by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News December 24, 2024
An exhibit of 350 Holy Land artifacts from the private Golan Collection is on display in the United State for the first time.
The “Discovering the World of Jesus” exhibit, which promises visitors a visceral journey through the time of Jesus from His birth to the Resurrection, is on display through Feb. 28, 2025 at Pullman Yards in Atlanta. Additional U.S. tour stops will be announced in the coming months.
A top highlight of the exhibit is a small stone ossuary bearing the inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” The Christian Post cited Oded Golan, who assembled the collection of Holy Land artifacts, as saying.
“When you hold an artifact from the time of Jesus, you are connecting with history in a deeply personal way,” Golan said. “You can almost feel the lives of the people who made them.”
Among the highlights is an ossuary attributed to the priest Zacharias, believed to be the father of John the Baptist. Among hundreds of other objects are lamps, sandals, coins, and even stone vessels that are thought to resemble the cup used during the Last Supper.
“We have the earliest images of the Nativity story from a church from the fourth century A.D., and the earliest description of the Holy Sepulcher, the place where the tradition claims the place where Jesus’ body was put into the cave and then resurrected,” said Golan.
James Tabor, a retired professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a scholar of Christian origins, told the Christian Post the exhibit’s immersive approach is a game-changer. Rather than presenting artifacts in isolation, “Discovering the World of Jesus” tells a chronological story complemented by audio and visual effects.
“You walk through history, from Herod the Great to the crucifixion and beyond.You get a feel for what life was like. What lamps did they use? What dishes did they eat from? How did they bury their dead? This exhibit answers those questions in ways no textbook can,” Tabor said.
The James Ossuary, whose Aramaic inscription identifies it as belonging to “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” has been verified through rigorous chemical and microscopic testing, which confirm the inscription dates to the first century, Golan said.
Skeptics have debated its significance, questioning whether this James is the same man identified in the Gospels as Jesus’ brother.
Tabor said the statistical evidence surrounding the ossuary is compelling: “We’ve analyzed the likelihood of someone with this combination of names living in Jerusalem at the time. It’s extremely rare. The probability is overwhelming that this is the James from the New Testament.”
“If this is James’ ossuary, then his family members likely stood before it, mourning his death. It’s the closest thing we have to a direct connection with Jesus.”
At the end of the exhibit, visitors are invited to write prayers and leave them on a symbolic tree. These prayers will be transported to a church in Galilee, near where Jesus is believed to have grown up. Golan said the tree serves as a fitting conclusion to a journey that begins with ancient artifacts and ends with a personal connection to faith and history.
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