor's colleague in obtaining the excavation license from the Israel Antiquities Authority was Rami Arav, professor of archaeology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
Lord Jesus Christ is risen as the Bible says. Lord Jesus Christ is the bodily resurrection as there are more than 500 witnesses of his resurrection as the Bible says and other historical documentations support the claim. And after the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to the heaven, his believers, the children of God, have spiritual resurrection, the born again moments, or spiritual reconciliation with Lord Christ.
God bless.
And there were 500 people who have stated that they were abducted by aliens too, but it dosn't make it true.
There is NO proofs that he is what you say he is, only that someone named him may have existed.
And science does not work in the way that people want it too. You can never start with a therory, then go out to prove it. That leads to bias and personal interpretation/opinion, and science (if you have any clue about it) does not work that way. Just keep the faith and leave the truth/facts to the scientist.
Dude, just stop it. More people have claimed to see the risen Elvis than the risen Jesus...
I do not have an issue believing that Jesus existed, but that is a far cry that he rose from the dead and performed miracles. It is a shame that such beautiful teachings are marred by the followers who have created their own system of belief by picking and choosing what they will follow in the scriptures and leave out those that do not agree with there own prejudices and egos. Not to mention all the scripture left out of the bible due to men's ideas on what they thought was important and agreed with their politics at the time.
God has killed more people then all he wars put together, on a whim. He stated, they says. thou shall not kill yet Levitcus states that we kill all who do certain actions and have certain lifestyles. God killing his own creation is like we raising a dog, then killing it when it poops in the house after we trained it not to.
I loe the teaching of Jesus, and the idea of sacrificing yourself for others, but outside of helping the oppressed and spreading the wealth (Jesus was a socialist, and isn't that ironic), this is not the message we hear from most Christians who only seem to focus on Gay right and abortion (two things NOT mentioned by Jesus). You would think they would be if they were so important, and I bet one of his disciple's was gay, it's just the odds.
The one thing that had made me most dilike Christianity, are the Christians. Jesus save me from your followers.
So, in my opinion, he existed, as a man, not as a diety.
Remember;
Jesus saves
(Moses invests)
...but only Buddha pays dividends.
Leaving aside all the discussion about whether or not God exists, let's focus for just a moment on how irrelevant & inconsistent these alleged "new archaeological findings" really are. 1st of all there's apparently no connection between the Patio Tomb & the alleged "Jesus Tomb". 2d, pagan, Jewish, & Christian writers all agree, or at least don't contradict the story that Jesus was buried alone, & not with his family, in a tomb borrowed from someone else. 3d, those same writers all agree that something very strange took place in that his body vanished from a grave that was being guarded by disciplined Roman soldiers, & that this was followed by extreme disturbances of nature. (Had this not happened-- had there really ever been a "Jesus Family Tomb"-- then early Jewish writers in particular could have been expected to trumpet the fact.) 4th, the Jewish practice of reinterring bones in an ossuary involves leaving a corpse until the flesh rots away, & then gathering up the bones. There is not a word-- not the slightest hint-- of this being done to Jesus in any early source, be it pagan, Jewish, or Christian. 5th, even if this uninformed speculation about a "Jesus Tomb" were remotely credible, it still can't account for the fact that the Apostles were transformed within a couple of days from terrified fugitives into fearless proclaimers of the Resurrection, or that St. Paul was converted from a persecutor of Christians into a maker of Christians, or that a skeptical St. Luke was persuaded to become a Christian. Only the Resurrection itself can do that. In short, like Dan Brown's daVinci Hoax, this is utter nonsense being peddled by the pernicious to the gullible.
i want to go to israel to see these places, but i am worried about getting caught in the crossfire. before i die i would love to go.
i think lots of americans would.
What a desperate crock of BS.
Fish iconography in a tomb is NOT necessarilly a "Christian" symbol at all; fishing was an integral part of the lives of many people in that part of the world as it was a staple of the diet of all the cultures and peoples near the Mediterranean Sea.
