I consider the following to be the top twenty “fictions” related to the discussion of the Talpiot tomb separated into six basic categories. Since the Talpiot “Jesus” family tomb came into public attention in 2006 there has been an avalanche of media coverage and Internet discussion. A simple Google search…
Everyone seems to “love” the Dead Sea Scrolls though I fear, much like the Bible, few seem to have actually read them. Some years ago I remember a very enthusiastic woman who came up to me after one of my public lectures on this scrolls, exclaiming, “Dr. Tabor, I just…
The “Tomb of the Shroud,” that was discovered and investigated in 2000 by Shimon Gibson, Boaz Zissu, and me, with a team of our UNC Charlotte students in the summer of 2000, continues to yield up many scientific secrets about life and death in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus.…
The braided hair of a Jewish woman was found at Masada but until recently no example of preserved hair from a Jewish male had ever been found from the late 2nd Temple period. This discovery is one of the many fascinating, but less publicized finds of the 1st century “Tomb…
In my 2006 book, The Jesus Dynasty, (pp. 235-237) I published a photo of an fragment of an 1st century CE limestone ossuary, or burial box, inscribed with the name “Simon bar Jonah,” a rare patronym used by Jesus one time in Matthew 16:17 to refer to Simon Peter: And…
One of the special perks of having Dr. Shimon Gibson as our director at our UNC Charlotte sponsored Mt. Zion excavations is having him guide us about the Old City of Jerusalem. Dr. Gibson, or “Shimon,” as we affectionately call him, is not only an expert on the archaeology of…
Since all the publicity about the Talpiot “Jesus Family” tomb broke back in 2007 it seems that the hypothesis of a 13th century CE Templar connection to this tomb has fascinated the public. After all, almost anything about the mysterious Templars is guaranteed to raise popular interest–hence the half dozen…
So the soldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest, when their multitude was so great, that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the…
The story of the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of a diminishing few biblical narratives of which our culture is familiar. Though few might have read the extended account, set in the time of Abraham, that runs through Genesis 18-19, the imagery has become proverbial. This was…
I was recently pleased to participate in a wide-ranging conversations with my colleagues at UNC Charlotte as a guest on their ongoing series “Conversations about Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed.” You can listen to or download from iTunes. This program is dated 8/17/2017 but please browse some of the previous ones…