The artefacts were found in a remote cave in the north of Jordan. They are now in the possession of a Bedouin who lives in Israel
Posted on 03/21/2011 10:25:22 AM PDT by TaraP
Artefacts discovered in a remote cave in Jordan could hold a contemporary account of the last years of Jesus. The find of scrolls and 70 lead codices - tiny credit-card-sized volumes containing ancient Hebrew script talking of the Messiah and the Resurrection - has excited biblical scholars.
Much of the writing is in code, but experts have deciphered images, symbols and a few words and the texts could be 2,000 years old.
Texts have been written on little sheets of lead bound together with wire. The treasure trove was found five years ago by an Israeli Bedouin and may have been around since the 1st century, around the time of Jesus's crucifixion and Resurrection.
A number of experts have examined the writings, including Margaret Barker, a former president of the Society for Old testament Study with a renowned knowledge of early Christian studies.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The artefacts were found in a remote cave in the north of Jordan. They are now in the possession of a Bedouin who lives in Israel
Two samples were sent to a laboratory in England where they were examined by Peter Northover, head of the materials science-based archaeology group.
The verdict was inconclusive without more tests, but he said the composition was ‘consistent with a range of ancient lead.’
However, Philip Davies, emeritus professor of biblical studies at Sheffield University is convinced the codices are genuine after studying one.
He has told colleagues privately that he believes the find is unlikely to have been forged, say the Sunday Times...
The authors died of lead poisoning?
bttt
The find of scrolls and 70 lead codices – tiny credit-card-sized volumes containing ancient Hebrew script talking of the Messiah and the Resurrection – has excited biblical scholars.
Much of the writing is in code, but experts have deciphered images, symbols and a few words and the texts could be 2,000 years old.
Some academics are sceptical about the discovery because there have been numerous hoaxes and sophisticated fakes produced over the years.
Many of the codices are sealed which suggests that they could be secret writings referred to in the apocryphal Book of Ezra – an appendage to some versions of the Bible.
The owner of the cache is a Bedouin named Hassan Saeda who lives in the village of Um-al-Ghanam in the north of Israel,according to the Sunday Times.
Two samples were sent to a laboratory in England where they were examined by Peter Northover, head of the materials science-based archaeology group.
The verdict was inconclusive without more tests, but he said the composition was ‘consistent with a range of ancient lead.’
However, Philip Davies, emeritus professor of biblical studies at Sheffield University is convinced the codices are genuine after studying one.
Or, they may have been around since the 3rd century and contain Gnostic writings. Unfortunately, the article says nothing about what's in the tablets.
More likely, their value lies in what Ms. Barker says here:
But she said if the material is genuine then the books could be 'vital and unique' evidence of the earliest Christians.'If they are a forgery, what are they are forgery of?' she said.' Most fakes are drawn from existing material, but there is nothing like this that I have seen.'
The original Jack Chick tracts?
d r i n k y o u r o v a l t i n e
It is from the Book of Ezra and Apocalyptic Writings, this is what I found out, on what they reveal:
THE RISE OF JEWISH APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE
The central core of apocalyptic belief is a transcendent eschatology whereby the future is envisaged in terms of direct divine intervention - a universal judgment of the
nations and a new age of salvation, in which the cosmos will be radically transformed..
The method of apocalypse is to boldly outline by symbolic
pictures those things which should be recognized as dangers, and the ways in which divine intervention was to be expected expressing the idea that this world offers no hope for improvement, but history will end with a cosmic catastrophe at which time the apparently victorious wicked will be punished and the downtrodden righteous rewarded.
It was after the perceived cessation of prophecy, that is, after Malachi, that the apocalyptic genre flourished.
Because of the cessation of prophecy it was thought
necessary to explain the sufferings of God’s people and the delay of God’s kingdom in the context of the post-exilic experience of history, in which Israel remained under the domination of the Gentile powers and the prophetic promises of glorious restoration remained largely unfulfilled.
In the extended period of contradiction between God’s promises and the reality of Israel’s historical experience, the apocalyptists sought to assure the faithful that God
had not abandoned his people, that the promised salvation was coming. To this end they stressed the divine sovereignty over history: God has predetermined the whole
course of world history and the End will come at the time he has appointed.
The first apocalypse is considered to be the Book of Daniel..
THX THX.
Anyway, here's an article on dating lead. Discriminating Radioactivity Measurements of Lead: New Tool for Authentication Bernard Keisch, Article first published online: 24 MAY 2010, DOI: 10.1111/j.2151-6952.1968.tb00884.x, 1968 California Academy of Sciences
Certainly the alloys and micro-contaminants in the lead could tell roughly where the lead came from, and some idea of how it was refined.
Some apocalypses were known as cosmological apocalyptic, which sought to reveal the mysteries of the cosmos. In 1 Enoch 6-36, Enoch is taken by angels on journeys
through the heavens and the realms of the dead and he relates what he saw and heard. It is from this book that Jude quotes when he states,
“See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 14-15).
Overall, however, a particular question, which the apocalyptists sought to answer, was “Who is Lord over the world?” As has been stated, Jewish apocalypses were usually
concerned with the apparent non-fulfillment of God’s promises in the context of the righteous suffering while the wicked flourish - the world appears to be ruled not by God, but by evil.
With this situation before them, the apocalyptists sought to maintain the faith of God’s people in face of the harsh realities of present evil, especially political oppression by pagan empires Nevertheless, God rules creation and the time is coming when He will overthrow evil and establish His kingdom.
This may be seen in the apocalypse of Baruch where descriptions of the last days are given, and of the reign and judgment of the Messiah......
http://www.theapocalypseblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/Church_30/files/williamsessay.pdf
Anyway, here's an article on dating lead. Discriminating Radioactivity Measurements of Lead: New Tool for Authentication Bernard Keisch, Article first published online: 24 MAY 2010, DOI: 10.1111/j.2151-6952.1968.tb00884.x, 1968 California Academy of Sciences
Certainly the alloys and micro-contaminants in the lead could tell roughly where the lead came from, and some idea of how it was refined.
You mean like the Shroud of Turin is fake?
Why is it that anything pertained to Jesus Christ and his gospel is a *Fake* but everything else is genuine?
Dead Sea Scrolls are genuine?
It seems like nothing changes for Jesus in the last 2000 years.
Interesting....
Thanks!!
Sorry for the double post, my internet at the provider level is very dicey right now.
Damn glad I didn’t have a mouthful of Ovaltine!
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