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FILMMAKER SHOWS JESUS "RELICS"
By Christine Kearney
Reuters
February 26, 2007

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=308962007

NEW YORK - Hollywood director James Cameron displayed on Monday artefacts
that he said might have come from the tomb of Jesus, which once contained
his remains, those of Mary Magdalene, and possibly their son, Judah.

But others said it was just a publicity stunt backed by the man who made the
movie "Titanic" and "The Terminator" to promote a documentary and a book,
and likely untrue.

Cameron and a team of scholars showed two stone ossuaries, or bone boxes,
that he said might have once contained the bones of Jesus and Mary
Magdalene. The findings are the subject of a documentary he produced called
"The Lost Tomb of Jesus" and a book "The Jesus Family Tomb."

The two small caskets were part of 10 found in 1980 during construction in
South Jerusalem. Several had inscriptions translated as Jesus, Mary
Magdalene and "Judah, son of Jesus," Cameron told a news conference at the
New York Public Library surrounded by scholars and archaeologists.

"This is the beginnings of an ongoing investigation," Cameron said. "If
things come to light that erode this investigation, then so be it."

If true, the revelations are likely to raise the ire of Christians because
the discovery would challenge the belief that Jesus was resurrected and
ascended to heaven.

The documentary comes on the heels of the huge success of the novel "The Da
Vinci Code," which contends that Mary Magdalene had a child with Jesus.

Dr. Shimon Gibson, one of the archaeologists who discovered the tomb, told
Reuters at the news conference he had a "healthy scepticism" the tomb may
have belonged to the family of Jesus, but the claims deserved to be
investigated.

In Jerusalem, the Israeli archaeologist who also carried out excavations at
the tomb on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, disputed the
documentary's conclusions.

The archaeologist, Amos Kloner, said the 2,000-year-old cave contained
coffins belonging to a Jewish family whose names were similar to those of
Jesus and his relatives.

"I can say positively that I don't accept the identification (as) ...
belonging to the family of Jesus in Jerusalem," Kloner told Reuters. "I
don't accept that the family of Miriam and Yosef (Mary and Joseph), the
parents of Jesus, had a family tomb in Jerusalem."

"They were a very poor family. They resided in Nazareth, they came to
Bethlehem in order to have the birth done there -- so I don't accept it, not
historically, not archeologically," said Kloner, a professor in the
Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archeology at Bar-Ilan University
near Tel Aviv.

After they were discovered, the bones were reburied according to Orthodox
tradition, leaving just the boxes with inscriptions and human residue to be
examined though ongoing DNA testing.

Professor L. Michael White, of the University of Texas, said he also doubted
the claims were true.

"This is trying to sell documentaries," he said, adding a series of strict
tests needed to be conducted before a bone box or inscription could be
confirmed as ancient. "This is not archeologically sound, this is fanfare."

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FILMMAKERS: LOST TOMB OF JESUS FOUND
Associated Press
February 26, 2007

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070226_wz_
jesustomb.16c853eb.html

NEW YORK - Filmmakers and researchers on Monday unveiled two ancient stone
boxes they said may have once contained the remains of Jesus and Mary
Magdalene, but several scholars derided the claims made in a new documentary
as unfounded and contradictory to basic Christian beliefs.

"The Lost Tomb of Jesus," produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron
and scheduled to air March 4 on the Discovery Channel, argues that 10 small
caskets discovered in 1980 in a Jerusalem suburb may have held the bones of
Jesus and his family.

One of the caskets even bears the title, "Judah, son of Jesus," hinting that
Jesus may have had a son, according to the film.

"There's a definite sense that you have to pinch yourself," Cameron said
Monday at a news conference. He told NBC'S "Today" show earlier that
statisticians found "in the range of a couple of million to one" in favor of
the documentary's conclusions about the caskets, or ossuaries.

Simcha Jacobovici, the Toronto filmmaker who directed the film, said that a
name on one of the ossuaries -- "Mariamene" -- offers evidence that the tomb
is that of Jesus and his family. In early Christian texts, "Mariamene" is
the name of Mary Magdalene, he said.

The very fact that Jesus had an ossuary would contradict the Christian
belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.

