The Secret of the Talpiot Tomb: Unraveling the Mystery of the Jesus Family Tomb

By Gary R. Habermas

In response to recent world news headlines, The Secret of the Talpiot Tomb is a full-color text and visual presentation of the most compelling evidence for Jesus’ victory over death. Written by research professor Gary Habermas, considered by many to be the world’s leading apologist for the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection, this case for Christ’s immortality is placed in the context of new claims made about the alleged bones of Jesus having been discovered in the so-called Talpiot tomb located in southeast Jerusalem.

Habermas examines the controversial case with exceptional clarity and precision, showing a preponderance of evidence against the Talpiot Hypothesis and a compelling argument for Christ’s bodily resurrection.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781433670763

Gary R. Habermas

Gary R. Habermas is one of the world's leading apologists for the historicity of Jesus' resurrection. He is distinguished research professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Habermas has written twenty-seven books. He is a popular speaker having given over 1500 lectures at over 100 universities and in dozens of churches in North America and across the world.

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POSTSCRIPT

PREFACE

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The bodily resurrection of Jesus from death is and has been a core belief of Christians. This claim on the part of Jesus' followers was challenged immediately and has continued to be challenged. One of the boldest approaches to showing that Jesus' bodily resurrection is myth or a theological embellishment and not fact is the claim that came in early 2007: Odds are 600 to 1 that Jesus' bones have been found in a tomb in a southeast suburb of Jerusalem.

Many have criticized the sensationalism of the documentary and book that make this claim. One of the values of the so-called Talpiot Hypothesis is its clarity and boldness. It's a faith shaker. One believer wrote to Christian philosopher William Lane Craig,

My faith has really been shaken by the supposed discovery of Jesus' family tomb. I tell myself this isn't really it, but the nagging doubts remain. Please help me!

Much help of the kind this believer was seeking has been and is available on the Internet. The number of hits on my own website increased sharply in the days following this announcement. The press soon moved on to other stories as Easter came and went. But for many like one whose faith was shaken by the discovery of the Jesus family tomb, they may not have come to a resolution concerning the claim that there's a high probability that Jesus bones have been found.

In this short volume, I have sought to lay bare the claims of the high probability that Jesus' bones have been found and to assess those claims and the evidence offered for them. Understanding how well these claims stand up to scrutiny can be important not just for evaluating this claim but for knowing the solid evidential ground on which Jesus' bodily resurrection rests. Every believer owes it to himself to understand the logic of the resurrection.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

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THE TALPIOT TOMB AND

JEWISH BURIAL PRACTICES

Photo: Getty Images

At first almost no one noticed. Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner reported that on March 28, 1980, the entrance to a Jewish burial tomb was discovered in the East Talpiot region of Jerusalem.¹ At that time, there was no hint of the controversy that would follow later. Actually, little happened or was published on the subject over the next fifteen years. Then during the Easter season of 1996, the BBC broadcast a documentary entitled, The Body in Question.² Still there was not much of a splash.

Photo: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

The undisputed facts of the case were quite simple. In the Talpiot Tomb, ten ossuaries, or stone bone boxes, were found, six of which had names inscribed on them. The controversy arose as certain individuals tried to match those names to particular historical figures, including Jesus of Nazareth.

Professional archaeologist Eliot Braun was the first to be dispatched to the site, according to Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino. Yosef Gat, an antiquities inspector, went as well. Kloner, another Israeli archaeologist and Ph.D. student, also joined this team of investigators.³

Jewish Burial Practices and Jesus' Burial

The Jews required that dead bodies be buried within 24 hours after death. Typically, two sorts of Jewish burial practices were used in the first century A.D. The less common, but better known, involved a burial cave or tomb cut out of the rock that surrounded the city of Jerusalem. Each such tomb included one or more chambers surrounded by rows of loculi, which were burial compartments about the length of a body, also cut into the rock.

First century loculi at Midras. Photo:HolyLandPhotos.org

Each tomb belonged to an extended family and the dead were buried there over several generations. Upon the death of a family member, the dead body was washed, annointed with oil, and then wrapped in a burial shroud. It was then placed in a loculus, with the opening being sealed with a stone slab. Another stone was placed over the outside entrance to the tomb.⁴

First century example of a rolling tombstone from Midras, southwest of Jerusalem. Photo:HolyLandPhotos.org

The body would lie in the tomb for a year or so, during which time the flesh decayed. When only the person's bones remained in the tomb, they were gathered and placed in a stone ossuary (or bone box) and reburied. In a minority of circumstances—about one quarter of the time—names were then carved on the side of the box. Often more than one person was buried in these bone boxes, seriously complicating the matter of later identifying the remains. These ossuaries were only used for 100 years or so.⁵

BURIAL PROCESS

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Cut stone tombs were very expensive, so the more common way to bury the dead was used chiefly by poorer members of Jewish society. In this case, the majority of the population buried their loved ones in simple, individual trench graves dug into the ground, similar to the way we bury our dead today. The dirt was then moved back into the trench and a crude headstone was usually placed at one end of the burial site to mark the spot. This was not at all dishonorable, but was the most common means of burial. In these cases, nothing would remain to rebury after a year.⁶

Of the two sorts of Jewish burial, the use of the rock tomb is better known today, probably due to the case of Jesus' death and burial. Magness notes that the Gospels are not only our earliest sources, but that they accurately describe the burial by Joseph of Arimathea in a loculus of his family's own tomb. The body had to be buried before the Sabbath began that same day at sundown. Otherwise they would have to wait until Saturday night, after the Sabbath ended. However, that would have exceeded the requirement for burying a dead body within 24 hours. Joseph had to act very quickly.

First century loculi at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem. Photo:HolyLandPhotos.org

So Joseph procured Jesus' dead body, wrapped it in linen, included spices, and made sure that it was buried hastily late Friday afternoon in his own family tomb. In this, the Gospels show familiarity with Jewish Law.⁷

The Gospels explain that the women returned to see