A lot of sites have been putting together their top tens for 2008, so I thought I would offer up the top ten pieces of news concerning pseudo-archaeology in 2008. There has been a lot going on, and I am sure there are things I may have missed. If you think there is something that deserves to be in the top ten list, post a comment bellow.
So here we go:
10) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Few people have done more over the years to bring pseudo-archaeology, looting, and biblical literalism to the masses than Indiana Jones. In his latest film Indy deals with ancient astronauts, one of the most longstanding piles of horse manure in archaeology. While Indy continues to further the inaccurate and illegal image of archaeologists to the public, this film does have a number of references to real archaeological theories and a few points where Indy’s disregard for cultural patrimony are addressed.
9)Dr. James Tabor’s Statistics
Dr. Tabor’s treatment of the Talpiot Tomb is ranked so low, because it’s really yesterday’s news. Most archaeologists are over the subject, and realize that Biblical Archaeology is still stuck in the past. Never the less, Tabor has spent the last year saying, “in fact it is very close to 1/2, meaning if we had two tombs to examine, one of them would be the Jesus tomb.” This is, of course, a dramatically incorrect statement of statistics and interpretation. Oh well, maybe next year
8 ) The Queen of Sheba’s Palace (Tie)
Bloomburg News reported that a German research group that set out to find the Ark of the Covenant had found the palace of the Queen of Sheba in Axum Ethiopia. This might be a bit problematic for the number of scholars that don’t think Sheba was in Ethiopia. This was a largely unreported story in the US though, circulating mostly through religious blogs.
8 ) Proof of Romulus and Remus (Tie)
Archaeologists in Rome found a cave, that was likely a ritual site. From this, they extrapolated that Rome was actually founded by Romulus. Don’t get the jump yourself? Neither did P.E. Wiseman from Exeter, who proved his name appropriate when he mentioned how impossible such claims are in archaeology. (Link here)
7) 10,000 BC
This film brought a new image of the past to the public, unfortunately, it left its historical accuracy behind. Really, there was little accurate at all in this film, and it avoided all the interesting things that were actually occurring at this point in human history. To no one’s big surprise, it met with poor reviews and was essentially a grandiose flop.
6) Muslim Sailors in Skeptic
In the fourth issue of Skeptic for 2008, Tim Callahan put together a generally good piece on ancient super cultures. Unfortunately, it was marred by his own personal belief in pre-Columbian contact between Arab sailors and the New World. It’s hard to see Skeptic support such pseudo-science, which is why this event made it so high on my list.
5) Oldest Hebrew Writing Discovered
… or was it? There are a number of problems with the text. First, it may not be Hebrew at all. Second, the dating is still not as exact as needed. Finally, the claims that go with it concern proving the bible. However, it says nothing about the bible (presumably, since it hasn’t been desciphered yet), and is instead used as evidence that stories could be passed down. Niditch has repeatedly made the point that texts aren’t even necessary for this, and I would add that even if they existed, they don’t prove the stories true. (Link here)
4) Looting Archaeologists
I just recently posted on this topic. Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review called for museums to fund archaeological research by buying artifacts. However, this throws out ethics and science turning archaeologists into treasure hunters. Instead of entertaining us with Indy, Mr. Shanks would turn us all into him.
3) Cable Television
Cable television has continued its downward slide with respect to archaeology. Nova, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and other media have grown much more interested in discussing the bible code, historical realities of the bible, or aliens at Tunguska. On top of this, they have added adventurers and actors, like Simcha Jacobovici, who remove the context of archaeology from the shows by a further step. While this is a major problem with the public portrayal of archaeology, the presence of Turin Shrine shows and secret society histories on this channels is so long running that it has become numbing.
2) Creationist Museum and the Cincinnati Zoo
The Cincinnati Zoo decided that it would offer a special ticked allowing reduced prices for those who also attended a Christmas event at the Kentucky Creationist House of Lies… er Museum. This would have been an even bigger event, had the museum not folded like a map when the remainder of the nation found out about it and inundated them with angry calls and emails.