Most Christians believe Jesus' body spent three days at the site of the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. The burial site
identified in Cameron's documentary is in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood
nowhere near the church.

In 1996, when the British Broadcasting Corp. aired a short documentary on
the same subject, archaeologists challenged the claims. Amos Kloner, the
first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by
archaeological standards but makes for profitable television.

"They just want to get money for it," Kloner said.

Shimon Gibson, one of three archaeologists who first discovered the tomb in
1980, said Monday of the film's claims: "I'm skeptical, but that's the way I
am. I'm willing to accept the possibility."

The film's claims, however, have raised the ire of Christian leaders in the
Holy Land.

Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in
Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypothesis
holds little weight.

"I don't think that Christians are going to buy into this," Pfann said. "But
skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the
story that so many people hold dear."

"How possible is it?" Pfann said. "On a scale of one through 10 -- 10 being
completely possible -- it's probably a one, maybe a one and a half."

Pfann is even unsure that the name "Jesus" on the caskets was read
correctly. He thinks it's more likely the name "Hanun." Ancient Semitic
script is notoriously difficult to decipher.

Kloner also said the filmmakers' assertions are false. "The names on the
caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time," he said.

William Dever, an expert on near eastern archaeology and anthropology, who
has worked with Israeli archeologists for five decades, said specialists
have known about the ossuaries for years.

"The fact that it's been ignored tells you something," said Dever, professor
emeritus at the University of Arizona. "It would be amusing if it didn't
mislead so many people."

Osnat Goaz, a spokeswoman for the Israeli government agency responsible for
archaeology, said the Antiquities Authority agreed to send two ossuaries to
New York, but they did not contain human remains. "We agreed to send the
ossuaries, but it doesn't mean that we agree with" the filmmakers, she said.

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THE JESUS FAMILY TOMB:
THE DISCOVERY, THE INVESTIGATION, AND THE EVIDENCE
THAT COULD CHANGE HISTORY
By Simcha Jacobovici (Author), Charles Pellegrino (Author)
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco (February 27, 2007)
Language: English
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #349 in Books

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061192023/newheavenneweart

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THE LOST TOMB OF JESUS DISCOVERY CHANNEL WEBSITE:
http://www.discovery.com/tomb/

ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/about/about.html

EXPLORE THE TOMB:
(Includes diagram of tomb, tomb discovery outline, photos of ossuaries and
engravings, a downloadable pdf that describes and illustrates evidence, and
an outline of supporting evidence)
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/explore/explore.html

LAND OF JESUS:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/land/land.html

FILMMAKERS AND EXPERTS:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/bios/bios.html

THEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/theology/theology.html

DISCUSSION FORUM:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/forum/forum.html

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PREVIOUS NHNE NEWS LIST ARTICLES:

UPDATE 2: THE JESUS FAMILY TOMB (2/25/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12639

UPDATE 1: THE JESUS FAMILY TOMB (2/25/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12638

DOCUMENTARY: JAMES CAMERON TO REVEAL CAVE JESUS BURIED IN (2/24/2007):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/12634

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RELATED IN SEARCH OF JESUS LIST ARTICLES:

60 MINUTES ON OSSUARY OF JAMES (BROTHER OF JESUS) (12/21/2004):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/128

FAKE OSSUARY LEADS TO INVESTIGATION OF WIDESPREAD FORGERIES (2/24/2004):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/100

SCHOLARS URGE MORE STUDY OF OSSUARY INSCRIPTION (11/25/2003):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/70

"JESUS BOX" IS A FAKE, ISRAELI EXPERTS RULE (6/19/2003):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/50

OSSUARY OF JAMES CLOSER TO BEING AUTHENTICATED (4/18/2003):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/47

"BROTHER OF JESUS" BONE-BOX PLOT THICKENS (11/18/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/41

SCRIPT EXPERT: OSSUARY WAS GENUINE, INSCRIPTION WAS FAKED (11/18/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/40

OSSUARY OF JESUS' BROTHER SERIOUSLY DAMAGED (11/1/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/38

MORE ON THE NEWLY DISCOVERED OSSUARY OF JAMES (10/21/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/36

BURIAL BOX OF CHRIST'S BROTHER DISCOVERED? (10/21/2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insearchofjesus/message/35

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Published by David Sunfellow
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