We still have a few spaces left on the Israel tour but we will have to close it out soon. The price will likely never be cheaper. We have also added a “slimmed down” version of the Petra/Jordan ad-on at much less money.  The cost is $475 now and includes 2 extras nights at Tamar and 2 day trips (October 29-30), one to Petra in Jordan and the other to the spectacular Mitzpa Ramon Crater in the Beersheva area with the final day in Jerusalem (October 31st), flying overnight and arriving back November 1st.

I am your personal guide on this tour and everyone who goes has personal access to both Dr. Coxen and me the entire time. The itinerary speaks for itself, it is not the average “Holy Land” tour, though we of course do see all the main sites–we just do a lot extra that tours almost never do. See link and pricing options here, and you can register and hold your place with a deposit immediately here.

I have made forty-four trips to Israel since 1990 but I have only led two tours. One was a private group from my university; the second, last year, I opened to the public–primarily various readers of my books who had followed some of my career as a biblical scholar. This is not the standard “Holy Land” tour. I have shaped the special itinerary myself, teaming up with Dewayne Coxen, as I did last year. Dr. Coxen has traveled to Israel over 150 times over the past 50 years–I think he has actually lost count. In addition to this rich experience he also provides us with our connection to the archaeological site of biblical Tamar, in the Negev desert, one of the centerpieces of this tour. Not only do I want to give participants a survey of the Land of Israel, from “Dan to Beersheva,” quite literally–and everything in between–but I want them to have a chance to get their hands dirty actually working for a day at an archaeological site. One could not find a better opportunity for this than Tamar, not to mention the inspiring experience of staying two nights in the Desert.

My idea on this tour is to take a limited group of 45 people together on one bus and give them an overview of the archaeological and historical side of my work as a Biblical scholar–and particularly one who has worked on the historical Jesus and the Origins of Christianity for the past 40 years. We are also doing our best to hold the prices down, despite rising airline and hotel costs. Neither Dr. Coxen or I charge a fee for leading this tour. We both do what we do because of a love of history, a fascination with our research, and the satisfaction of introducing others to the Land of Israel.

Many readers will remember the sensational story that broke into the news in March of this year regarding a series of “lead codices,” that some had claimed dated back to the 1st century and might prove to be some of our earliest Christian documents. Since that time much has been revealed about these artifacts and it appears the preponderance of evidence by qualified experts is these items are fake. As one of the few academics who did not jump on the bandwagon labeling the James ossuary inscription as fake (and indeed it appears it will be vindicated as genuine) I hasten to add that to me these artifacts appeared to be as phony as a three-dollar bill from day one. Nothing I saw, read, or heard about them added up. My initial reaction, without even knowing the whole story, was that they appeared to be fake and whether fake or genuine there was not a chance they could be dated to the 1st century CE.

I wanted to call attention to three items that will bring folks up to date with some of the latest evaluations by scholars:

1) A YouTube video, The Lead Codices that was put together by a team of scholars and “bibliobloggers” who have followed the story.

2) An extensive article by Tom Verenna at the Web site The Bible  and Interpretation, which, I might add, is well worth browsing on many related topics. The site has a good search feature, try “Talpiot tomb” or “James ossuary” for example.

3) An article nicely written, comprehensive article by Prof. Philip Davies published in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly 143, 2 (2011), 79–86, see: PEQDaviesLeadCodices.

I am posting this response by Simcha Jacobovici to critics of his “Nails of the Cross” documentary that aired on the History Channel in the USA  and most recently in Israel. His thesis: that two crucifixion nails, most likely those used to crucify Jesus of Nazareth, were found in a Jerusalem tomb belonging to the Caiaphas family in November 1990, then lost by the Israel Antiquities Authority, but now recovered. Caiaphas was the High Priest in the time of Jesus who delivered him over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea,  for blasphemy and sedition. The film has stirred a storm of criticism with an untoward amount of ad hominum attacks.

You may download and or/read Simcha’s response here in a PDF file:

The Nails of the Cross_June22

My thanks to Simcha for sharing this with my readers here first. Please feel free to circulate the link here or the PDF file itself.

James Tabor

The "John the Baptist" Cave

We have extended the sign-up deadline for participation in our summer archaeology program in Israel (June 10-26th) until this coming Monday, May 9th. We still have some spaces open and want to invite you to join us and/or to pass this message on to others. Participation is open to students, staff, or faculty at UNC Charlotte or any other college or university, alumni, as well as interested individuals of any age who are interested in participating. Normally we draw a wonderful diverse mix of countries, colleges, ages, and cultural backgrounds. This is truly an education abroad experience that will change your life, and you get to get your hands dirty and learn a bit of archaeology as well as see some of the main sights in the Holy Land at the same time.

