A report in the Ottawa Citizen is claiming that Simcha Jacobovic, “the naked archaeologist,” has discovered the burial site of some of Jesus’ disciples.

Below is an excerpt from the article written by Adrian Blomfield for the Ottawa Citizen:

An amateur archeologist claimed Tuesday to have identified what could be the remains of some of Christ’s disciples in a first century burial chamber beneath a block of apartments in Jerusalem.

A team led by Simcha Jacobovic, a Canadian documentary director, used a robot to photograph a number of limestone burial caskets, which may provide an unprecedented glimpse into Christianity’s earliest days.

But the potential significance of the discovery is almost certain to be overshadowed by controversy, with Jacobovic using it to bolster his widely disputed claims to have identified the bones of Jesus and his family nearby.

The caskets, known as ossuaries, were inscribed with what some experts said could be the earliest Christian iconography ever documented.

One of the ossuaries carries an etching of a fish with what appears to be a human head in its mouth, perhaps an image of Jonah. His story was of major significance to early Christians because Jonah spent three days in the belly of the giant fish, just as Christ spent three days in the tomb.

The fish was also seen as a sacred symbol. Not only did fish feature in a number of miracles, while many of the disciples were fishermen, but the Greek for fish – ichthys – was held to be an acronym for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour.”

Independent archeologists said no Jewish tomb from antiquity was known to have carried a fish, giving further credibility to the theory that the etching was Christian. An adjacent ossuary was engraved with a Greek inscription that appears to refer to resurrection and could be translated as “Divine Jehovah, raise up, raise up.”

Some Israeli archeologists, however, said that some contemporary Jewish communities, including the Pharisees and the Essenes, also believed in the resurrection of the dead.

The tomb would almost certainly date to before AD 70, the year the city was destroyed by a Roman army. If the remains were those of early Christians, they may well have been contemporaries of Christ, perhaps even his disciples, as the community was small.

Notice that the article says that the discovery was made by “an amateur archeologist.” As you read the report, emphasize the words “an amateur archeologist.” Simcha Jacobovic is only a Canadian film director who seeks to exploit archaeology for publicity and profit.

The report in the Ottawa Citizen also says:

According to Jacobovic and his colleague James Tabor, a biblical scholar at the University of North Carolina, the discovery gives credence to their claim that a chamber they called “the Garden tomb” nearby housed the remains of Christ.

Anyone who claims to have found “the remains of Christ” should not be taken seriously.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary