Jacobovici: I'm relieved it's not my secret anymore
By DAVID HOROVITZ
Israeli-born Canadian-based filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici has made high-impact documentaries dating back to 1983's pioneering "Falasha: Exile of the Black Jews." Jacobovici has won two Emmys, and most recently produced "James, Brother of Jesus" and "Impact of Terror," which aired worldwide on CNN.
Are you truly persuaded that this is the tomb of Jesus and his family?
It is not for me to decide if this is true or not. I bring my skill set. The people who say I am not an archeologist are absolutely right. I'm an investigative journalist. I put the dots together. The Acts of Philip guys didn't know about the [Talpiot] ossuaries and the ossuary guys didn't know about the Acts of Philip.
The cluster of ossuaries is plainly real. It's not disputed. So it's either Jesus of Nazareth or it's another guy called Jesus son of Joseph, with a close male relative called Jose, two women called Mary...
Jesus's father Joseph would not have been buried there because most scholars believe he died early in Jesus's life. He would have been buried in Nazareth, not moved to Jerusalem.
Do you not risk discrediting yourself with the inclusion of the "James" ossuary?
It is the right dimensions. It turned up at the right time. And the patina test confirms it comes from the same tomb.
Why did you only do DNA tests on the Jesus and Mariamne ossuaries?
There are many more directions we could have gone in... For now, I'm just relieved that it's not my secret to keep anymore. I've been sitting on this for a long time.