The on-line magazine, Popular Archaeology, which I highly recommend, recently circulated its “Top Ten” feature stories of the past decade. I was honored and pleased that one of the ten stories that my research on the historical Jesus, as related to material and textual evidence, was chosen as one of…
Don’t miss this one! I recently did an update interview on some of the latest research on the James ossuary that has not been picked up by either the media or academics in the field of 2nd Temple Judaism/Jesus Movement historical studies…Much more to come, especially further, more sophisticated DNA…
A major New Testament scholar recently commented to a colleague that “Tabor’s support of the idea that the Talpiot tombs might related to the historical Jesus is truly bizarre.” I won’t name the scholar but 99% of my readers would recognize the name. My reaction is someone needs to do…
There is a new scientific paper published just this week by a distinguished team of international geologists, chemists, and earth scientists, titled “The Geochemistry of Intrusive Sediment Sampled from the 1st Century CE Inscribed Ossuaries of James and the Talpiot Tomb,” that is now available on-line. Based on extensive soil…
In March, 2007, when all the publicity on the Talpiot Jesus tomb broke, I wrote a blog post that summarized what we knew at the time regarding the 1980 discovery and excavation of the “Jesus tomb,” and perhaps more important, what we did not know. It is still worth reading for…
The east Talpiot tomb, exposed to view by demolition by the the Solel Boneh construction crew, was reported by engineer A. Shochat to the Israel Department of Antiquities on March 27, 1980. That was a Thursday. Neighbors, including local children, visited the tomb that afternoon and also called the Department…
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…
Various TV programs during this Spring/Easter season have focused on the question of the authenticity of the controversial “Shroud of Turin,” Those challenging the authenticity of this ancient relic point to carbon dating tests done at three independent labs in 1988 that dated samples of its cloth to AD 1260-1390,…
I find it somewhat amazing that so many freely expressing opinions on the controversial Talpiot “Jesus” tomb and/or the “James ossuary” have not kept up with even the most minimum of the latest research on the topic. I find this is the case even with all too many of my…
Many years ago a man from the BBC came to me and he asked me if the Dead Sea Scrolls will harm Christianity. I said to him that nothing can harm Christianity. The only thing which could be dangerous to Christianity would be to find a tomb with the sarcophagus…