The Final Days of Jesus: The Archaeological Evidence

By Shimon Gibson

Authored by Israeli archaeologist, Dr. Shimon Gibson, PhD., (of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem) this book provides insights into the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The rocks, tombs and remains in and around Jerusalem provide the context for understanding the events which, for Christians, changed all human history. The archaeological data sometimes confirm and other times refute theories about Jewish society during Jesus’ era. They can also caste light upon Jesus’ life, death, burial and resurrection. The following are a few examples of insights from Gibson’s volume.

Jewish Preoccupation with Purity

The gospels suggest that purity was an issue among Jews in Jesus’ day. The Jews contended with John the Baptist’s disciples about purification (John 3:25; 2:6). Archaeology reveals that many of Jerusalem’s houses had basement purification pools where devout Jews immersed themselves during purification rites. Gibson thinks the public pools of Siloam and Bethesda fulfilled this role for Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem. These abundant facilities suggest that the “high point in use of such [purity pools] was in the first century” (p. 68). Coinciding with Jesus’ era, an “explosion of purity…took place within Judaism in the first century,” Gibson says. In that period, “purity broke out among the Jews” (p. 79). It shouldn’t surprise us then that purification was a major issue dividing the Pharisees from Jesus and John the Baptist (John 3:25).

Remains of a Crucified Man

The Romans crucified thousands of Jews during the first century. But, until recently no material evidence of crucifixion had been found in Israel. However, “an important discovery was made in June 1968 when the remains of a crucified man were recovered from a first century burial cave …north of Jerusalem” (p. 110). In this case a crucifixion “nail was left with the bones because the executioners were unable to extract it from the heel of the dead man” (p. 112). This discovery is important because it demonstrates that some crucified people were buried in rock-hewn tombs as Jesus was. This underlines the plausibility of the gospel’s account of Jesus’ death and burial.

The “Jerusalem Shroud Tomb”

In 2000, Shimon Gibson discovered “The Tomb of the Shroud” in the first-century cemetery called Akeldama or ‘Field of Blood’ (Matt. 27:3-8; Acts 1:19) – where Judas committed suicide. The tomb held the remains of a first-century man, clothed in a burial shroud. DNA analysis revealed that he suffered from leprosy and died of TB. This provides (for the first time) scientific proof that the term “leprosy” in Scripture covers, not just general skin ailments, but also the disfiguring and devastating disease we know today as leprosy (i.e., “Hansen’s disease”). Gibson deduces from this that Jesus dealt with many cases of leprosy (Hansen’s disease).

Two-piece Burial Shroud

This leprous man’s burial shroud was composed of two pieces—the main robe, plus a separate head/face cloth. This is consistent with the gospel record that, at his burial, Jesus’ body was wrapped in a linen shroud (Luke 23:50) with a separate face/head cloth, which the disciples later found folded by itself (John 20:6-7) when Jesus resurrected. These are “incidental details,” but they testify to the gospels’ veracity as accurate eye-witness accounts of historical events.

The “Shroud of Turin”—a Medieval Relic

These findings contrast with the revered relic, the “Shroud of Turin”—imprinted with the outline of man, purported to be Jesus, complete with crucifixion scars. This Turin cloth is alleged to be Jesus’ burial shroud, mysteriously transported to Milan, Italy, via France. However, the shroud found near Jerusalem is very different from the Turin Shroud. Unlike the complex three-to-one weave of the Turin Shroud, the Jerusalem shroud has a simple two-way weave characteristic of that era. The Turin Shroud is also one complete garment, unlike the two-piece shroud from Akeldama, which matches the details in John’s gospel. These differences reinforce evidence that the Turin Shroud (radiocarbon dated around 1300) did not originate from Jesus-era Jerusalem; it is a religious relic fabricated in the Middle Ages.

