The mysterious woman, otherwise unknown in our New Testament texts, Mary Magdalene, briefly appears and disappears toward the end of Jesus’ life in all four of the New Testament gospels. As this video makes clear, it is Mary Magdalene who is the KEY figure in our historical reconstruction of what happened Sunday morning after the crucifixion with the discovery of an empty tomb. But who was she and why was she so closely associated Jesus and his mother and sister? And why, in one early tradition was she the “first witness” of Jesus’ empty tomb–only later to be made into a prostitute and sinner. In later gospels, not included in the New Testament, she is remembered as Jesus’ most intimate and faithful follower, of whom his male disciples were jealous.
This lecture was part a Biblical Archaeology Society seminar, publishers of the premiere archaeology magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review.
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