HAVE the iron nails used to crucify Jesus Christ been discovered?
Well, if news reports doing the rounds since yesterday are to be believed the iron nails that pierced Jesus’ hands to the wooden cross in Golgotha have been found.
Israeli filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici is making this claim. However, there are those who dispute this ‘finding’ and say this is an attempt by the filmmaker to promote his upcoming film.
On Tuesday, Simcha Jacobovici, the investigative journalist who has contributed to films on biblical archeology, told reporters in Jerusalem that he has located two nails found in the 1990 excavation of an ancient tomb, then inexplicably lost.
Who is Jesus Christ? | How is Jesus Christ unique?
He said his new film, ‘Nails of the Cross’, explains why two rusty nails gathering dust in a Tel Aviv University lab may be those with which the messiah was crucified.
The tomb unearthed in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood caused a worldwide sensation due to an inscription on a highly wrought limestone ossuary, or bone box, bearing the words ‘Joseph son of Caiaphas.’
Bible scholars said the name referred to the high priest (named in the New Testament simply as ‘Caiaphas’) who pressed for the crucifixion of Jesus in his appeal to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
Jacobovici said while the tomb gained popularity, another set of artifacts had been completely overlooked – the nails.
“Caiaphas is known for one thing in history,” he said. “He’s known for arresting Jesus and turning him over to Pilate, who then crucifies him. So you find two Roman nails in his tomb, and you don’t even mention it?”
‘Nails of the Cross’ is the first segment in the six-part documentary mini-series Jewish Secrets of Christianity.
“Christianity is a black hole in the Jewish psychological and historical space,” he said. “Jews don’t know exactly how to relate to this religion that sprung from Judaism and is the most dominant religion today.”
Jacobovici, 58, was born in Petah Tikva but grew up in Canada, and three years ago moved back to Israel with his family. An Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, he is also host of the popular History Channel series The Naked Archaeologist.