I suppose if archeologists found some fish symbol on an early Sumerain clay tablet, modern day zealot Christians would claim their Jesus walked the earth several centuries before he was alleged to have been born, right?
I think the question is, was this a Jewish or Christian symbol? One of the points that Tabor makes in the book is that Jews would definitely not put a symbol like this on an ossuary, for at least two reasons. First, Exodus 20:4 forbids the use of "a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Second, Jews tend to see Jonah and the fish as the story of a prophet who defied God's will and eventually repented, which wouldn't make as much sense for a funeral. It'd make more sense for Christians, who saw Jonah and the fish as a story of resurrection and rescue from death. Then there's that whole ICHTHYS thing...
Well we certainly wouldn't want to dig up these artifacts only to find out Jesus wasn't really a God, but just a man with a message. That would be blasphemous and the Church can't stand for that!
Jesus was not a god. He was the only begotten (conceived, carried and born) Son of God. Mary was impregnated by the Holy Ghost. The Koran tells the same story. The only difference was that Mohammad ASKED Gabriel if God had sex with Mary. Of course, Gabriel went off on him and said in no uncertain terms that God has never begotten nor was He Begot. Gabriel then said that WE sent the Holy Spirit to impregnate Mary.
I think that sometimes people forget how close the women of the community kept track of the young girls. If there was a virgin who was pregnant, you can be assured that the old women of the day checked her out. If she was not a virgin, it's off to the rock pile.
The rest of the Sons who are not of man, maybe we should not deal with. See Genesis 6 vs 1-4
Oh me...The significance of the fish symbol to me has been the feeding of the masses at the sermon on the mount. Consider if you will the refreshment story of the two small fishes and the bread. Can you imagine what the people who saw that event told their friends and associates?
Does that picture even resemble a fish to ya'll? And figure of a man? That sure is a reach to me!
Here's a thought... Take the picture of the supposed "fish" rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise. What does it look like now? Looks more like a man or woman in a robe/dress to me. Something that makes much more sense on a container/bone box housing remains than a supposed fish swallowing a man...
I have yet to have a Christian explain to me why THEIR god is the ONLY god that exists. There are many religious gods to many different people. All of whom believe THEIR god is the ONLY god in existence and THEIR god is the ONLY god that created everything you see.
So tell me Christians, why is YOUR god the ONLY god? Is everyone else wrong? Are you the only religion that is 'real'? Do you tell others who believe in other god's that their god does not exist?
God was created to control the masses in a time where control was necessary. Look at David Koresh ... he created his own version of religion, controlled the masses of his cult and they died for him in the end. Sound familiar bible thumpers?
It's not that hard .... especially when you go back to ancient times where the unintelligent were easy to sway, easy to fool and easy to scare. If you told them dragons were to come and burn them and eat their children if they did not conform to dragonism, they would believe it (after showing them burnt corpses along with a very dramatic story or even better, story book).
Bazinga!
There are lots of Gods. Why else would the Lord demand that we have no other god before him?? All of his Sons are Gods. Anything that does not die is a God to me. But none are above the Creator.
As far as the story being untrue, look to the Roman Military. They were there and they kept records. They all saw amazing things. Josephus seems to think that there was a great event. I dunno, it was not that long ago really.
Take a look at Genesis 6 v 1-4 Read it without interpretation, form the KJV. Pretty scary and it explains a lot that makes no sense to us now. (as in who built the big stuff)
Religious Zealots, Atheists, Agnostics, you're all just hateful ignorant people trying to over shout each other like a baby clamoring to get attention. Your ideas are justified only through idiotic ramblings, with the falsehood to believe what you say is the truth. No one can know anything for certain, to think you can only makes you a fool and a worthless human being. Think about how wonderful and beautiful this world could be if you'd only stop your bickering and your squabbling. It's pathetic and disgusting. I just wish you would want to understand.
I think it is interesting that nobody has commented on the inscription. The fact that the name of God, Jehovah, was written in Greek in the first century on an ossuary proves that it was commonly known among the people.
