James Ossuary James Ossuary The James Ossuary is a 1st-century limestone box that was used for containing the bones of the dead. An Aramaic inscription in the Hebrew alphabet meaning "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" is cut into one side of the box. The inscription is considered significant because, if genuine, it might provide archaeological evidence for Jesus of Nazareth. However, while the ossuary itself is accepted as authentic to the time period, the inscription itself could be a modern forgery. The existence of the ossuary was announced at an October 21, 2002 Washington press conference co-hosted by the Discovery
James Ossuary announced at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on October 21, 2002. It was organized by Hershel Shanks, founder of the Biblical Archaeology Society. He presented it as the first direct archaeological link to the historical Jesus. Shanks also announced that the ossuary would be featured at an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, opening the following month. The opening was to coincide with meetings of scholarly groups like the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion that were to take place in the city in November. The James Ossuary came from the Silwan area