Those who are familiar with Jewish burial practices are aware that during the period in Jewish History when the Ossuary form of burial was used, it was common practice to transfer the bones of more than on family member in to a single ossuary.



When the ossuary of Caiaphas was found, two sets of bones were found within. One set of a man in his 60s and and second set of a young boy about age 6.

So it would not be surprising to find out that the name on the "Magadalene" ossuary could be two names. The change in scipt from Greek of the first century to a leter dated script would simply indicate the second individual died at a later date and the bones transfered after a year of decay to the already opccupied ossuary. There is nothing defiling about this practice.

Dr. Robert B. Turcotte


Reprintted from PPNews

'Jesus Tomb' Wrong: Magdalene Ossuary Misidentified
March 14th, 2007
By PPN Staff

Dr. Stephen Pfann, paleographer at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, asserts in his online paper "Mary Magdalene Is Now Missing" that the ossuary claiming to be Mary Magdalene's by the filmakers of "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" was misidentified.

According to Pfann, the ossuary the filmakers claim reads "Mariamene e Mara" -- translated as "Mary, known as master" (source) or "Mary the Master" -- which is concluded to be Mary Magdalene's, a Gospel figure that followed Jesus after he forgave her of her sins, actually reads: "Mariame and Mara" - translated also as "Mary and Martha".

The ossuary was the resting place for the bones of two women. According to Pfann, the the first word of the inscription ("Mariame") was written in the contemporary Greek of the first century. The second and third words were written in a cursive style, and therefore by another individual at a later date.

Dr. Pfann's paper on his findings is significant because it removes a major link in James Cameron's overall claim in the movie: that Mary Magdalene married Jesus and had a son named Joshua.