So anyone that claims the proper pronunciation of God's name was lost over time is absolutely wrong.
Actually, the inscription is somewhat abbreviated in Greek:
DIOS (Divine)
IAIO (Jehovah)
UPsOo (upsilon-psi-omega) (Lift up)
AGB (???) (Maybe transliteration for "hagbah," Hebrew for "lift up")
Why should anyone trust in Christianity over Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, or anything else? It is because there are absolute truths. Only in Christianity are there accurately fulfilled prophecies of a coming Messiah. Only in Christianity do we have the extremely accurate transmission of the eyewitness documents (gospels), so we can trust what was originally written. Only in Christianity do we have the person of Christ who claimed to be God, performed many miracles to prove His claim of divinity, who died and rose from the dead, and who said that He alone was the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). All this adds to the legitimacy and credibility of Christianity above all other religions -- all based on the person of Jesus. It could not be that Jesus is the only Truth, and other religions also be the truth.
Either Jesus is true and all other religions are false, or other religions are true and Jesus is false. There are no other options. I choose to follow the risen Lord Jesus.
aaahhhh be careful there. The coming of the Messiah was foretold of course. Having said that Mohammad was approached by Gabriel long after Christ was here. The same story actually except that in Islam there is no reset like Christianity has. Here is where the water gets murky. After rebirth a Christian is supposed to obey the ten commandments. Very easy to do except not doing business on the Sabbath. That one in our time is difficult, but not impossible.
American Christians have the idea from somewhere that they can continue to ignore the commandments after baptism and they will still be saved. There in is the issue.
Many American faiths feel that they will be re-united with the dearly departed. I don't see that.
Many US Christians feel that they are going to inherit the earth. Jesus said that He would love us even unto the end of the earth.
If you really believe in the holy scriptures you need to look at all of it. After all. Jesus said that they were coming back in 1000 years but not 2000.
Wellll.... they seem to have visited Mohammad close to 1000 years after Jesus ascended. So not everything is cut and dried. I KNOW that most of the people who say they are saved are not. They were when they were baptized,and then they decided to continue to ignore the law. I get a kick out of some "conversions" The converted stop drinking, stop fooling around, and continue to do business on the Sabbath. Many times on the very day they are Baptized.
Modern "ministers" will reinforce those beliefs in order to keep the collection plate full. The plate that is the fullest is found in a "church" that sells prosperity ministry.
"Either Jesus is true and all other religions are false, or other religions are true and Jesus is false. There are no other options."
Here is another option: You are ALL wrong.
I have a strong faith and believe with all my being. Yes he gave us free will and a lot do not believe, but that is their choice. I don't push it on anybody. I was raised as a baptist (Christian) but later in life as I grew up I came to realize that Jesus was not trying to teach a religion. Look how many religions there is today and they all follow a point of view. Jesus was trying to teach us how to treat each other as human beings. Mankind changed all that with different religions and beliefs. The word ARK is the best way to think about God/Jesus. ARK = one act of random kindness. If people would only do this one thing everyday just think of what would happen. Everything on this planet needs each other to survive. We are killing ourselves in the long run by destroying the two very things we need to survive and that is the water (fresh water)/oceans (salt water) and trees which both create the oxygen we breathe. When they are to toxic and the trees are gone or dead you can guess what happens to us. The teachings Jesus was trying to show us was it is up to us to help each other. BUT the world powers that be want WAR/killings, create viruses that kill, and many many more all in the name of power and greed. Being on this planet together as it is the only planet we have does not mean to create destruction and death just because somebody is a different color or believes in something that others don't. Hate is the catalyst of destruction and death which equals insanity. "The Future Is Predetermined By The Character Of The People Who Shape It".
How can anything be discussed and decided upon when the truth is confused with faith.
Faith is the belief one has in what he wants to believe, this doesnt make it so.
