Posted on 09/30/2006 9:03:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The ossuary was discovered in 1941 by archaeologists Eliezer L. Sukenik and Nahman Avigad of Jerusalem's Hebrew University and came to light through a systematic survey of tombs in the Kidron Valley, south of Jerusalem's Old City and the Arab village of Silwan. This ossuary and ten others were found as an intact assemblage in a tomb chamber that had survived the centuries untouched by tomb robbers, with its blocking stone still in place. In short, there is absolutely no question about this object's provenance and authenticity... The burial cave was a single, rock-hewn chamber without niches of any sort, only benches along three walls, a tomb style characteristic of the First Temple period (tenth to early sixth century B.C.E.). However, all the pottery finds inside, including a distinctive type of Herodian oil lamp, pointed conclusively to the time of the tomb's last use: the first century C.E., before the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in the year 70... A much more compelling explanation is the simplest and obvious one: that the two names, each written on a separate line, represent two individuals. That is, it is a list of the interred, in which case the ossuary contained the remains of both men! Indeed, such multiple interments in a single ossuary are well–documented from this period. This very suggestion, in fact, was raised by the Catholic scholar J.T. Milik in his brief treatment of this ossuary in the 1950s.
(Excerpt) Read more at bib-arch.org ...
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"On our ossuary, designated as number 9 in the plan ..."
Ossuary, I have to go take a nap.
Interesting,
thanks once more.
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