Posted on 03/29/2002 6:30:21 AM PST by blam
Archeologists believe a 2,000-year-old shrouded body found in a tomb near Jerusalem may have been a witness to Christ's crucifixion.
The bones, and a well-preserved clump of hair, were wrapped in the only shroud from Christ's time to have been found in Israel.
They were discovered by a British archaeologist as he showed students around 1st-century tombs in the Hinnom Valley.
The shroud has been carbon dated to the first 50 years of the 1st century AD. DNA tests on the remains indicate the body was that of a male who died of acute tuberculosis.
News of the discovery, made in 2000, has just only been publicised and will be included in a television documentary on Easter Sunday, says the Daily Telegraph.
Dr Shimon Gibson, who made find, says a shiver ran down his back when he realised what he'd uncovered was a unique find.
He said the tomb had been ransacked by robbers who probably stole valuable artefacts but discarded the shroud and the remains wrapped in it.
Dr Gibson, director of the Jerusalem Archaeological Field Unit, said the tomb was in Akeldama, the "field of blood" referred to in St Matthew's Gospel.
The area is believed to have been bought by Judas with the money he received for betraying Jesus, and was where he later hanged himself. Dr Gibson said the area was now used as a rubbish tip and in "a very poor state".
Dr Gibson added: "Given all the evidence, such as the tomb's prestigious location, the fact that the hair was very clean and the shroud made of wool rather than the cheaper linen normally used, it is probable this man was high born or of a priestly family."
Story filed: 12:07 Friday 29th March 2002
Minor correction needed here. Judas gave the money back to the High Priest.
They, rather then return tainted or blood money back into the treasury, used it to buy the "field of blood" for the burial of the poor. Yes, it was the same place where Judas hanged himself.
Whether it was purchased because of that or he chose that place because of where the money came from is unclear. I have heard it argued both ways.
a. cricket
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