THE ROLE OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE JESUS INDUSTRY BY JENNIFER DYER Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject of BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR M LE ROUX CO- SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR D G VAN DER MERWE DECEMBER 2015 1 Students Number: 4707117 I, Jennifer Dyer, declare that The Role of Archaeology in the Jesus Industry is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. 9 December 2015 …………………………………………….. …………………………………… SIGNATURE DATE (Ms J Dyer) 2 SUMMARY The question leading to this study is whether the facts and theories pertaining to the Bible and Jesus Story as presented by The Authors (H Schonfield, D Joyce, B Thiering, M Baigent, R Leigh, H Lincoln; M Starbird, and D Brown) could be verified by the Archaeology evidence. I have adopted a multidiscipline and holistic approach considering information gathered from all media sources to ascertain what theories, if any could replace the traditional Jesus Story of the New Testament. I considered whether the alternative theories or traditional theories were believable due to the evidence presented by Biblical Archaeology or by the techniques used by The Authors in presenting their facts. By using Thouless’ system of Straight and Crooked thinking I was able to ascertain that the theories used in the novels written by The Authors may have been persuasive, but lacked substance. Key terms: Jesus Story; Thouless; Mary Magdalene; Crucifixion; Resurrection; Merovingian blood line; Holy Grail; Knights Templar; sacred feminine; Jesus of Nazareth; Pesher theory ; The Passover Plot; The Jesus scroll; The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail; Jesus the man ; The woman with the alabaster Jar; The Da Vinci Code; The Cross Bones; The Archko Volumes; The Two Babylons; The Last Temptation of Christ; Jesus of Montreal; The Passion of Christ; Catholic Church; Masada; Nag Hammidi Library, Dead Sea Scrolls; The Gospels; Jesus Seminar ; Gospels; Straight and Crooked Thinking. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this dissertation has been a wonderful journey of discovery. The path was not always straight and smooth; many people have helped me along the way. I am very grateful for their support. I would like to thank: 1. The University of South Africa for their financial and academic support. I have been a Unisa student for many years which has afforded me the opportunity of growth and discovery. My relationship with the Department of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and New Testament has developed over the years, and I thank the many lecturers that have assisted me along my path of discovery. 2. To my supervisors Magdel le Roux and Dirk Van Der Merwe, thank you for your valuable input. To my friend Magdel le Roux I would like to give my sincerest thanks for her guidance, support, encouragement and especially patience without which I would have never completed my journey. 3. To my friends and family who have been with me through this last four years. A special mention of Joy Smith for proofing the original draft. My husband Nicholas Tselentis who sat helping me sift through books, articles, reading and rereading the work. Thank you for your support, love and belief in me. 4 1. 1 This picture is used with the kind permission of Biblical Archaeology Review. To my mind, it epitomises this study, portraying the profiles of The Jesus Industry, Jesus in Fact and Fiction and Jesus in Literature and Archaeology 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………………………….......14 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS…………………….....22 1.3 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………….………..…....... 23 1.3.1 The Biblical Archaeological Review……………………………………….….…......24 1.3.1.1 Masada…………………………………………………..……….………….…………….….… 24 1.3.1.2 The Dead Sea Scrolls….……………………………………………..……………………...24 1.3.1.3 The James Ossuary………………………………………………………..…….…………...25 1.3.1.4 The crucified man.……………………………………….………………..……….…..….. 25 1.3.2 Secondary Review…………………………………………………...……………….….....26 1.3.2.1 The emergence of the Jesus Industry’s media hype………………………....26 1.4 HYPOTHESIS…………………..……………………………………..………………..…….…33 1.5 METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS…………….………………………..……..33 1.5.1 Approach………………………………….………………………………………….….….……33 1.5.2 Structure of the Dissertation……………………………….……………….............34 1.6 SYMBOLS AND DEFINITIONS……………………..……..…………………….….…... 34 1.6.1 The Jesus Story………………………………………………..…………………..…….…....35 1.6.2 The Holy Grail……………………………………………………………...……….…….…...36 1.6.3 The Knights Templar……………………………………………………………….………..37 1.6.4 The sacred feminine………………………………………………………………….……..39 1.6.5 Jesus of Nazareth…………………………………………………………………..…..…….40 1.6.6 The Pesher technique……………………………………….……………...…………..