From an Archaeological and Jewish viewpoint, David Dolan nails this one.

Text of forwarded message follows:


>Shalom from Jerusalem,
>
>Local residents and visiting tourists (of which 
>there are many at present) are eagerly waiting 
>to see if snow descends on the capital city in 
>the coming hours, with forecasters warning of 
>that possibility as temperatures dip to freezing 
>overnight.  Meanwhile, I am sending you a copy 
>of my latest commentary for the World Net Daily 
>web site.  It concerns the recent claim that the 
>ancient family tomb of Jesus of Nazareth has 
>been discovered in my old Jerusalem 
>neighborhood, East Talpiot.  In fact, I note 
>that I lived virtually next door to the supposed 
>site for some 15 years before moving to central 
>Jerusalem in 2001.  The commentary features some 
>news released just today concerning the 
>controversy, emanating from a local Christian 
>scholar who is a longtime acquaintance of mine.  Read and enjoy!
>
>I recently learned that a US media interview I 
>did via satellite from my apartment roof for the 
>Harvest TV program, broadcast near the end of 
>last summer’s Lebanon war, had been posted on 
>the popular YouTube web site. It was sparked by 
>the discovery last year of an ancient book of 
>Psalms in an Irish bog, found open to Psalm 83. 
>I note that I’ve written a chapter on that 
>prophetic psalm in my 2001 book ISRAEL IN 
>CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD?  If you would like to 
>look at the posted video, which is still quite 
>timely, click on this link: 
><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ-vmsXgmVA>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ-vmsXgmVA 
>Just ignore the long summertime shadows around 
>my eyes!  The book itself is available from my 
>web site, <http://www.ddolan.com/>www.ddolan.com
>
>Speaking of Ireland (and that’s also timely 
>since this Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day), it 
>appears that a recent intervention by some 
>prominent Irish Christian and Jewish friends has 
>prompted a solution to my journalist visa and 
>Israeli press card situation, which I mentioned 
>for prayer last July.  I will not go into the 
>details here, but I do want to thank those 
>directly involved in this welcome intervention, 
>and also to all of you around the world who prayed for a positive outcome.
>
>With the prospects of another war with Hizbullah 
>forces in Lebanon again looming large before us 
>this year, if not also with their Syrian and 
>Iranian masters, Israel’s top governmental 
>leaders, including Prime Minister Olmert and 
>Defense Minister Peretz, have just been warned 
>that they will be named in an official 
>commission investigation into last summer’s war, 
>apparently in a negative manner.  The report is 
>scheduled to be released next month.  Analysts 
>say this could lead to the collapse of the 
>Olmert government. I will report on that and 
>other important developments in Israel in this 
>month’s Israel News update, to be sent out to you in less than two weeks time.
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>JESUS: DEAD OR ALIVE?
>By David Dolan
>
>Media circuses are hardly rare occurrences here in Jerusalem.
>
>In fact, as I write this column, workers with 
>CNN International are setting up a big blue tent 
>(I kid you not) just across the street from my 
>apartment building, preparing to broadcast a 
>report by correspondent Ben Weideman from 
>underneath the protective canopy on a stormy March afternoon.
>
>I should mention that the view from my central 
>Jerusalem street is usually worth filming 
>whatever the weather, especially facing north 
>toward Mount Zion and the biblical Temple Mount.
>
>That was not the case with my former home in the 
>East Talpiot neighborhood.  While the view from 
>my top floor flat was not all that bad, it was 
>hardly noteworthy.  I mainly looked out at 
>dozens of other tall apartment buildings that 
>dominate the southeast Jerusalem suburb.
>
>But something allegedly quite historic was 
>lurking in the shadows of the stone-faced 
>apartment building located just next to mine: 
>The burial tomb of Jesus, his wife Mary 
>Magdalene and their son Judah, not to mention 
>his Jewish mother and other family members!
>
>Ben Weideman was among hundreds of Israeli and 
>international journalists that recently filmed 
>stirring reports near an innocuous cement slab 
>located in East Talpiot.  The unpretentious slab 
>lies in the corner of a small fenced in rose 
>patch planted along a narrow foot path just 
>below the apartment building that I lived next to for 15 years.
>
>The media was reporting on the “historic 
>discovery,” announced in New York by Titanic 
>film producer James Cameroon and Israeli 
>born-Canadian documentary maker Simcha 
>Jacobovici, that the slab probably covered the 
>entrance to the Jesus Family Tomb!  The stunning 
>late February proclamation was intentionally 
>timed to promote their television program on 
>that riveting theme, broadcast one week later on 
>the US Discovery Channel, and also in Great Britain and here in Israel.
>
>I first got wind of the contention that the 
>bones of Jesus and family were unearthed in my 
>humble neighborhood when the BBC broadcast that 
>momentous claim in a1996 television 