1) Kofels Impact
Jeff Medkeff, who’s passing the skeptics of the world mourned this year, covered this topic quite well here. Essentially, a clay tablet with no current translation was stated as representing an impact at the site of Kofels by a meteorite. Well, as Jeff noted, there was no impact, no crator, and no meteorite. So why make this all up? To sell a book of course. This piece of pseudo-archaeology makes it to number 1 for 2008, because it is perhaps the greatest intellectual fraud of the year in archaeology, as every single noteworthy part of the work is basically a fairy tale.
So that’s it for 2008, I hope everyone had a good year, and that next year is even better. I am sure I will be back with ten more stories in 2009, so get ready.
Filed under: Ancient Super Cultures, Archaeology, Archaeoporn, Looting, Talpiot Tomb | Tagged: 2008, Archaeology, Archaeoporn, top 10
[...] all been done better by other bloggers out there – so for the new year why not have a look at Archaeoporn’s ‘top ten pieces of news concerning pseudo-archaeology in 2008‘ and K. Kris Hirst of About.com:Archaelogy’s ‘Top ten, er, seventeen [...]
[...] Thaddeus Nelson at Archaeoporn has posted the Top Ten Pseudo-Archaeological Subjects of 2008. (Actually, he give eleven since there was a tie for number eight.) Among his more interesting [...]
I’ve researched the subject of the Talpiot tomb for years, long before it became public knowledge following the TV Documentary in 2007, and I believe it’s a very serious find, that warrents further study, not derision following unfounded criticism.
Critics of this find’s magnitude make essentially the following arguments:
1. That the Jesus family would be buried in Nazareth, not Talpiot;
2. That the ‘Jesus’ ossuary would have been inscribed ‘of Nazareth’;
3. That the Jesus family couldn’t have afforded a tomb like the Talpiot tomb;
4. That the “Jesus son of Joseph” ossuary is not inscribed “Yeshua” (Jesus) at all;
5. That the names inscribed on these ossuaries were supposedly common;
6. That the “Mariamne” ossuary didn’t contain the remains of Mary Magdalene, but of two other women;
I believe the first five of these allegations against the book’s premise don’t carry much water. The sixth argument actually supports the conclusion that this is the real thing. My comments:
1. Talpiot is the right place for Jesus’ family tomb- Per Luke, 2:3-4, the family’s LEGAL residence was Bethlehem, not Nazareth. The fact that Joseph and the pregnant Mary could not take the census in Nazareth but had to take it in Bethlehem indicates that Bethlehem was their DOMICILIUM under Roman Law. That basically means that they had no intention to reside in Nazareth permanently. Therefore it would have made little sense for them to have a family tomb in Nazareth, that they wouldn’t be able to frequently visit at a later stage in their lives. They would have wanted a family tomb close to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, easily accessible also to future generations of the family. The fact is indeed that Mary and her children moved to Jerusalem around 30 AD.
2. The traditional name of Jesus in Hebrew, as reflected also in the Talmud, is “Yeshu Hanotzri.” This appellation stems from “Netzer” (Shoot or Branch). It alludes clearly to Isaiah 11:1, indicating the Royal birth of Jesus, to substantiate his claim for Jewish messiahship. Not to indicate the place he comes from.
There’s actually no evidence in Jewish sources, such as the Old Testament or the Mishna and Talmud, that a place called “Nazareth” even existed in or before the first century. I’m not disputing the evidence per the NT, that there was indeed a place called Nazareth. But to the best of my knowledge, there’s no mention of Nazareth at all in any ancient writings outside the New Testament. So the place existed, but nobody knew about it. Therefore there was no reason to call Jesus “of Nazareth.” Either in life or on an ossuary. He was called “Jesus the Branch” (of David) in Hebrew/Aramaic.
The line of argumentation detracting this discovery around the supposed Nazareth origin of Jesus’ family may therefore be based on a very shaky foundation.
3. Talpiot is located about 2.5 miles North of Bethlehem. Jesus’ family, of Davidic descent according to the New Testament, could have held the burial cave there even before it moved to Nazareth. Davidic birth was absolutely the most exalted in Judaism, always. The suggestion that any person of Davidic descent could be of the lowest social echelon, that couldn’t fund or get funding for a burial cave, doesn’t make much sense, if any. There’s substantial evidence to the contrary, e.g. 1. Jesus had some very wealthy active supporters like Joseph of Arimatea and Nicodemus (known as Nakdimon ben Gorion in post biblical Jewish sources-one of the richest Jews in Judea;) 2. Josephus, A.J. XX, 9:1. Note the prominence of James, brother of Jesus.
