The step-by-step researches of Mr. Tuccinardi and myself this summer into the so-called “Ceasarea inscription” have already yielded considerable fruit: (1) we now can say that there was no single plaque which can go by that name—there were, in fact, three different and mutually distinguishable plaques, each possibly constituting a small part of the list of twenty-four priestly courses; (2) no synagogue existed in the vicinity of any of their findspots. This second point presents a triple mystery, for how could even a single plaque of the priestly courses occur in an area where a synagogue never existed, much less three different plaques? The answer is clear: all three fragments of the so-called “Caesarea inscription” came from outside the area. … Continue reading →

by Enrico Tuccinardi Translated and edited by René Salm Note: This post includes information obtained from new photographs of the Ceasarea inscription fragments taken in June 2013 in the Ralli Museum, Caesarea. Having analyzed the ‘external’ circumstances which shed suspicion on the authenticity of fragment A of the Caesarea inscription (in posts 1-6 of my article, Nazareth, the Caesarea inscription, and the hand of God), it may be useful to consider relevant ‘internal’ factors which support the argument for inauthenticity. It behooves the investigator to determine if the three fragments even form part of the same plaque—a conclusion which scholars have never seriously questioned. In regards to fragments A and B found at Caesarea in 1962, Avi-Yonah wrote:         Although at … Continue reading →

by Enrico Tuccinardi Translated from the French and edited by René Salm Enter Jerry Vardaman         The discovery and interpretation of the Caesarea inscription are attributed to professor of archaeology [at the Hebrew University] and excavation director Dr. M. Avi-Yonah, a name generally considered a guarantor of seriousness and objective neutrality in archaeological matters.[Ed. note 2]         But is this in fact how events took place?         The first surprise the researcher encounters is that Avi-Yonah’s complete article regarding the Caesarea inscription, in the English language, did not appear in an international journal specializing in archeology but in an obscure memorial edition, The Teacher’s Yoke, edited in 1964 by Professor E. Jerry Vardaman for the press of Baylor University, a private Christian school … Continue reading →

by Enrico Tuccinardi Translated from the French and edited by René Salm Samuel Klein         Based on Rapoport’s study of the piyyoutim, the Jewish scholar Samuel Klein (d. 1940) developed an interesting theory regarding the sense and origin of the liturgical poems, including the Lamentation for the 9th of Ab by Eleazar ha-Kalir. According to Klein, the lists of priestly families with their villages of residence could have been formulated only after the destruction of the second temple, and more likely following the final defeat of Bar Kochba (135 CE), since the Jews continued to live in Judea after the year 70 CE.         At the end of the persecution (towards 140 CE) the Jews reorganized in the Galilee and the survivors … Continue reading →

by Enrico Tuccinardi Translated from the French and edited by René Salm First published in the Cahiers du Cercle Ernest Renan, 2010. Note: Bibliography is at the end of this series of posts. Summary. On 14 August 1962, a promising archaeological discovery in Caesarea Maritima provided a breakthrough regarding the Galilean town of Nazareth, a village whose early existence is unknown in non-Christian sources. This article explores the remarkable circumstances which ensured that, from a small marble fragment containing about a dozen letters, the Nazarene’s hometown was “proven” to be in existence from the first century of our era—according to some conservative Christian scholars. However, a series of coincidences and anomalies attending this discovery occasion suspicion, including the fact that the … Continue reading →