Documentary makers claim tomb of Jesus found in Jerusalem cave

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Documentary makers claim tomb of Jesus found in Jerusalem cave
dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday February 23, 2007


Jerusalem- The makers of a new documentary, to be aired for
the first time at a news conference in New York Monday, claim that a
tomb found in a Jerusalem cave 36 years ago belongs to none other
than Jesus Christ.
The claim presented in the documentary is based on years of
research by world-renowned archaeologists, statisticians, experts in
ancient scripts and in DNA, the Israeli Yediot Ahronot daily Friday
quoted the makers as saying in an exclusive interview.

The documentary, titled "The Burial Cave of Jesus," is a joint
production by Israeli-born Canadian documentary maker Simcha
Jacobovici and three-time-Oscar-winning Canadian film director James
Cameron (Titanic, The Terminator).

The 2000-year-old cave had already been discovered in 1980 in
Jerusalem's Talpiyot neighbourhood. In it were 10 coffins, six of
which bore inscriptions, which - translated into English - included
the names "Jesus son of Joseph," twice "Maria," and "Judah son of
Jesus."

The second Maria is hypothesized to be Maria Magdalene, while the
tomb bearing the name Judah could indicate Jesus had a son.

If true, the find could be one of the most significant in the
history of archeology and shake the Christian world.

But the senior Israeli archaeologist who thoroughly researched the
tombs after their discovery, and at the time deciphered the
inscriptions, cast serious doubt on it.

"It's a beautiful story but without any proof whatsoever,"
Professor Amos Kloner, who had published the findings of his research
in the Israeli periodical Atigot in 1996, told Deutsche
Presse-Agentur dpa Friday.

"The names that are found on the tombs are names that are similar
to the names of the family of Jesus," he conceded.

"But those were the most common names found among Jews in the
first centuries BCE and CE," he added.

Kloner dismissed the combination of names found in the cave as a
"coincidence."

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which is keeping the
caskets in its archive in the town of Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem,
declined to comment on the documentary, saying it had not researched
the caskets and that its duty was only to safeguard them.

The IAA nevertheless sent two of the caskets to the news
conference in New York.

The documentary, which took three years to make, is to be
broadcast on the World Discovery Channel, Britain's Channel 4,
Canada's Vision and Israel's Channel 8, which participated in its
production.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency