Number 2: MariamenoueMara = Mary Magdalene and 3=Turquoise!
Chase March 4th, 2007
UPDATE - MARCH 13!
(scroll down for the original post)
Stephen Pfann is an expert in ancient Semitic languages (Ph.D. Hebrew University, professor at the University of the Holy Land), and is prominently cited in several places on the Jesus Family Tomb site. (SOURCE 1; SOURCE 2) He has just completed a thorough analysis of the supposed “Mary Magdalene” inscription, and come to a very interesting conclusion. First, here’s a picture of the inscription, that he has color coded - the original isn’t in blue, red and green:
Here is a summary of Dr. Pfann’s findings:
*The original transcription of the inscription was incorrect.
*The inscription does not read “Mariamene the Master”nor does the name Mariamene or Mariamne appear on the ossuary at all.
*The inscription reflects the writing of two distinct scribes who wrote in different forms of the Greek script.
*The correct reading of the inscription is “Mariame and Mara,” based on parallels from contemporary inscriptions and documents.
*The ossuary thus contained the bones of at least two different women, interred at two separate times, one named Mariame and the other Mara.
*No support exists for ascribing the ossuary to Mary Magdalene.
This should really be the final death knell to the entire Jesus Family Tomb project - it would seem almost impossible for any neutral scholar to view this inscription, read Dr. Pfann’s findings and still believe the inscribed name has anything whatsoever to do with Mary Magdalene. Here’s the article, please read it! SOURCE
Perhaps the lynch pin claim that the Jesus Family Tomb crew makes is in regards to Mary Magdalene. The filmmakers steps to make the connection from MariamenoueMara, which is the Greek name inscribed on one of the ossuaries, to Mary Magdalene are very questionable….if MariamenoueMara= Mary Magdalene, then perhaps in some strange way, 3 = turquoise, or red=blue, etc.
Here is what is being claimed:
Mariamene e Mara” – “Mariamne, also called Master”The ossuary of a Jewish woman who moved in Greek circles. The ossuary of an elite, a “Mara,” a “Master.”The “Mara” added at the end of her name, in Aramaic, means “Master” or “teacher.” It is usually a masculine term, but then, Mariamne was performing duties usually restricted to men on the authority of Jesus. Mary Magdalene was likely a woman of means, helping to fund Jesus and his ministry. The Gospels tell us that the Magdalene, as she is known, went with Jesus on his fateful journey to Jerusalem, where she witnessed the Crucifixion. She was the first of the disciples to discover the empty tomb of Jesus as well as the first to see the Risen Jesus. She has been called “the apostle of the apostles” because she was the one to bring the news to the rest of the disciples. From such non-canonical Gnostic texts such as The Pistis Sophia and The Gospel of Philip, we glean that Mariamne/Magdalene [Ed. note: notice the different spelling!] was sister to Philip (one of the twelve original apostles) and Martha; that Jesus called her “chosen among women”; that she performed miracles and baptized converts And that she died at the Jordan River, “near Jerusalem”, not in France or Ephesus as later tradition suggests. Mariamne, Mary Magdalene, was indeed a Mara. SOURCE
Both secular and Christian scholars have identified multiple problems with the very tenuous connection between the Mariamenouemara inscription and Mary Magdalene. In fact, using the word tenuous is probably being too generous. There are several reasons that there is no real connection between the Mariamenouemara box and Mary Magdalene. They are summarized below, followed by article excerpts that lead to a fuller discussion of the issue.
- As noted below, the earliest Christians in Jerusalem after the time of Jesus were much more likely to speak Aramaic than Greek. It is therefore problematic that the MariamenoueMara Ossuary is inscribed with Greek and could possibly indicate that we are dealing with a multi-generational tomb. This is conjecture, of course, but it is evidential. (see quotes below)
- In first and second century Christian literature, the most reliable and ancient texts that are still extant, Mary Magdalene is consistently referred to as “Maria”. The only ancient connection between Mary Magdalene and Mariamene (the nominative form of Mariamenou, which is in the genitive, meaning “of Mariamene”) comes from the 4th (?) century gnostic text the
GospelActs of Phillip. Even there, this Mariamene is identified as the sister of Philip, and not at all as Mary Magdalene. One important fact about theGospelActs of Phillip is that our earliest surviving text is dated to the 14th century! It is also a rather odd Gnostic work, with the “apostles” seeing the conversion of talking leopard and the slaying of a dragon. Probably not the best ancient text to use as the bedrock for a scholarly theory. - It is likely that the “mara” at the end of the inscription MariamenoueMara does not at all refer to “the great” or “the teacher”, but more likely refers to either a sister buried in the same box, or a nickname. Mara is a diminutive for Martha. One notes that none of the other boxes in the tomb, including the purported mother of Jesus and Jesus Himself, have any titles attached to them. In addition to assume that Mar= “teacher”, or some such thing is to assume that the ossuary is half Greek, half Aramaic. See Below for more information on that.
