Crack cleaves the word "Jesus" in two on box
Hulo
Is this a sign... Probably that the reign of Antichrist has begun?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Artifact cracked en route to Toronto
Uproar over damage to stone box linked to Jesus's brother
Joseph Brean and Anne Marie Owens
National Post
Saturday, November 02, 2002
TORONTO - Biblical scholars were outraged yesterday to hear that an ancient
stone box that could be one of the greatest archeological discoveries of our
time shattered into several pieces while being shipped from Israel to the
Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
The box is believed to have contained the bones of James, the brother of
Jesus, and could be the first archeological evidence of Jesus's existence
"Here, when we know the value, know how precious it is, this terrible thing
happens," said Hershel Shanks, editor of the journal that announced the
discovery of the box last month. Called an ossuary, the box is inscribed:
"Ya'akov [James], son of Yosef [Joseph], brother of Yeshua [Jesus]."
A deep, diagonal crack through the inscription now cleaves the word "Jesus"
in two.
The pale brown, solid limestone artifact was discovered near Jerusalem by a
local Arab man about 16 years ago, emptied of the bones and sold to a
collector, who showed it to a French scholar earlier this year.
It has been scientifically proven to be made of limestone quarried from
Jerusalem's Mount Scopus, and has been dated to approximately the time of
James' martyrdom around the year 63. Analysis of the flowing script, and the
fact that ossuaries went out of fashion in 70, further suggest its
authenticity.
The ROM acknowledged yesterday that existing superficial cracks had worsened
and new ones appeared during transit, but said the ossuary remains
structurally sound.
"I don't think you could slip a dime into the crack," said Dan Rahimi, the
ROM's director of collections management. "It hasn't broken. But we're very,
very concerned about the cracks in the box, which make the piece itself
unstable."
According to the museum workers who unpacked the shipment, however, the
cracks go clean through the inch-thick rock and the pieces had started to
fall away from each other.
\For shipment, the ossuary was not packed in a double wooden crate as is
usually done with such fragile and irreplaceable artifacts, but rather in a
cardboard box lined with plastic bubble wrap, the National Post has learned.
Packaging and transport were arranged by the owner through Peltransport, a
major Israeli shipping company.
"We wouldn't have packed it that way," Mr. Rahimi said.
Yesterday, the ossuary lay on a table in a cluttered basement workshop, near
the loading dock where it arrived and still surrounded by bubble wrap and a
base of cardboard. Flecks of rock and dust had fallen on to the wrapping
from the cracks that are visible on three of four sides. The cover is
undamaged.
The major crack extends horizontally around three sides, each of which has
also been broken vertically.
The ossuary is now held together by a band of white paper, which obscures
the famed inscription, written in Aramaic, "Yaqob bar Joseph ahiade Yeshua."
A crack runs through the word "Jesus."
A source who has seen the damaged ossuary said he and other biblical
scholars are worried that doomsday Christian sects will think this accident
is a metaphysical recollection of Jesus's death, as recorded in the gospel
of Mark, when the curtain in the Temple of Jerusalem "was torn in two, from
top to bottom."
"The mystics will take this as spiritually significant, as the second
cleaving," the source said.
Andy O'Mara, the ROM's manager of technical services for collections, said
the flimsy packing technique came as a surprise to his team, who opened the
package yesterday morning after allowing it to acclimatize for 12 hours.
"Not a happy moment," he said, adding that the cardboard box is being stored
in the museum vault for insurance inspectors.
The box is insured by its owner for US$2-million. He purchased it for less
than US$700 during the late 1980s.
The owner has seen pictures of the damage and given permission for the ROM
to repair the box with special adhesives, museum CEO William Thorsell said.
Mr. Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archeology Review, which broke the news
of the discovery in its November issue, said the terrible irony of this
accident is that the ossuary was in such good condition even after many
years of shabby treatment.
"This is very discouraging to hear and very alarming," said Kyle McCarter,
an expert in ancient writing and chair of the Biblical and Ancient Near
Eastern Studies department at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
He said the accident illustrates and justifies the reluctance of museums to
ship their artifacts around the world. "It's terribly regrettable," he said.
Israel granted a four-month export licence for the ancient burial box early
this week. Mr. Thorsell said yesterday the public exhibition will go ahead
as planned in two weeks.
Roger Pigeau, general manager of special services for Brinks Canada, the
security company that transported the box from Hamilton International
Airport to Toronto on Thursday, after it arrived from Tel Aviv via New York,
would not divulge details of the shipment. "We may have the need to
transport it again," he said.
Asked whether special arrangements were made for the artifact, he said: "We
don't treat any valuables different than others."
Robert Eisenman, a biblical scholar who wrote the book James, the Brother of
Jesus, said the reports about the ossuary's journey add to the skepticism he
has had about it from the beginning.
"Now that this has happened, now that this individual appears to have packed
it in such a slapdash manner, just adds to my worries," said Dr. Eisenman,
professor of Middle East Religions and Archeology at California State
University, who has questioned the authenticity of the artifact. "There are
lots of questions one would like to ask the owner of this ossuary."
Simcha Jacobovici, a Toronto filmmaker who is shooting a documentary on the
ossuary for the Discovery channel, said: "As a human being, I'm sorry that
it got damaged, but as a filmmaker my story just got bigger. My star is
about to go into surgery. That's dramatic."
The ROM plans to exhibit the ossuary from Nov. 16 to Dec. 29.
THE JOURNEY:
Tel Aviv to New York
- Packaged by the owner and shipped using Peltransport Ltd., a company based
in Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. The company is an agent of ATE Group, an
international freight company that says its aim is to provide "the best
available service through commitment, dedication and quality." The package
was flown on El Al, the Israeli airlines renowned for its tight security
measures.