Prayer for answers that reveals ideas given through Holy spirit cant be distingushed between spirit and ones own intuition. Muslim, Jew, Christian, Catholics, etc we are all people who want to believe that our nationality, religion, and ideas are correct above all others. Logic shows everyone cant be correct. We should then respect our religion and all others. If people would tolerate each other with respect, they would find the grace of God, if he exists and fellow man which we know does for sure.
I do understand that for many, this is a very personal thing. I get that, and I respect that for devout Christians and for lifelong Atheists, it's difficult not to jump to opposing sides and declare war on each other.
However, it would be great to discuss the archaeology itself - the archaeology is fascinating, and (regardless of if Christianity is fantasy or fact / delusion or deity) the archaeology and history of the time period is fascinating.
If nothing else; Jesus was a good moral teacher. I was raised a Christian, but I've come to my own conclusions that God exists along the same lines as Santa Claus. If you're on the "nice" list (believe in Jesus); you get a "toy" (Eternity in Heaven). But, even if it is false, those that "TRULY" follow the tenants of the Bible have much more integrity, character, & a moral fabric than most people. I wish there WAS proof that the God of the Bible existed and that the decision was cut & clear; but that would be too easy right?.. SMH, guess we'll all find out in about 70 years or less depending on your age, when we're all dead & buried. I'm inclined to think that there is no afterlife; but the problem is, since there would be no consciousness after death, there would be no way of saying "Told you so!!!", kind of funny now that i think about it =D
If you TRULY follow the Bible, you would be rather immoral.
sounds more like catholicism he followed
If this tomb does belong to Jesus, and if those bones are his bones, then he will indeed be resurrected-- by modern DNA engineering.
The benefits of this would be profound: Jesus could be cloned, and every church could have its own personal Jesus as pastor. Wealthy Christians could afford to have their own copies of Jesus for household teaching, an in-house doctor to heal colds, flus, and other nasties, and even to raise their relatives from the dead (assuming that they want them back, that is).
We could hold annual Christ-Olympics as well: Imagine a dozen Jesuses nailed to crosses in Jerusalem, seeing who can hold out the longest as they compete for the title of the Son of God! And the race to see who can rise from the dead in the shortest time would out-do any current Olympic games!
Anyways, I really do hope that these archaeologists have found his tomb and his bones. The return of Christ is long overdue.
mmmm makes my heart sad to read blasphemy.
if it was jesus tomb , there would be no bones any way. his body was ressurected
SUNDAY ! SUNDAY ! !
See Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles in their BLOWN FUEL FUNNY CAR!!!
SUNDAAAAAAAYYYYYY !
"We always thought that [the image of] Jonah coming out of the fish was peculiarly Christian. Maybe that's one more thing that the early Christians took from Jewish tradition, and this would be the first evidence."
Oh, how could everything Christian come from the Jews? Oh yeah, Jesus was a Jew, before he was a Christian, or before he was secretly God? Wait, I've got the answer, ask Rick Santorum he has the answer for all of us. Forget that silly separation of Church and State. Rick knows everything, so put down those school books and stop learning or you may become......a President.
I have always thought one of the greatest archaeological finds that would support Bible accounts would be also one of the easiest finds for a good archaeologist. I'm talking about the account recorded in 2 Kings Chapter 19, where it states that one angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night during the kingship of Hezekiah. These soldiers were poised to take Jerusalem according to the Bible book I mentioned, but that Chapter 19 in 2 Kings clearly states that during the night God's angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. I have always thought a good archaeologist should be able to find the area outside Jerusalem where this took place and find the remains of those Assyrian soldiers. There should be everything from their bones to their battle armor to everything else such a millitary force would have had. I understand that much of the remains would have decomposed, but with such a large millitary force I believe their must be a huge archaeological find.
The Assyrians, of course, forgot to record any of this in their historical documents, and the other nations didn't seem to notice either that virtually the entire Assyrian army had died in one night....
http://news.discovery.com/history/cambyses-army-remains-sahara.html
Take a look at this story
If we talk about God it is abhorent , but if we talk about being pc and same sex marriage , and the destruction of socital norms by suppresion of religious belief then we can have a conversation. The truth is the word convicts.