- Finally, also as noted below, the standard burial practice of the time was to append the name of one’s hometown on their ossuary box if they were buried outside of their hometown. Thus Mary Magdalene’s tomb, if it was located in Jerusalem, would have something like “of Magdala” inscribed along with it.
Here are the excerpts of the experts, along with links to the source materials quoted:
- From Ben Witherington, Asbury Seminary professor, author, and well respected N.T. scholar: Mary Magdalene is called ‘Maria’ constantly in first century Christian literature, and indeed well into the second century as well. She is never called Mariamene or the like. It is anachronistic and inappropriate to bring in later Gnostic document evidence from the Acts of Philip or the Gospel of Mary, neither of which date before the end of the second century A.D. to make your case when you have perfectly good first century data to help you. In fact, in regard to the former manuscript what we have is a 14th century manuscript which is theorized to go back to the fourth century A.D. It does not identify Mariamene as Mary Magdalene, rather it identifies her as the sister of Philip the apostle. It is the unproven theory of Francis Bovon, without real supporting evidence that Mariamene refers to Mary Magdalene. There are two problems with this: 1) we have both Mary Magdalene, and Philip in the NT, and the two are never connected at all. Indeed they are from different cities it seems clear. In terms of historical methodology you cannot use later Gnostic documents filled with wild fictional accounts, indeed fairy tales, about talking animals (yes we have that in the Acts of Philip) and like and be taken seriously when you want to make historical claims on the basis of such later and non-historically oriented evidence; 2) the accounts in the Acts of Philip have Maramene evangelizing foreign countries, yet on the argument of the film producers of this Discovery Channel special, she stayed in Jerusalem and was buried there with Jesus. In other words, we have no good historical connection between the sister of Philip, and Mary Magdalene. None. SOURCE
- Also from Dr. Witherington, “The second word on the Mariamene ossuary is Mara which is short for Martha another female name. It is not a reference to her being a master or teacher.” SOURCE
- And finally, once more from Dr. Witherington: The earliest Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, including the members of Jesus’ family and Mary Magdalene, did not speak Greek. They spoke Aramaic. We have absolutely no historical evidence to suggest Mary Magdalene would have been called by a Greek name before A.D. 70. She grew up in a Jewish fishing village called Migdal, not a Greek city at all. It makes no sense that her ossuary would have a Greek inscription and that of her alleged husband an Aramaic inscription. SOURCE
- From Scientific America, quoting, archaeologist Jodi Magness: Other scholars think the assertion that the inscription Mariemene e Mara, written in Greek, refers specifically to Mary Magdalene is ridiculous. Jodi Magness, an archaeologist with an interest in early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, argues that any Jews buried in Jerusalem who were not natives would have had their home towns appended to their names when they were inscribed on ossuaries. (Despite scholars’ beliefs that Jesus’s entire family hailed from outside Jerusalem, none of the inscriptions on the ossuaries in the contested burial cave include other birthplaces.) Magness also believes that if Jesus’s family were wealthy enough to own a burial cave, it would have been in his home town of Nazareth and not in Jerusalem. SOURCE
- From Cambridge scholar Richard Bauckham, “The conclusion is that the name Mariamenon is unique, the diminutive of the very rare Mariamene. Neither is related to the form Maramne, except in the sense that all derive ultimately from the name Mariam. There is no reason at all to connect the woman in this ossuarywith Mary Magdalene, and in fact the name usage is decisively against such a connexion.”
SOURCE - From Extreme Theology: The book’s narrative claims that Jesus sent out a group of followers to spread his message. The followers were Philip, Bartholomew, and a woman named Mariamne who is identified as Philip’s sister. Among their accomplishments was the conversion of a talking leopard, a talking goat, and the slaying of a dragon. Yes, that is right Bartholomew, Philip and Mariamne went out preaching Jesus’ message to talking leopard’s and talking goats!