New York to Hamilton
- Flown on an unknown airline from John F. Kennedy Airport to Hamilton
International Airport. The Hamilton airport calls itself "Toronto's
hassle-free alternative airport," specializing in courier and cargo business
and says it is "Canada's No. 1 airport in terms of freighter aircraft."
Hamilton to Toronto
- Transported by road on a Brink's Inc. armoured truck. The international
security company has as its logo, "Protecting our people and customers'
assets since 1859."
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>
>Is this a sign... Probably that the reign of Antichrist has begun?
Is THAT one of the signs mentioned in Revelations??
To reply by email, remove the XYZ.
Lumber Cartel (tinlc) #2063. Spam this account at your own risk.
It's your SIG, say what you want to say....
Barbarossa
Hulo heeft geschreven in bericht <3dc5...@post.usenet.com>...
>**** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com ****
>
>Is this a sign... Probably that the reign of Antichrist has begun?
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Artifact cracked en route to Toronto
>Uproar over damage to stone box linked to Jesus's brother
I find it very amusing. Take the Bible in your hands and read.
Where do you read about about a brother of Jesus? Nowhere!
How must this come about. Was Mary pregnant twice? Where
do you find that in the Bible?
To even speak about a possible brother of Jesus seems
quite anti-christ to me!
Could this well be a jewish- or muslim joke to make Jesus
much less THE Son of God?
Think about it and think about it again folks. Something is
really stinking here.
Regards,
Barbarossa
Woodswun
>
>Hulo heeft geschreven in bericht <3dc5...@post.usenet.com>...
>>**** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com ****
>>
>>Is this a sign... Probably that the reign of Antichrist has begun?
>>--------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Artifact cracked en route to Toronto
>>Uproar over damage to stone box linked to Jesus's brother
>
>I find it very amusing. Take the Bible in your hands and read.
>Where do you read about about a brother of Jesus? Nowhere!
>How must this come about. Was Mary pregnant twice? Where
>do you find that in the Bible?
Try reading the New Testament.
>
>To even speak about a possible brother of Jesus seems
>quite anti-christ to me!
Not at all, it's in the Bible. Don't you recall the little speech He gave
about who is truly His brother or His mother?
>
>Could this well be a jewish- or muslim joke to make Jesus
>much less THE Son of God?
Certainly not!
>
>Think about it and think about it again folks. Something is
>really stinking here.
Maybe it's in whatever religious services you've been attending (or not), but
not in any claims about Jesus having brothers. That's completely biblical.
Woods
Mark
news:Zljx9.57666$c51.19...@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
> In article <3dc5baf3$0$73817$ba62...@news.skynet.be>, "Barbarossa"
<fa07...@skynet.be> wrote:
> >
> >>Is this a sign... Probably that the reign of Antichrist has begun?
> >>--------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>Artifact cracked en route to Toronto
> >>Uproar over damage to stone box linked to Jesus's brother
> >
> >I find it very amusing. Take the Bible in your hands and read.
> >Where do you read about about a brother of Jesus? Nowhere!
> >How must this come about. Was Mary pregnant twice? Where
> >do you find that in the Bible?
>
> Try reading the New Testament.
In particular: Matthew 13.54-56
"Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph
and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?"
Four brothers and two sisters last I counted.
Not bad for a perpetual virgin.
;)
John F Lemke
>
> To even speak about a possible brother of Jesus seems
> quite anti-christ to me!
>
> Could this well be a jewish- or muslim joke to make Jesus
> much less THE Son of God?
>
> Think about it and think about it again folks. Something is
> really stinking here.
>
> Regards,
> Barbarossa
Galatians 1:18-19
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode
with him fifteen days. [19] But other of the apostles saw I none, save James
the Lord's brother.
Just trying to help.
Peter Lemesurier
either wrote or (if so marked) quoted:
>
>I find it very amusing. Take the Bible in your hands and read.
>Where do you read about about a brother of Jesus? Nowhere!
>How must this come about. Was Mary pregnant twice? Where
>do you find that in the Bible?
>
>To even speak about a possible brother of Jesus seems
>quite anti-christ to me!
>
>Could this well be a jewish- or muslim joke to make Jesus
>much less THE Son of God?
>
>Think about it and think about it again folks. Something is
>really stinking here.
Mark 3:31: 'Then his mother and his brothers arrived...'
Matthew 13:55: 'Is not his mother called Mary, his brothers James,
Joseph, Simon and Judas?'
Galatians 1:19: 'I stayed with him for a fortnight, without seeing any
other of the apostles, except James the Lord's brother.'
Gee, I wish some of you Bible-thumpers would actually read the Bible!
"The Bible means exactly what it says, except when it means what I say
it means."
--
Rev. Ino Wital
--
Peter
Mark
news:h3kcsu88r3hj5iqsl...@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 4 Nov 2002 01:12:57 +0100, "Barbarossa" <fa07...@skynet.be>
> either wrote or (if so marked) quoted:
>
> >really stinking here.
>
> Mark 3:31: 'Then his mother and his brothers arrived...'
>
> Matthew 13:55: 'Is not his mother called Mary, his brothers James,
> Joseph, Simon and Judas?'
>
> Galatians 1:19: 'I stayed with him for a fortnight, without seeing any
> other of the apostles, except James the Lord's brother.'
>
> Gee, I wish some of you Bible-thumpers would actually read the Bible!
Ohhh.... and risk shattering long held beliefs?
No, no... that simply wouldn't do!
Much safer to listen to what someone else thinks he heard someone else say
he *believes* it says... and then interpret these rumours against ones own
pre-conceived notions and ideas.