>documentary.  As I walked past the site in the 
>months and years after the screening, usually on 
>my way to the nearby East Talpiot supermarket 
>and post office, I often recalled the relatively 
>short controversy that the British documentary sparked off.
>
>But this time, the dustup seems destined to 
>linger much longer in the air, coming as it does 
>in the titanic wake of Dan Brown’s best selling 
>Da Vinci Code and producer Ron Howard’s subsequent blockbuster film.
>
>There is just one tiny problem with the 
>super-hyped Jesus Tomb claim: Nearly all 
>archeological experts dismiss it out of hand, or 
>at least note it is both highly improbable and 
>entirely unprovable, and therefore hardly worth mentioning.
>
>By now, most everyone has heard the main reason 
>why.  The Hebrew names Yeshua (Jesus), Miriam 
>(Mary), Judah, and Yoseph—all found inscribed on 
>stone burial ossuaries situated inside the 
>ancient tomb when it was discovered by Israeli 
>construction workers in 1980—were extremely 
>common monikers in the time of Jesus.  To allege 
>that they point to the family tomb of 
>Christianity’s revered redeemer is a giant stretch, to say the least.
>
>But Cameroon and Jacobovici claim another name 
>was found inside the tomb that nearly seals 
>their case—Mary Magdalene!  It is almost 
>statistically impossible that her unique second 
>name would be found with the others if we were 
>not talking about the tomb of the world renowned 
>Jesus of Nazareth and his relatives, they maintain.
>
>American scholar Stephen Pfann, who serves as a 
>locally trained textual scholar and paleographer 
>at Jerusalem’s Holy Land University, has just 
>conducted an intensive examination of the 
>ossuary that supposedly held the bones of the 
>Messiah’s alleged bride. He insists that the 
>burial box is inscribed with two apparently 
>unrelated names, the second of them Mara, the 
>Greek version of Martha, not Magdalene.  He 
>discerned that the two names were etched in 
>distinctive styles on the stone ossuary by 
>clearly different hands. Scholars have long 
>known that such burial receptacles often housed 
>the bones of more than one person, mainly for economic reasons.
>
>Professor Pfann, who I’ve known for many years, 
>along with his scholarly wife Claire, noted that 
>neither Cameroon nor Jacobovici are even 
>remotely qualified to put forth such gargantuan 
>contentions, especially given the far reaching 
>implications for the historic Christian 
>faith.  The Israeli filmmaker, who starred in 
>the ratings-rich TV program, shot back that 
>scholars and archeologists are simply upset that 
>he and other modern journalists and documentary 
>makers are “breaking their monopoly” on deciphering ancient artifacts.
>
>Although a professional journalist myself, I am 
>quite happy to have trained electricians fix my 
>broken power lines in my stead, experienced 
>plumbers determine what is wrong with my kitchen 
>pipes, skilled physicians operate on my body, 
>certified dentists fill cavities in my teeth, 
>knowledgeable mechanics work on my car, etc.
>
>As for my personal spiritual beliefs, I don’t 
>expect them to be determined by colorful 
>filmmakers working out of Hollywood or Toronto, 
>no matter how much mammon they procure from their sensational claims.
>
>
>----------
>DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and 
>journalist who has lived and worked in Israel since 1980.
>    * 
> <https://secure.arksupplies.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?search=action&category=BOOK&keywords=all>HOLY 
> WAR FOR THE PROMISED LAND (Broadman & Holman), 
> his latest book, is an overview of the history 
> of the Israel and of the bitter Arab-Israeli 
> conflict that rages there, plus some 
> autobiographical details about the author’s 
> experiences living in the land since 1980. It 
> especially examines the important role that 
> militant Islam plays in the conflict.
>    * 
> <https://secure.arksupplies.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?search=action&category=BOOK&keywords=all>ISRAEL 
> IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD? (Baker/Revell), 
> which examines the political and biblical 
> prospects for a regional attack upon Israel, 
> settlement in the disputed territories, and 
> related topics, is also available for purchase, 
> along with an updated edition of his popular 
> end-time novel, THE END OF DAYS (21st Century Press).
>
>You may order these books at a special discount 
>price by visiting his web site at 
><http://www.ddolan.com>www.ddolan.com, or by 
>phoning toll free 888-890-6938 in North America, 
>or by e mail at: 
><mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]
>
>DOLAN'S NEW DVD, "FOR ZION'S SAKE" is now 
>available for purchase.  Click the title under "BOOKSTORE" for more details.
>
>TO RECEIVE THESE FREE ISRAEL UPDATES DIRECTLY, 
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>
>TO SUBSCRIBE, go 
>to:  <http://www.ddolan.com/subscribe.asp>http://www.ddolan.com/subscribe.asp
>[]
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>
>2004
>
>
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>- Release Date: 3/13/2007 4:51 PM
End of forwarded message text:

John





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