Ancient Stone Casket May Be Oldest Link to Jesus
Tue Oct 22, 6:17 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ancient limestone box once used to
hold bones in Jerusalem could contain the earliest known reference
to Jesus outside of the Bible, according to newly published research.
An article in the November/December issue of the journal Biblical
Archaeology Review said the ossuary, a box once used to hold bones
for burial and dated to about the year 63 A.D., is etched with an
inscription in Aramaic reading "James, son of Joseph, brother of
Jesus."
Aramaic is an ancient language used some 2,000 years ago.
Andre Lemaire of the Sorbonne University in Paris, the first scholar
known to have studied the box, which is now empty, said in the article
that he believes the inscription refers to the Biblical Jesus.
"This container provides the only New Testament-era mention of the
central figure of Christianity and is the first-ever archaeological
discovery to corroborate the Biblical references to Jesus," the article
said.
In the first century A.D., Jews transferred the bones of the deceased
from burial caves to ossuaries. The 20-inch-long box is now in the
hands of a private collector in Jerusalem.
Biblical Archeological Review said the find corroborated the existence
of Joseph, Jesus's father, and James, his brother and a leader of the
early Christian church in Jerusalem.
All three names were common in ancient times, but the statistical
probability of their appearing in that combination is slim, the journal
said.
It also said it was unusual for an ossuary to have the name of a
brother, an indication that Jesus was a well-known figure.
The article said the Geological Survey of Israel performed laboratory
tests that confirmed that it was made of limestone from the Jerusalem
area.
An article in Tuesday's Washington Post said the ossuary had been
examined by scholars and scientists and that it had held up to
scrutiny, although it was considered likely to remain controversial.
The earliest previously known artifact mentioning Jesus was a
papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John, dated about 125 A.D.