Tiny pieces of the bones of Jesus Christ have been discovered and subjected to DNA testing. So argues a documentary by James Cameron entitled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” soon to be broadcast on the Discovery Channel. The film cites academic researchers to defend the claim that a group of limestone ossuaries excavated from a tomb discovered in 1980 in Taipot, Israel may have contained the remains of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and their son Judah. Some feel that the controversial ossuary sometimes supposed to have once held the bones of a brother to Jesus, may also have come from this site (The purported ossuary of James has been discussed at Metafilter before).

Cameron plans to publicly open three of the stone boxes in New York later today, to show the world the dust of Jesus, Mary, and Mary Magdalene.  Are the contents of the Taipot tomb most likely there by coincidence or forgery? Or might they in fact be surviving vestiges of the Christian Messiah and his family? What would it matter, one way or another?

Interviews with the film’s director and Producer from the Discovery Channel

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