The makers of a new TV documentary claim to have uncovered the biggest archaeological story of the century – the tomb of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. In resurrecting the theme of “The Da Vinci Code,” the Discovery Channel film plays into the public fascination and controversy over Jesus and legends surrounding his life.
The tomb at the center of the story was actually discovered in 1980 in Jerusalem’s Talpiot neighborhood. (The BBC covered it in a documentary in 1996.) The filmmakers assert that it is the tomb of Jesus’ family. The crypt contained 10 ossuaries, six of them with inscriptions. Four of them reportedly read “Jesus son of Joseph,” two names for Mary, and “Judah the son of Jesus.”