JAMES THE JUST The bone box has an inscrption in Aramaic which reads, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." This is the explosively controversial "James Ossuary" which was displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada, 15 Nov 02 - 5 Jan 03. It is also, most likely, the missing "slam dunk" ossuary from the Talpiot tomb discovered in 1980 in Jerusalem. One of the ten ossuaries in the tomb was found to be missing, and this one, which appeared mysteriously in 2002, was the one probably stolen while the tomb was open in 1980. Statistically, when added to the cluster of Jesus family names, it would be a "slam dunk" proof that the Talpiot tomb is the burial place for the Jesus family.
Oded Golan
Oded Golan is shown here with the James Ossuary as displayed in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, 22 November 2002. He was the last owner of the box before it was confiscated by Israel which charged him with fraud and forgery. He was indicted in 29 December 2004 by the Israeli court, but in 2008 an Israeli judge humiliated the Antiquities Authority by declaring that neither the state nor the authority proved their case that the inscription on the ossuary was a forgery. Oded, who maintained his innocence, claims he bought it from Arab dealers in the 1970s, and insisted that the full inscription is authentic: "James son of Joseph brother of Jesus." He may have misremembered when he acquired it so as to remain its owner. In 1976 Israel passed a law saying that all antiquities discovered in Israel belonged to the State. Born in 1951 in Tel Aviv, Oded became the world's largest collector of Jewish antiquities. He is featured in the DVD "James Brother of Jesus" produced by the Discovery Channel. In a delicious irony, it was Simcha Jacobovici who was the writer and film-maker for this docudrama. This DVD is now somewhat out-of-date since the discovery of the Talpiot tomb, but it has some fascinating details which make it worth watching and/or owning. For example, it had been reported in the media that the bone box had a crack through the inscription when it was shipped to Canada. Well, it had much more than a crack: it was in five pieces! It had supposedly been packaged by experts in such matters, but I wonder if it had been sabotaged. In any case, it was expertly repaired at the Museum. Also, the Armenian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem claims to have the bones of James as relics in /or under its main altar. Furthermore, it has a huge mural of St. James. On the mitre of the Bishop is James standing resurrected in his ossuary which is trapazoid - just as the actual James ossuary is in the very unusual shape of a trapazoid! We certainly need to know more about the origins of this magnificent Armenian cathrdral.
CHRISTIANITY is now buried in the mud of history. As a world religion it reeks of the slime of deceit, deception and violence. Where it exists, it manipulates the ignorance and superstition of pious people. At best, it is a fairytale of happy dreams; at worse, it is evil and destructive of human potential. In rare instances, especially as metaphor or spirituality, Christianity has inspired courageous action and compassionate service. It is not unique in these virtues, however. If the Talpiot tomb can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Jesus family is buried there, it will necessitate a radical revision of his mission and his identity. It could just as easily be that the tomb should be called the James Tomb. For it was James who held the group of Jesus followers together; it was James who was called "the Just" because of his superior character and leadership; it was James who held to the Hebrew faith; it was James who was also martyred in 62 by stoning to death; it was James who had the loyalty of the group. James must not be viewed only as the brother of Jesus, or as the opponent of Paul, but as an important character in the Jesus family saga. It is also quite possible that it was this James group that built the Talpiot Tomb and placed three of its members there to defend it against the Romans from being savaged. Three skulls were found outside the tomb, placed in almost ritual fahion, which may have been the guardians of the site.
