I was fortunate enough to be taking Archaeology in college
when the “James Ossuary” was revealed to the public. It was an exciting event
for the class to talk about, and, as I recall, it was a topic everyone wanted
for their final term paper. Alas, our teacher made us all pick a different
topic. I ended up writing about the bytdwd inscription found at Tel Dan, but
that’s another story.
The ossuary (bone burial box) is engraved with the
inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. If this inscription is
authentic to the first century it might refer to the James in the New
Testament, the head of the Jerusalem
church. This would truly be an exciting find. Unfortunately, there were several
problems with the ossuary when it was made public. First of all, it wasn’t
found in situ. It was part of a private collection and purchased on the
antiquities market in the 1970s. This automatically casts a shade of suspicion
over the find in the minds of many professionals. When it was initially
revealed, a number of professional epigraphers and paleographers concluded that
it was authentic and from the latter half of the first century AD. However,
other scholars registered skepticism about the possibility that the find could
be authentic. And even if the ossuary proves to bear an authentic first century
inscription, what is the likelihood that the Jesus, James, and Joseph in the
inscription are identical with the Biblical characters.
Even now, over a decade later, the ossuary is a matter of
controversy. In 2004, the Israeli Antiquities Authority released a statement
saying that they had tested the box and that it was a late forgery. However,
other independent studies seemed to confirm the first century date. The owner
of the ossuary was put on trial by the Israeli government for forgery and was
found not guilty, but this doesn’t settle the matter of whether the box is
authentic.
This particular book, The Brother of Jesus, written soon after the ossuary went
public, is really two books in one. The first part of the book, written by
Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, gives the
archaeological background of the box. As one of the people responsible for the
public unveiling of the ossuary, he gives the inside story of how the box came
to the attention of Andre Lemaire, and how he recognized the possibility
inherent in the inscription that the owner had never considered. Shanks tells
the background story on the ossuary and goes on to explain the controversy
surrounding it up to the time the book was written and the methods used to date
the box.
The second part of the book, written by Ben Witherington
III, turns to the character of James himself. He gives a background of who
James was in the New Testament and how he is important to the history of the
Christian church. Some of this is basic info that any Bible reader would know.
However, the most interesting part of his section was the exploration of later
legends that developed around James and the political and theological biases
that led to them. Also he talks about the implications of the ossuary for
various views of the brothers of Jesus in the New Testament, explaining how the
authenticity of the ossuary would affect Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant
theology. He gives a background and evaluation of the origin of the Perpetual
Virginity of Mary doctrine as well. Finally he concludes with a plea for the
significance of James as an equal to the more well known and understood Peter
and Paul.
Overall this was a great book. Both parts were well written
and informative. The second part has probably held up better than the first, as
the debate on the authenticity of the ossuary has moved on since Shanks’s
overview. However, it still stands as a fascinating account of how the ossuary
was made public. If you’re interested in archaeology or New Testament
backgrounds and theology, you’ll probably find this book interesting.
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