The Jesus Family Tomb tells the story of what may very well be the greatest archaeological find of all time: the discovery and investigation of the tomb belonging to Jesus' family. The tomb in question houses ossuaries (bone boxes) with inscriptions bearing the names of Jesus of Nazareth, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Judas, the son of Jesus. This crypt has been overlooked and ignored for years and exists today under a patio just outside of Jerusalem. The authors have tracked down the location and been granted unequaled access to inspect the findings within the tomb. The artifacts were found, recorded, and catalogued by professional archaeologists in a controlled setting. There is no question of their authenticity.
This is a story that is destined to grab international headlines and raise fundamental questions about the origins of Christianity. The question will undoubtedly arise: are these inscriptions referring to a Jesus and Mary other than the Jesus and Mary of the Gospels? To this end, the listener participates in one of the most controversial investigations of an archaeological find in history. Starting with critical DNA testing from the human remains, the authors, with the help of top scholars and industry leaders, walk us through the actual timeline of the discovery, including an interview with the man who stumbled across the original unearthing of the tomb in 1980. They also detail the paleographic analysis of the ossuaries; analyze the symbology of the tomb and the ossuaries; reveal the importance of the names, using both the New Testament and Apocrypha; and evaluate the patina residue and the statistical probabilities of the cluster of names in the specific location.
A fascinating combination of history, archaeology, and theology, the revelations in this audiobook will change the way we think about God, religion, and everything we have learned about the life and death of Jesus.
