Burns Lecture: Ossuaries and the burials of Jesus and James
2026 Burns Lectures: Archaeology of the Holy Land
Jodi Magness is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an archaeologist, she has participated in over twenty excavations in Israel and Greece. Magness has written numerous books, including Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades (2024); Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth (2019); and The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (2002).
Ossuaries and the burials of Jesus and James
In 2002, an ossuary inscribed "James son of Joseph brother of Jesus" surfaced in the hands of a private collector. A few years later, a Discovery Channel documentary and related book claimed that the tomb of Jesus and his family has been found in Jerusalem.
In this slide-illustrated lecture, we examine the validity of these sensational claims in the light of archaeological and historical evidence for ancient Jewish tombs and burial customs in Jerusalem, including the burials of Jesus and his brother James.
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