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Introduction
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1| ryan byrne & bernadette mcnary-zak Introduction World Exclusive! Evidence of Jesus Written in Stone Thus ran the cover of the popular newsstand magazine Biblical Archaeology Review (bar) in the autumn of 2002.∞ In a private antiquities collection, Sorbonne professor Andre Lemaire had discovered an Aramaic inscription on an ancient Jewish ossuary—a burial box for skeletal remains—that read, ‘‘Jacob [James] son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.’’ The find was heralded as the final resting place of James, the brother of Jesus of Nazareth.≤ The New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post, Le Monde, and other newspapers around the world acclaimed the ossuary as perhaps the greatest archaeological find of all time. The Lehrer News Hour, 60 Minutes, the Discovery Channel, the Tonight Show, and the New Yorker all o√ered perspectives on the potential significance of the discovery. On November 7, 2002, the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart o√ered the barb: ‘‘Heaven’s Crate: scientists have found the burial box of Jesus’ brother James, who was sort of the Emilio Estevez of the Holy Land.’’ The abstruse pop culture reference was apt, in part because James had never enjoyed a prominent role in Protestantism, while Catholicism could not grant him a blood relationship with Jesus, the son of a perpetual virgin. In other words, the religious public needed a kind of introduction to James. It fell to scholars, specifically biblicists and epigraphers, to repackage James as a central Christian figure and cause for religious excitement. It fell to the media to sensationalize the find and polemicize its potential theological meaning. These choices of deliberate interpretation o√er us an instructive look at the commercialization of biblical antiquity, the academy’s dialogue with byrne & mcnary-zak 2 The James Ossuary in its hallowed context in the Royal Ontario Museum (With permission of the Royal Ontario Museum ∫ rom; photo credit: Brian Boyle) religion, and religious people’s responses to the interpretation framed for them. The interests of scholars and faith communities converged with the discovery of the James Ossuary, an ordinary limestone box that the media transformed into a relic overnight and a forgery only a few months later. Nearly 100,000 visitors flocked to see the ossuary in the short time it resided on display in Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (rom) in late 2002. At first glance, the phenomenon resembled a pilgrimage of sorts. And why not? The box bore the name ‘‘James,’’ who may have been the brother of Jesus identified in the New Testament. Print and Internet media had sensationalized the ancient Jewish burial box as an archaeological connection to Jesus, a complication for Catholic doctrine, and a relic of enduring religious significance. In keeping with the curators’ wishes to accommodate displays of reverence from the visiting public, the museum exhibit was designed to feel like a sanctuary, with deep red-purple walls visible through a dimly lit room punctuated by a shaft of raking light illuminating the box. The opening lines of the exhibit informed visitors [18.209.209.246] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 03:34 GMT) Introduction 3 that the James Ossuary was a ‘‘tangible relic’’ that ‘‘puts us in contact with an age when there were still people alive who knew Jesus of Nazareth.’’≥ Indeed, the initial staging and reception of the ossuary focused as much, or possibly more, on its appeal to the interests of religion and religious people as to its historical or archaeological importance. In the summer of 2003, however, a blue-ribbon panel of experts declared the artifact’s inscription a modern forgery, and the Israeli police arrested its owner in a sting foreshadowing a sensational trial that began in late 2005.∂ Featuring an extensive witness list of international experts in ancient inscriptions and geochemistry, the Israeli prosecution’s case initiated a long and detailed examination of the most obscure of topics, yet one perhaps freighted with deeply resonant consequences for people who follow material developments in matters of faith. As the ossuary trial confronted the ambiguity surrounding the discovery and vetting of this object, the phenomenon it created still requires explanation. Why did the James Ossuary elicit such a passionate response from believers, scholars, and the media? Why do some still interpret its inscription along denominational lines, thereby emphasizing the evidentiary relevance to traditional claims about Jesus Christ? jewish burial and ossuaries in roman palestine Burial is both an emotional and intellectual channel of release; its customs absorb pain, fury, horror...