4. The inscription on the Jesus ossuary does say “Yeshua bar Yehosef” (“Jesus son of Joseph”)to my eye. All letters but one are quite clearly there. The only letter which is somewhat more difficult to discern at first blush is the second letter- “Shin”. That’s because it’s written in a somewhat irregular form (in a regular Shin there are three teeth in the fork, pointing upwards. Here there are two teeth, pointing sideways to the right.) But that particular irregularity appears also on other ossuaries- notably numbers 9 (this one has two “Shin”- one with three teeth pointing to the right, and one with TWO teeth pointing to the right. Exactly like the subject inscription) and 121 in the Rahmani catalogue, which both feature also a “Yeshua.”
Still, the name “Yeshua” on this ossuary is among the most, if not the most, difficult to read names of all ossuaries listed in Rahmani’s catalogue of Jewish ossuaries. It is almost written as a person’s complex signature on a check. Contrast that with the patronymic following the first name. This is written in a simple straightforward fashion, which is very easy to read. There’s no other example in Rahmani’s catalogue of a first name that has to be deciphered, and a patronymic that’s so plain and clear. Is this merely a coincidence?
5. The net is now abuzz with the following argument against the important significance of the find:
“The inscription, Pfann said, is made up of two names inscribed by two different hands: the first, “Mariame,” was inscribed in a formal Greek script, and later, when the bones of another woman were added to the box, another scribe using a different cursive script added the words “kai Mara,” meaning “and Mara.” Mara is a different form of the name Martha.
According to Pfann’s reading, the ossuary did not house the bones of “Mary the teacher,” but rather of two women, “Mary and Martha.’”
Here’s my answer to that:
If the Mariamne ossuary indeed housed the bones of Mary and Martha, these are two sisters of NT fame. One of them could have been married to “Jesus son of Joseph.” -Whether or not she was Mary Magdalene (Maybe the Mary who anointed Jesus’ feet and then dried them with her hair- very intimate scene.) The other sister would than also automatically belong in the family. It still fits. Actually it increases the statistical odds that this is the real thing quite substantially.
This is a very intriguing possibility indeed, fitting perfectly with John 12:3. Intimate contact with a man, as described in this NT passage, was allowed only to a woman who was an immediate blood relative of that man, his wife (…or a working woman.) That’s all. Therefore Mary of Bethany was quite possibly by elimination Jesus’ wife or in the process of becoming his wife. In that context, Margaret Starbird already theorized that similar anointing with spikenard oil was part of pre marriage ritual of a Davidic king, per certain passages in the Song of Songs. Note also that intercourse by itself was sufficient under Jewish Law in certain circumstances to constitute valid marriage. That practice, termed Bi’ah marriage, was abolished in the 6th century, but it was lawful in Jesus’ time.
Mary of Bethany could have become pregnant by Jesus while he stayed at her house, shortly before his crucifixion. In that case it’s quite possible that she bore Jesus’ son posthumously and named him “Judah.” And in that case both she and her sister Martha would have become part of Jesus’ family, which earned them a place in the Talpiot family tomb..
Reminds me of the reaction to this find of a BBC reporter in 1996- It seems like all balls in the national lottery coming one by one.
I have no knowledge of Greek, so I can only discuss the two propositions. Assuming that the ossuary does say “Mary and Martha”, here’s what I think the names are:
* 1.”Jesus son of Joseph”(“Yeshua bar Yehosef” in Hebrew/Aramaic script;)
* 2. “Mary” (“Marya” in Hebrew/Aramaic script);
* 3. “Joseph” (“Yose” in Hebrew/Aramaic script. Precise nickname of Jesus’ second brother- cf. Mark 6:3);
* 4. “Mary and Martha” (“Mariame kai Mara” in Greek)-they must have been sisters because Jewish law didn’t allow burial together of two unrelated women;
* 5. “Matthew” (“Matya” in Hebrew/Aramaic script)- Name of Jesus’ first cousin, son of his father’s brother Alphaeus/Clophas. As James Tabor suggests in a different context, Matya could also well have been Jesus’ half brother, considering a certain specific rule of the Torah (Deuteronomy 25:5-10.) This rule was applied in Jesus time- see Matthew 22:24-28;
* 6. “Judah son of Jesus”(“Yehuda bar Yeshua” in Hebrew/Aramaic script.)
