ON THE COVER: Ewa Dziadowiec, a conservator at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, applies the finishing touches to her restoration of a limestone ossuary, or bone box, from first-century A.D. Jerusalem. The box made headlines worldwide last fall when it was published in our pages; it bears a remarkable Aramaic inscription: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Scholars believe this is the earliest reference to three key New Testament figures and the first archaeological evidence of Jesus ever found. Unfortunately, the box made headlines a second time when it was discovered to have been damaged on its way from Israel to Toronto.
BAR editor Hershel Shanks, in
“Cracks in James Bone Box Repaired,” details the saga of this important artifact from when it first gained public attention to its successful debut in Toronto.