Secondly, the Acts of Philip NEVER even ONCE refers to Mariamne as Mary Magdalene. Granted, some scholars speculate that Mariamne COULD be Mary Magdalene BUT the text never actually says that. Therefore, the film’s producers are literally overstating the evidence supplied to us in the Acts of Philip. SOURCE - From Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society editor Andreas Kostenberger, “the claim that Mary Magdalene’s bones were found in one of the ossuaries on the basis that the name “Mariamne” (Mary) is inscribed on it is bogus; the connection
drawn here is pulled completely out of thin air” SOURCE - From Denver Seminary’s Dr. Craig L. Blomberg: The Hebrew woman’s name listed as ninth most common (actually tied for eighth with Imma) was Mara, like the form announced to have been found with the second Mary in the Talpiot tomb. Not only does Mara not mean Magdalene but, although it could be the Grecized feminine equivalent to the Aramaic masculine mar or “master,” it actually appears on one ossuary, discovered elsewhere in Israel much longer ago, as an alternate form of the name Martha. And the feminine form of “master,” in a highly patriarchal culture, was not used nearly as often as the masculine form. So the “Mary” that may have been a spouse to this Joshua/Jesus more likely was named Mary Martha, not Mary Magdalene, and not Mary the Master. SOURCE
- From Extreme Theology’s Chris Rosebrough: One last point: the film claims that “Maraimne e Mara” means Mary the Master. But the only way they could make this claim is if they mix languages. Mara means master in Aramaic, but the ossuary incription is written in Greek. In order for the film makers to be correct abou the ossuary text reading “Mary the Master” we have to believe that the inscription although written in greek is supposed to be understood as being half greek and half Aramaic. This is preposterous. Since the inscription is in Greek, if it was supposed to say “Mary the Master” it would have to say “Mariamne Ho Kurios” NOT “Mariamne e Mara”. SOURCE
Is that enough evidence for you? If it isn’t, then please, please read the source documents linked above very, very carefully. The link between Mary Magdalene and MariamenoueMara is quite possibly the easiest one to disprove, yet the most important one to the filmmakers’ case, as it figures so prominently in their statistical argument.
- Jesus Tomb
- Comments(19)
The 4th Century text that Mariamne comes from is the ACTS OF PHILIP, not the Gospel of Philip, which is an entirely different text. How can we link the Mariamne in Acts of Phlip, Philip’s sister
to Mary Magdalene? In the Acts of Philip, Mariamne is called Jesus’ favorite disciple among the
women. The Acts of Philip does not support the “marriage theories” as it clearly in several places
in the text says that the early disciples of Christ were accused of breaking up marriages.
3 different texts named Philip.
Gospel According to Philip (often called Gospel of Philip) this text has the infamous kiss scene in it.
Acts of Philip - 4th Century Syriac text where Mariamne is Jesus’ favorite disciple. This is the
text related to this dicussion.
Gospel of Philip - a missing text that we only have fragments from. The most interesting fragment
from this missing text is a dialogue between Lilith and Elijah, where she stops the holy spirit of
Elijah on the way to heaven, as he has demon children with Lilith.
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
From Extreme Theology: The book’s narrative claims that Jesus sent out a group of followers to spread his message. The followers were Philip, Bartholomew, and a woman named Mariamne who is identified as Philip’s sister. Among their accomplishments was the conversion of a talking leopard, a talking goat, and the slaying of a dragon. Yes, that is right Bartholomew, Philip and Mariamne went out preaching Jesus’ message to talking leopard’s and talking goats!
This is the fufillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 11 6-7 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.”
Jesus walked on water, turned water into wine, multiplied fish and bread to feed the multitudes,
cast out demons, etc. Why wouldn’t Mariamne Mara and the disciples have power in his name
that fufills prophecy?
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
Interesting that Ben Witherington, a seminary professor, uses the “fairy tale” prospect of “talking animals” to discredit the Acts of Philip when in fact in the book of Numbers, chapter 22 (which last time I checked is recognized as part of the gospel) there is a well-known story of Balaam and the miracle of the talking donkey. Is he suggesting the book of Numbers is a “fairy tale” as well? I think Witherington should consider brushing up a little on his studies before he offers up his “expert” opinion.
“From Extreme Theology’s Chris Rosebrough: One last point: the film claims that “Maraimne e Mara” means Mary the Master. But the only way they could make this claim is if they mix languages. Mara means master in Aramaic, but the ossuary incription is written in Greek.”
The new testament narratives are written in Greek, yet purport to tell the story of Jews in first Century palestine, who speak a Semitic language - Aramaic.
If you look up the word Maranatha in Webster’s Dictionary, you will find that the word is described as Aramaic (-Gr), meaning that the word’s origin is Aramaic and is written in Greek! Maranatha comes from 1 Cor. 16:22 “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” So the word Marantha, which means, O Lord Come, which is found in the gospels is an Aramaic word, written in Greek.
