Thousands of visitors travel to Israel every year, mostly of religious interest. Religion and science are two totally different fields, so their representatives are sometimes opposed to what the other says.
In the 1980’s, archaeologists found an underground grave in Jerusalem, which, according to them, belongs to Jesus Christ. This finding caused great reaction from Jewish and Orthodox people.
In the underground graveyard lay the tomb of Maria Magdalene and Jesus, “Son of Joseph.” Taking into account that DNA tests from the human remains show no relative connection between the two people, the conclusion is that they may have been a couple and that they also had a son. In the first century A.D., a man and a woman could not have been buried together had they not been married.
Scientists announced back then that this was a “family grave” of Jesus’ mother, wife and son. No one was ready to believe this or even to let this “rumor” travel around the world, and the officials demanded archaeologists stop the excavation.
Later on, they built a tower on top of the graves and thought that the story would be forgotten. But recently, some other scientists discovered a sign, having the name “Jesus Christ” inscribed on it only a few meters away from the old grave, right below the ancient city’s center.
In 2010, James Tabor, Professor at North Carolina University, and Simcha Jacobovici, Director of Documentaries, asked Israeli officials for permission to use a mechanical hand with a video camera in order to search for new evidence on this old discovery.
They finally found a burial chamber close to the area where the inscriptions had been found. This burial site, as the two men argue, belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. This had also been the man who buried Jesus, according to the Gospels.
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