Shimon Gibson and I will direct this two-week archaeological expedition at the historic location of Kibbutz Tzuba, an ancient Israelite town just west of the city of Jerusalem dating back to the time of King David. In the year 2000 a mysterious cave was discovered there by Professor Gibson who invited me and a group of UNC Charlotte students to join him in initial excavations (2001-2005). This cave, now known as the “Cave of John the Baptist,” turned out to have associations with early John the Baptist traditions. Tzuba is just outside of the town of Ein Kerem, where John grew up. Cryptic drawings of John the Baptist and his life and work are carved on its walls. Nearby is the first ancient winepress dating to the time of Jesus that has ever been found in Israel.

The two week expedition will involve further excavations at the Cave of John the Baptist as well as uncovering the winepress and its adjacent caves. Both are located on the agricultural land of Kibbutz Tzuba, a strikingly beautiful area outside Jerusalem full of ancient ruins including tombs, a Crusader castle and much more. Participants will stay on the Kibbutz in the comfortable hotel guesthouse with room and full board provided. The land costs are only $2650 which is a real bargain considering all that is included, and participants have a variety of choices in making their own flights or transportation arrangements. This two week experience is run as a field school with classes, lectures, and tools provided. No prior archaeological experience is required. Those who desire can receive either undergraduate or graduate credit, others can audit. I will personally guide our group on a weekend tour of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, including Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found as well as Masada, with all costs included.

Israel is safe and travel there should not be a concern. This summer already promises to be a record tourist year in Israel. American citizens and most other countries receive a visa upon arrival, there is nothing to prearrange.

You can find full information, photos, as well as application forms here: http://www.edabroad.uncc.edu/tzuba/

Take a look as well at the lovely Kibbutz and the accommodations we will be staying in: http://www.belmont.co.il/en/

All you need to hold your place is a deposit of $1000 next Monday. Credit cards are accepted.

James Tabor

1st Century Wine Press

I wanted to update the post below from April, 2007. Various scholars, including Emile Puech and most lately Stephan Pfann have questioned the suggestion by Bagatti and Milik (who was a bit more cautious) that the reading of this ossuary fragment is indeed: Shimon bar Jonah–presenting the possibility that Simon Peter, who is known by this rather unusual name in Matthew 16:17. Pfann’s latest thoughts are found on his University of Holy Land Studies Web site here. Pfann reads the name of the father as BarZillai, the name of a priestly family known to us from the time of David and mentioned in Ezra 2:61.

I recently received a copy of the masterful Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae (edited by Hannah M. Cotton, et al.) Volume I: Jerusalem: Part 1. It contains 704 inscriptions, on ossuaries and other surfaces, that date to the area of Jerusalem in the 1st century BCE/CE. The editors (Jonathan Price and Haggai Misgav) prefer the reading: Shimon son of Lollia, a Latin name, noting that a second Latin name, Secunda or Verecunda, is found in the same burial complex. This name, Lollius or Lollianos was a short form of Alexandros. The editors of CIIP were apparently not aware of Pfann’s suggestion.

I am no epigrapher and I think the legendary martyrdom of Peter in Rome under Nero has scant historical support, however, I wanted to bring these alternative readings and possibilities to my readers and thus update the post below from 2007 in the interest of accuracy:

The ossuary was found in 1953 on the Mt. of Olives by the late great Franciscan priest and archaeologist Bellarmino Bagatti. It was part of in a fascinating necropolis of over a five hundred burial tombs that some scholars have identified, in whole or in part, with the early pre-70 CE Jewish-Christian community–that is, Jewish followers of Jesus who lived, died, and were buried as good Jews. This ossuary is inscribed: Shimon bar Jonah, or in English, “Simon son of Jonah,” the name of the apostle Simon Peter (Matthew 16:17). This name is attested nowhere else, neither in inscriptions nor in literature. Further, the Simon, son of Jonah, ossuary was found just meters away from a tomb just outside of Bethany containing a single ossuary with two indviduals: Mary and Martha, and nearby another, inscribed Lazarus. I discuss these briefly in my book, The Jesus Dynasty (pp. 235-237), but a fuller treatment, accessible to the non-specialist, is available in Jack Fingegan’s The Archaeology of the New Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press, reprt 1979), pp. 359-375.

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