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Brian Boyle, Royal Ontario Museum
“James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” reads (in French) a display wall at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto. The words echo the inscription found on a modest ossuary, or bone box, that was the focus of a special exhibit at the museum—and the subject of worldwide attention last fall when first announced in the pages of BAR. The inscription provides the earliest attestation of three key New Testament figures and the first-ever reference to Jesus in the archaeological record.