Joe Zias, is an outstanding Israeli biblical
anthropologist and scholar who heads up that department at Hebrew
University has been investigating the ongoing "discovery" that attempts
to debunk Christianity. He has graciously provided the attached summary
of his "24 hours per day" work over the past several weeks. He has just
posted this report on his web site at www.joezias.com.
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Viewers Guide to Understanding the Talpiot Tomb 'documentary' to be
aired on the Discovery Channel
by Joe Zias
Scene from the movie Lost Tomb of Jesus |
Throughout the film as well as the marketing circus, one sees
prominently on the façade of the tomb, the dot within the triangle,
minus the base as if this is some mystical Judeo-Christian symbol. Had
they simply taken the time to scan photos in the catalogue of Jewish
ossuaries by LY Rahmani, they would have seen that many ossuaries with
triangular lids have decorative elements or functional elements serving
as handgrips to raise the lid, which resemble the ornament on the tomb
façade. Thusly, the façade motif could easily be seen in and of itself
to resemble an ossuary lid with the tomb itself serving as an ossuary.
A black and white photo of one of the ossuaries in the catalogue is
reproduced for viewers here.
Alternatively, the circular object within the triangle can be
interpreted as either a patera or a wreath, both which appear on a
number of ossuaries as well tomb facades such as the Tomb of 'Absalom'.
Alternatively if you are in the world of film marketing and media hype,
it's the mystical Vonage symbol-reversed. (Apologies to Vonage)
THE SECOND TOMB: There appears in the film a very long and boring
segment whereby Simcha and Co. attempt to lower a camera into a plastic
pipe which for religious reasons has been inserted into the tomb in the
1980's. When they finally succeed with the help of a plumber (sic) they
are able to film the tomb and its contents. They attempt to pass onto
the unsuspecting public that this is a Jewish tomb which they have
discovered, undisturbed for 2,000 years whereas the tomb was known to
the archaeologists in 1980. In fact, Prof. Amos Kloner was in the
process of removing the ossuaries when the ultra-orthodox arrived on
site and forced its closure. Kloner however was able to remove one of
these ossuaries before the arrival of the ultra-orthodox.
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