The Lost Tomb of Jesus
| The Lost Tomb of Jesus | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Simcha Jacobovici |
| Country of origin | US/Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Felix Golubev Ric Esther Bienstock |
| Distributor | Koch Vision, Discovery Channel, and Vision TV |
| Release | |
| Original release |
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The Lost Tomb of Jesus is a documentary co-produced and first broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007, covering the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb. It was directed by Canadian documentary and film maker Simcha Jacobovici and produced by Felix Golubev and , while James Cameron served as executive producer. (Jacobovici and Cameron had previously created The Exodus Decoded.) The film was released in conjunction with a book about the same subject, The Jesus Family Tomb, issued in late February 2007 and co-authored by Jacobovici and Charles R. Pellegrino. The documentary and book's claims are the subject of controversy within the archaeological and theological fields, as well as among linguistic and biblical scholars.
The film describes the finding of the Talpiot Tomb during a housing construction project, and posits that it was the family tomb of Jesus. The film states that ten ossuaries were found in the cave, of which six are the subject of the film. Further, it claims that one of the ten ossuaries went missing years ago, presumably stolen.
The excavation report for the predecessor of the Israel Antiquities Authority was written by Amos Kloner, now professor of archaeology at Israel's Bar-Ilan University. Kloner dissociated himself from the claims made in the documentary. He said it was incorrect to call it "never before reported information" and that he had published all the details in the journal Antiqot in 1996. He had not said it was the tomb of Jesus' family. "I think it is very unserious [sic] work. I do scholarly work…," Kloner said. "[This film] is all nonsense."
Six of the nine remaining ossuaries bear inscriptions. The Lost Tomb of Jesus posits that three of those carry the names of figures from the New Testament. The meanings of the epigraphs are disputed. The makers of the documentary claim that four leading epigraphers have corroborated their interpretation of the inscriptions. As translated in The Lost Tomb of Jesus and The Jesus Family Tomb, they read as follows:
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