The Jesus Dynasty / James Tabor

I begin The Jesus Dynasty, with a purposely riveting Introduction titled “A Tale of two Tombs,” I discuss the possible provenance of the controversial ossuary (bone box) that surfaced in 2002 inscribed “James son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” I remain convinced that the ossuary inscription is authentic and ancient, and that it most likely held the bones of James or Yaaqov, brother of Jesus, and leader of the early Nazarene movement following Jesus’ death. The owner of the James ossuary, Oded Golan, is being tried for forgery in Israel with the charge that he or someone he commissioned added the phrase “brother of Jesus” to an existing “James son of Joseph” ossuary to make it more valuable. He stoutly maintains his innocence and has recently produced a photo of the complete inscription that dates back to 1980 that has been certified as authentic by Kodak. There is other evidence supporting authenticity as well, but the pros and cons are nicely archived at the Biblical Archaeology Society Web site.

The question upon which I focus in that Introduction is whether we can determine which tomb this ossuary came from, and if so, what more can we learn if such a tomb turns out to be the “Jesus Family tomb.” I consider two sites, the Tomb of the Shroud, which Shimon Gibson and I examined in the summer of 2000, and the Talpiot tomb, uncovered in March, 1980 by a bulldozer clearing space for some apartments just south of Jerusalem. As it turns out, there is circumstantial evidence that might link the James ossuary to either tomb, so I discuss both.

I am pleased to report that ABCNews has put my Introduction, “A Tale of Two Tombs,” up on their Web site, so whether you have my book or not you can easily read it. It provides all the essential background on the Talpiot Tomb discovery as well as the Tomb of the Shroud, but purposely stops short in drawing any conclusions. As more evidence is developed the story will change and 2007 looks to be the year when some of these issues might be definitively resolved.