* Therefore out of eight names actually inscribed on these ossuaries (including the “Joseph” father of Jesus on the first ossuary) four names undoubtedly relate to Jesus’ immediate family, and three other names relate to the same with a somewhat lower probability. In any event, they all relate to Jesus’ extended family. Note that first century Jewish family tombs were usually a clan thing.
* The eighth name is “Yehuda bar Yeshua”- must have been the son of Jesus and one of the sisters Mary or Martha. More likely Mary, as explained above.
6. While the full versions of all these names were indeed common in Jesus’ time, the derivatives, nicknames and contractions were not. Thus “Yeshua” for Jesus was less common than “YeHOshua;” ditto “YeHOsef” instead of “Yosef” for Joseph; “Marya” for Mary was extremely rare in Hebrew/Aramaic script; “Yose” for Joseph is unique. Therefore out of these eight names, two are irregularities, one is a particularity, and one a singularity.
BOTTOM LINE- Ask yourself inversely a hypothetical question- If the Talpiot tomb hadn’t yet been found, how would Jesus’ family tomb have looked , which ossuaries would it have contained, to when would it have been dated and where would it have been located. Even if, like me, you’re not formally educated specifically in any field directly related to this subject, anyone with general education and common sense who’s curious enough could educate himself to form a perfectly valid opinion. The critics of this find are also less than perfectly qualified for the task- they are either Israeli archeologists with no real knowledge of the New Testament and other Christian sources, or Christian scholars with no thorough knowledge of Hebrew, Judaism and Jewish Law. And none of them apparently has expertise in statistics, or they wouldn’t advance the shallow argument that “the names were common.” It’s the cluster of names that’s uncommon.
I would have thought of a tomb just like the tomb we’re discussing. It fits perfectly with what I’d have expected Jesus’ family tomb to be. Right place, right period, right names. In addition, there is substantial evidence for this conclusion- having to do with symbology- that I expanded upon in “The Bone Box.”
[...] http://archaeoporn.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/top-ten-pseudo-archaeological-subjects-of-2008/ [...]
My goodness, do we really need to list Indiana Jones with all this rot? It is an obvious and unabashed fiction, made to entertain children. Sure, it draws together a lot of pseudo-junk to create a silly piece of candy – that is the point! Will some other scientific site list one of the recent vampire movies in their list with critique of its unscientific ways?
Listing this fantasy amongst the frauds and delusions seems little more than an easy way to get an eye-catching movie poster at the top of the article as a pretty graphic. Or perhaps this passing snap at the character is a sideways admission of jealousy towards a fantasy image of the archaeologist that the authors can never match.
[...] but for now I wanted to mention to you that over at Archaeoporn, there is a fascinating list of the top 10 pseudo-archaeological subjects of 2008. Of particular note for readers of this blog, or in general for those interested in pseudoscience [...]
[...] Nelson, Top ten Pseudo-Archaeological Subjects of 2008 Archaeoporn takes on the top hoaxes, media mash-ups, and other pseudo-archaeology of the past [...]
Itamar Bernstein said:
Archaeologists need only be armed with science. But what constitutes “real” knowledge” of “Christian sources?” They are mere books that need only be read to obtain the knowledge. There’s no mystery or magic involved.
Archaeologists begin with questions to which they seek answers. Religionists who pretend to be archaeologists begin with answers to which they seek confirmation. The Talpiot tomb is as much poppycock as the Shroud and the James ossuary.
Shaun said:
It isn’t so much “Indiana Jones” that the author of this post is criticizing as it is the inaccurate portrayal of archaeology by Hollywood, which perpetuates the misconception the public has about modern archaeology. Not only are Indiana’s exploits outright looting, but the paranormal and pseudo-archaeological aspects are reinforced to the public.
no Romance and the Stone or Jewel of the Nile?