Hm.
Well, the big problem there is the yod, vav, and nun, when roughly inscribed, all pretty much look like squiggly lines. And vice versa. But what he reads an a yod could just as easily be a zayin, which would give us zonah, meaning "prostitute"! And since "everybody knows" that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute (in the same way "everybody knows" she was married to Jesus), this is proof positive that this really is the Jesus family tomb!!!
There. Mystery solved. Do I get a TV show now?
"Do I get a TV show now?"-Not quite yet. Maybe a brief TV appearance. :-)
ReplyDeleteNo cigar on that connection Jack. You just have to be more careful with your historical leaps on these things. :-) Seriously, several have suggested a Zayin, including one who thinks it does say "Whore," (Avrahaum Segol) though I have no idea why he thinks such would be written on an ossuary/fish/vase. More to the point, Haggai Misgav reads it as a rare name: ZILA/ZEILA or ZOLA (yod=zayin; nun=lamed), Ed Cook reads YEHUDAH. So there you go. If you take a look at other similar names on ossuary inscriptions they have the same kind of "squiggly line" appearance--the graffiti ones I mean.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, which is why I would be cautious about drawing any major conclusions based on such ambiguous markings.
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