The Talpiot Tomb And Jewish Burial Practices
THE TALPIOT TOMB AND
JEWISH BURIAL PRACTICES
Photo: Getty Images
At first almost no one noticed. Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner reported that on March 28, 1980, the entrance to a Jewish burial tomb was discovered in the East Talpiot region of Jerusalem.1 At that time, there was no hint of the controversy that would follow later. Actually, little happened or was published on the subject over the next fifteen years. Then during the Easter season of 1996, the BBC broadcast a documentary entitled, “The Body in Question.”2 Still there was not much of a splash.
Photo: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
The undisputed facts of the case were quite simple. In the Talpiot Tomb, ten ossuaries, or stone bone boxes, were found, six of which had names inscribed on them. The controversy arose as certain individuals tried to match those names to particular historical figures, including Jesus of Nazareth.
Professional archaeologist Eliot Braun was the first to be dispatched to the site, according to Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino. Yosef Gat, an antiquities inspector, went as well. Kloner, another Israeli archaeologist and Ph.D. student, also joined this team of investigators.3