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
Moatfield Ossuary care and were undamaged at the time of burial. In order to maximise the use of space, the remains were packed very tightly together; so tight that it was nearly impossible to identify individual skeletons unless articulated. Due to the tightly compacted nature of this ossuary, bones were broken or bent in the shape of the walls (particularly long bones). These fractures are not consistent with trampling and because the broken ends remained in close proximity, it was interpreted that great care was taken to minimize damage to the bones in the filling and packing of the ossuary. The purpose