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Tomb of Jesus 'found in cave'
23/02/2007 14:37 - (SA)

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Jerusalem - The makers of a new documentary, to be aired for the first time at a news conference in New York on 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 on 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."

Did Jesus have a son?

The second Maria is hypothesised 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.

- SAPA

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	Why believe archaeologists???? 23/02/2007 15:15 Its amazing that someone who does not believe in Christianity all of a sudden believes that Jesus is real and that the supposed tomb that they have found belongs to the same Jesus that they do not beleive ever existed. I am really not interested in anything they have to stay, I will cling to my faith and belief and will not be shaken!!!! - Joy

	Denouncing religion 23/02/2007 15:24 It is strange how so many archeolgists and scientists look for reasons to condemn the Christian religion. All these so called findings in the last few years have mostly been directed at the Christian Religion. They are so focused on proving the religion wrong yet they have no solid proof of anything they have ever said. All they ever had is theories well by now their should have been more proof to all these theories. - Raymond Thomas

	Are all archaeologists anti-Christs? 23/02/2007 15:29 Joy - Are all archaeologists anti-Christs? or are there some of them that also believe? Or is it just imposible to be both? - Marcel

	What a waist of time!!! 23/02/2007 15:35 If does not exist,(Which He does)why does the world make such a fuss about Him??? Why is there not one movie where His Name is not used? Why not use the false gods they believe in like allah or budha etc. The Bible fortells that this is a war against Gods Word which is His Son, the Risen Messiah!...and many are deceived sadly by such nonsense as this article... - Regardt

	Archaelogists!!!! 23/02/2007 15:37 First and foremost,the mistake was made by Jesus immediate families-they were supposed to know well were the tomb is-now!some research shows that the tomb belonged to Jesus and He might had a son-this rediculous-we never had of that- - GilbertR

	Jesus tomb found 23/02/2007 15:38 Amazing, remember Jesus was buried in another man tomb, and then he rose from the dead and the tomb was empty. He appeared to about 500 witnesses,which is far more then any court would require for positive proof. People want the story of Jesus to be shaken, because they do not want to bow the knee to him, but they will, it is written, "Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." - vernon

	Tomb of Jesus 23/02/2007 15:44 how true is this I wonder????? - Mzitho

	caskets??? 23/02/2007 15:48 By the way, they did not use caskets back then, it's from egyptian origin. I have been in that tomb, and ITS EMPTY!!! - Regardt

	blah blah blah.same old same old.... 23/02/2007 15:48 as a christian i sometimes wonder, why scientist' never go after the muslim faith. i know why, because they would be pursecuted and there would be an uprising etc etc.the reason why we christians dont worry about these "findings", is the fact that we are comfortable and have nothing to hide or become overly aggresive about.i know who my God is and that he is the Only Living God.that is all that matters.migael - migael

	Jesus tomb 23/02/2007 15:49 Jesus's body cannot be found, He was taken into heaven. He is alive and very well. I would like to see their faces when He comes back. - Derick

	Those who mock will suffer 23/02/2007 15:51 Those who mock our Lord Jesus Christ will have to bear the consquence. To use the name of the Lord to make money is pure blasphemy!! They couldn't prove the evolution theory after 130 years no they are heading straight for Jesus. - Creationist

	No one can claim facts of the religion 23/02/2007 15:51 It is interesting to see how people react when reseach in attempt to separate facts from theory is dane. Noone can claim that the issue of Christ has been proven without questions. All our understanding is based on theories not facts, let Reseachers do their work without any fears of being intimidated by society groups & the fact that they continue with these reseaches should not qualify them as anti-Christ. I'm dying to know what happened to Jesus without being limited by theortical dogma - Opa

	A thought 23/02/2007 15:52 As the article states the names Mary and Joseph and Jesus were among the most common names at the time. It is like saying I found the grave of Nadia and Mohammed or John and Ann...it means so little. I just remember that Joseph is thought to have passed away some time before Jesus was crusified and since Jesus' grave was bought at the time of his death it would seem that he wasn't burried in his father's grave. - Kirstin

	i agree with vernon 23/02/2007 15:53 The King is very much ALIVE! all will bow the knee and confess! We also understand why news24 or the media would publish like this...just to get believers blood boiling, but hey, we're not the ones that are confused!. thats it - Regardt

	jesus 23/02/2007 15:56 i dont know why the documentary is made because there is enough proof that there is a JESUS,SON OF GOD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH.the people who still want to proof something must just go to a bookshop and buy themselves a book called THE HOLY BIBLE and read it. that is enough proof!!! - heila

	Relax 23/02/2007 15:56 The fear generated from ignorance of other beliefs can be dangerous. One must remember that through every great phase of humanity, from the roman's to the spartans, all their gods have been forgotten and we today think of it as ridiculous. i mean who prays to zeus now? yet in his time he was considered the king of gods and had die hard followings.In 2000 years people could laugh at our gods.Embrace all religions and let it be an individual choice which u chose to follow,they all lead to one god. - kamalan

	Its only Science 23/02/2007 15:58 Joy um, I am an Atheist and know through historical findings that Jesus did in fact exist. But then so did Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Napoleon and Hitler - no dispute here at all. I think you may have the wrong end of the stick here. Raymond - Proof? Ah but, the burden of proof is on the Christian, not the historian or archeologist. Science = Fact Religion = Faith. nuf said - Dean

	See it for what it is... 23/02/2007 15:59 It's a money making scheme, riding on the Dan Brown money making principle. Please just open your eyes... the director of Terminator was involved. No Hollywood high-profile would ever waste his time on something if the returns don't justify it. If there is no evidence, they will do what Hollywood does best... create evidence spawned from creativity. Just move on, nothing to see here besides good fiction. - JC

	Faith? 23/02/2007 16:01 Why would this be considered denouncing Christianity? If it were found to be true, it should be absolute proof that Jesus existed and should be cause to reinforce your faith. And what would be so wrong for Jesus to have married and had children? We believe God wants us to marry and procreate, why couldn't He have wanted the same thing for His son? History has usually been written from a very male-centric viewpoint. From a time when women were not deemed important (how much has really changed, I wonder?), it would be understandable that women would be marginalised and not given due consideration in respect of the role they could have played in Jesus's life. If Jesus had had a son, would it change the fact that He died for us? Would it negate the wonderful teachings He shared with us? Would it change any of the miracles he performed? Why is it so wrong to want answers? It's the nature of man - the desire to understand our world, our history, our culture, our beliefs. Is your faith so poor that any question can shake it? - Nicole

	Tomb of Jesus 23/02/2007 16:01 This is just another onslaught on Christianity and it will get worse. If you are interested in Jesus Christ then read the word of God. - Andre

	Jesus 23/02/2007 16:03 Why don't we spend more time solving world problems and not spend so much time and energy on solving riddles... - Johan

	Tomb of Jesus 'found in cave' 23/02/2007 16:13 Another theory. Sounds good though. Is this better proof than the writers who claimed that Jesus was seen by 500 people? ( Some of whom were alive then ). With the utmost respect to our Muslim brothers, I am yet to see any documetary or TV channel trying to disprove the Prophet Mohammed or his writings. - Joe B

	again 23/02/2007 16:13 When it comes to Christianity and faith we as Christians cannot be politically correct, Jesus is Jesus and He is the one and only Messiah, this article is interesting , but that's all it will ever be interesting, there will always be someone who wants to discredit the Word of God... - jonathan


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