…41 1.6.7 Conspiracy theories………………………………………………………………………....41 1.6.8 Secret Organisations………………………………………………………….…..….…….42 1.7 DELIMITATIONS……….……………………………………………….…………….….......42 6 CHAPTER TWO THE JESUS STORY IN ‘FICTION’ 2.1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………..………………….……….………..…..44 2.2 BOOKS AND FILMS…………………………………………………………….………..…... 44 2.2.1 Jesus was the King of the Jews………………………………….….…….…............47 2.2.2 Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene………………………………...............48 2.2.3 Jesus did not die on the cross……………………………….………………..…………48 2.2.4 The resurrection was faked………………………………………………….…...........49 2.2.5 Mary Magdalene fled to France carrying the Holy Grail…….….…………..50 2.2.6 The authority of the Bible is not absolute…………………………..……………. 50 2.3 THE BOOKS, THEIR WRITERS AND PLOTS……………….….………...………..….51 2.3.1 The Passover Plot…………………………………………………..…………….………..… 51 2.3.1.1 Hugh Schonfield…………………………………………………………….……..…………. 52 2.3.1.2 The Story…………………………………………………………………….….…….……..…. .53 2.3.1.3 The Theories…………………………………………………………………………..…..…... 56 2.3.2 The Jesus Scroll………………………………………………………………………..…..…. 58 2.3.2.1 Donovan Joyce…………………………………………………….…………………….…… .58 2.3.2.2 The Story………………………………………………………………….………………..…... 59 2.3.2.3 The Theories………………………………………………………………………….….…..... 60 2.3.3 The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail………………………..…….……………........ .62 2.3.3.1 Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln………………………..…. 63 2.3.3.2 The Story……………………………..……………………………………………………..…… 65 2.3.3.3 The Theories………………..………………………………………..…….……………...…..66 2.3.3.4 The Trial……………………………..………………………………………………..……….... 69 2.3.4 Jesus the Man: New Interpretations from the Dead Sea Scrolls..……... 71 2.3.4.1 Barbara Thiering ……………………...………………………………….………….…...... 71 7 2.3.4.2 The Story……………………………………………………………………….………………….71 2.3.4.3 The Theories…………………….………………………………….……………………………73 2.3.5 The Woman with the Alabaster Jar……………………….……………....……..... 76 2.3.5.1 Margaret Starbird………………………………………………………………….....…….. 77 2.3.5.2 The Story…………………………………………………………………….……….…..……… 77 2.3.5.3 The Theories…………………………………………………..…………….…….……..….… 78 2.3.6 The Da Vinci Code………………………………………….…………………..………..….. 81 2.3.6.1 Dan Brown……………………………………….………….………………….…………....… 82 2.3.6.2 The Story …………………………………….………………………………….………..…..… 83 2.3.6.3 The Theories………………….…..…………………………………………..........…...….. 88 2.3.7 Cross Bones………..………………………………………………………..…………….…..…89 2.3.7.1 Kathy Reich………………….………………….………………………….……….………... ..89 2.3.7.2 The Story………………………………………………………….….…...……..…..….....…. 90 2.3.7.3 The Theories………………………………………………………..…...……….………..… ..91 2.3.8 The Archko Volume………………………………………………..…………..…..….......92 2.3.8.1 Drs Macintosh and Twyman………………………………….….………….….….......93 2.3.8.2 The Story…………………………………………………………….……………..………….….93 2.3.8.3 The Theories……………………………………………………….……..……………....… …93 2.3.9 The Two Babylons…………………………………….……………………....................97 2.3.9.1 Alexander Hislop…………………………………………………………….………………..97 2.3.9.2 The Story………………………………………………………………….……………….…... ..97 2.3.9.3 The Theories………………………………….…….…………………………….……….......98 2.4 THE FILMS, DIRECTORS AND PLOTS………………………….…………...……….…98 2.4.1 The Last Temptation of Christ……………………………….……….………...……...99 2.4.1.1 The Story………………………………………………………………………………..….……..99 2.4.1.2 The Theories…………………………………………..………………………….……….….101 2.4.2 Jesus of Montreal …………………………………………………………………..….…..101 8 2.4.2.1 The Story…………………………………………………..…...….………………......……. 102 2.4.2.2 The Theories………………………………………….…………………….…..……....… …103 2.4.3 The Passion of the Christ………………………………………………..…………….…103 2.4.3.1 The Story…………………………………………………………………….……………..…. .103 2.4.3.2 The Theories……………………………………………………………….…………..…..… 104 2.5 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………….………………... 105 CHAPTER THREE THE JESUS STORY IN ‘FACT’ 3.1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………….……………….………………..….... 108 3.2 THE GOSPELS ……………………………………………………………………….…..… …113 3.2.1 Canonical Gospels…………………………………………………..………....…..…..… 114 3.2.1.1 The Two Source Theory …………………………………….……………………………116 3.2.2 Non-canonical Gospels …………………………………………………….…………… 117 3.3 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE GOSPELS …………….…….….…….…… 118 3.3.1 The Nag Hammadi Library …………………………………….……...…….………… 118 3.3.1.1 The Gospel of Thomas (GTh) ……………………………….……..……….…….…..120 3.3.1.2 The Gospel of Philip ………………………………………..……….…….…….....…… 121 3.3.2 The Dead Sea Scrolls …………………………………………….…..…………...………122 3.4 THE TRADITIONAL JESUS STORY ……………………………………….…….….…. 123 3.4.1 The Gospel of Mark…………………………………………………….…….….…….…. 126 3.4.2 The Gospel of Matthew………………………………………………………..…..…… 128 3.4.3 The Gospel of Luke………………………………………………..……………….……… 129 3.4.4 The Gospel of John………………………………………………………………………… 130 3.5