The “Jesus Family Tomb”

In 2007 Titanic film-director, James Cameron and Shima Jacobovici, unveiled their film “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” to great fanfare. They claimed to have found the “Jesus’ Family Tomb” containing ossuaries (“bone boxes”) belonging to Jesus, his parents (Joseph & Mary), Jesus’ (alleged) wife (Mary Magdalene), his brother (Joses) and Jesus’ (purported) son (Judah) at Talpiot, 2 km south of Jerusalem’s Old City. Shimon Gibson’s evaluation of these sensational claims is relevant, since he participated in the Talpiot tomb’s original excavation, 27-years earlier. The original excavators definitely didn’t link this tomb to Jesus’ family. “Anything special about this tomb?” Gibson asked about the newly-discovered crypt. “Not really,” they replied (p. 180). Only minimal information was catalogued, the ossuaries were routinely stored and the bones reburied. If these excavators thought they were handling coffins and bones from Jesus’ family would they treat them so nonchalantly? How much would Jesus’ ossuary felt on Ebay? What would the Vatican pay for Mary’s bones? Why did 27 years elapse before Cameron & Co made their “epic discovery”?

“Nothing to commend [it] as the family tomb of Jesus”

Gibson decisively rejects the notion that this is Jesus’ Family tomb. Cameron & Co. link one ossuary, via a series of tenuous associations, to “Mary Magdalene.” But the alleged link relies on the Acts of Philip (a dubious document, not accepted as Scripture). It’s more likely, says Gibson, that the inscription reads “Miriam and Martha,” two common Jewish names. This sinks the spectacular claims of Cameron’s movie, The Lost Tomb of Jesus just like the Titanic! Shimon Gibson concludes that, stripped of media hype, “we are simply left with a group of ossuaries bearing common Jewish names of the first century …There is nothing to commend the [Talpiot] tomb as the family tomb of Jesus.” (pp. 186-6)

The Holy Sepulchre vs. the Garden Tomb & Gordon’s Calvary

If Jesus wasn’t buried in the Talpiot Tomb, where was he buried? It might surprise readers to learn that two viable candidates exist for the place of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. John’s gospel tells us that the cross and the tomb were adjacent (John 19:40-41). One site for Jesus’ tomb is under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional location revered as Golgotha (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified. It lies NW of the Old City of Jerusalem, just outside the city-walls existing at Jesus’ time.

Gordon’s Calvary & the Garden Tomb

However, in 1883 the British General Gordon was intrigued by a rocky outcrop, north of Jerusalem, which resembled a human skull—designated “Gordon’s Calvary.” A nearby tomb, called the “Garden Tomb,” has since been presented as the place Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus’ body. Shimon Gibson rejects this view based on evidence this tomb (and others in the vicinity) was used since 600 BC. Hence it doesn’t fit the “newly-cut, never-used” tomb described in the gospels. The ESV Study-Bible notes, “Early church tradition strongly favors the Holy Sepulchre site, and the area around the Garden Tomb consists largely of Iron Age (Old Testament-era) tombs, thus also favoring the Holy Sepulchre site for a New Testament-era burial.”

Church of the Holy Sepulchre Site

Gibson concurs with the consensus linking Golgotha/Calvary to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Eusebius claimed the site was originally venerated as the place of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. He says the Roman Emperor Hadrian deliberately built a pagan temple on top of the site, due to his hatred for Christianity. This was part of Hadrian’s project to build a new city after Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70 and the Jewish Revolt of AD 135. Due to Hadrian’s efforts, Gibson notes, “nothing of [the tomb’s] original rock-cut state is now visible” (p. 153). Later Constantine ordered a Church built on the site about AD 325/326. However, “hardy anything of the original tomb has survived owing to the destruction of the tomb by the [Muslim] Caliph Hakim in 1009 and later in a devastating fire in 1808,” Gibson observes (p. 153). Hence there’s not much to see that can be linked directly back to Jesus. There’s no rock-hewn cave, no rolling stone, and no garden (John 19:40-41). However, this remains the leading candidate. No garden currently exists, but there’s evidence a nearby entrance through Jerusalem’s Old City wall was called the “Garden Gate.” This adds weight to this site’s claim as the location of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.