A world-renowned biblical archaeology scholar, Hershel Shanks is the Founder and Editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review. Once a successful Washington Attorney, Shanks changed careers after a trip to the Holy Land and devoted himself to the study of biblical archaeology. When the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947-1956) were discovered, a complex tale of theft and conspiracy began in the world of biblical archaeology. Hershel Shanks, a chief protagonist in the story, spearheaded a campaign to release the scrolls to the wider scholarly community throughout the 1980s, using the Biblical Archaeology Review as a mouthpiece for the cause. Later Shanks' involvement greatly increased when he published reconstructed fascicles of the secret scrolls amidst much controversy. Shanks must be seen as one of the crucial factors that finally brought these vital tools of academic study, these Dead Sea Scrolls, to the wider world. Elsewhere Shanks' vigorous defense of the authenticity of the Ossuary - which is said to have contained the bones of The Brother of Jesus - is explored in one of the book's liveliest chapters.
This edition supplies us with the most complete assessment of the scrolls to date. It is a history of their discovery and dissemination, a summary of their scholarly interpretation, and a thoughtful meditation on their ultimate.
The first definitive account of what scholars and the media are calling 'the most important archaeological discovery' about Jesus and his family. This is the definitive story of the recent discovery of the first–century ossuary (limestone bone box) with the legend 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus', and its implications for understanding Jesus, his family (mother, father, brothers), his followers, the first Christians and the Jewish Christian movement in Jerusalem that James led. This ossuary is the first ever archaeological discovery directly confirming the existence of Jesus, and his relationship to his father, Joseph, and brother, James, who became the leader of the important Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem. No one is as qualified and well connected to recount the discovery and its authentication as Hershel Shanks, whose magazine first broke the story.
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