1193-1194 Matthew Kalman: The James Ossuary Trial continues

The trail over the authenticity of the James Ossuary inscription ("James the son of Joseph, brother of Jesus) is heading into its fourth year in Jerusalem. Only one journalist has sat through the almost 100-courtroom sessions so far, and he is our guest on these programs.

Is the James Ossuary the only archaeological discovery that's connected to Jesus Christ? Or is it an audacious fabrication? Will we ever know? This trial may not settle the question but it does have some interesting things to say about archaeology. I think you'll enjoy hearing the insights of Matthew Kalman, as he discusses the courtroom action and personalities. You can also read his reports on the ossuary trial (including the recent TIME magazine article), on his James Ossuary weblog.

1192 - Tel Tayinat Update

Earlier this year we talked with Timothy Harrison about the Tel Tayinat excavations, in the same general area as Antioch. But Timothy Harrison is excavating in an earlier period, an Iron Age temple in fact, where he's found some cuneiform tablets, according to the latest reports.

We also mention excavations at another Turkish site, Laodicea (one of the seven cities of Revelation), as well as Sidon, a Lebanese city just north of Israel.

1191 - Another Jerusalem update

A seemingly large proportion of archaeology in Israel is taking place in Jerusalem these days, in particular the oldest part of Jerusalem, which is called Silwan, or the City of David.

On the latest update, we're talking about Roman mansion found in the dig at the Givati Car Park construction park. There's a report of a street collapse in Silwan from the Palestinian media, not a lot of additional information available. And then there's word from the excavation along the city wall on Mt. Zion that we visited during last year's tour. They found a stone cup with an Aramaic inscription. The content of the inscription hasn't been released yet.