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
“In first and second century Christian literature, the most reliable and ancient texts that are still extant, Mary Magdalene is consistently referred to as “Maria”. The only ancient connection between Mary Magdalene and Mariamene (the nominative form of Mariamenou, which is in the genitive, meaning “of Mariamene”) comes from the 4th (?) century gnostic text the Gospel of Phillip.”
She is called Mariamne in Hyppolitus Refutation of All Heresies - which dates 230! In this text is says that Jesus’s ministry was passed down to James, the Lord’s Brother through Mariamne.
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
Based on research by Stephen Pfann - who I believe was quoted in the Jesus Family Tomb film - the inscription this post is referring to is much more likely Maria AND Martha - check out the link below, and the scans of the inscription.
http://www.biblicalfoundations.org/?p=100
Here’s Pfann’s essay on the subject: http://www.uhl.ac/MariameAndMartha/
Take a close look at the inscription, now embedded as an image in the above post - anyone who is objective can clearly see different writings styles between the first part of the inscription and the last.
I’d say this means case closed!!
-Chase
Also, Kelly is correct, though I wouldn’t grant her goddess status
it is the Acts of Philip, not the Gospel of Philip. In my defense, the filmmakers, whom I quote from at the beginning of this post, made the same mistake.
- Chase
Mariame Noue Mara - Do the letters Noue mean “and”? No, they are the
Greek word for Nun - Noue. Both Jesus and Joshua are called the Sons
of Nun, or the Sons of Noue. Nun the Hebrew Word, Greek the Noue word
for fruitful abundance. Nun is described as the Gate of Faith. Jesus and
Joshua are called the “Sons of Noue/Nun”, however, Mariame is called
Noue Mara - Teacher of the Faith. Nun is also described as the fruitful
womb, the gate of the yoni. Notice Mariame is not called Daughter of Noue,
but she is Noue itself, the Fruitful Fish/Womb of the Faith.
Blessings!
Love + Light
Kelly L. Fleming
Read the changes made to the above post, examine the image, and read Dr. Pfann’s findings - it is clear that “Noue” isn’t even in the inscription.
Perhaps I’ll have a chance to address the gnostic oriented parts of your comments at a later date. I have written somewhat extensively critiquing the findings of Bart Ehrman and Elaine Pagels in this field, so it is a topic I’d like to engage.
Thanks for reading!
I highly recommend that you introduce an eighth category and post the tracing from the so-called “Jesus son of Joseph” ossuary, so that any reader can see that the claimed “Jesus” part of the name on that ossuary is simply not legible. For details, see http://jesus-illegible.blogspot.com/
Oops, I now see that you have done precisely that.
http://www.kypros.org/cgi-bin/lexicon
This is an English to Greek - Greek to English dictionary. Go to the
link and try putting the word “and” in and see what you get. Nothing,
because there is no Greek word for “and”.
The word in the middle is Noue - the Greek word for the Hebrew
letter/word Nun. Nun means Gate of Faith.
The problem with all the “de-bunkers” is that they start out with
an agenda to prove things wrong. This is not the way to look at
new material. You need to have an OPEN MIND. The case is
far from closed.
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
P.S. Ask yourselves, Why is it so important to so many “experts” to
prove that Mariamne the Teacher of Faith is not recognized as being
in the tomb, nor having any title? If she was just his wife, no
scandal, but a teacher, on par with JC? Now you have a scandal!
The New Testament records Jesus’ last words on the cross in Aramaic: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” St. Mark, most likely writing in Greek, adds, “… which means, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”‘ (Mark 15:34).
Greek + Hebrew + Aramaic = Melting Pot of Languages. No exact division and seperation
as implied by scholars.
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
THE TITLE MAR IN THE EASTERN CHURCH
Mara is the last 4 letters on the Miriame Ossuary
from the Lost Gospel of Jesus. The title of Mar is
used in the Apostolic Asyrian Church. Which may
be the oldest know Christian Church, dating back to
the time of the apostles, and the Church of the East
sites that their version of the Gospels is the first
version, given to them in the language of Aramaic.
Aramaic and Syria can be viewed as interchangeable.
This version of the bible has been translated - it
is called the Peshitta Bible. Here is a description
of a “Mar”.
“Mar Dinkha IV
Catholicos Patriarch of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East His Holiness was born on September 15, 1935, in the province of Arbela, Assyria. He is the fourth in the line of succession to the Bishopric See of Urmia bearing the sanctimonious title of Mar Dinkha.”
Obviously, what I am getting at is that
the title Mara on Mirame’s Ossuary is designating her
as a Mar, which seems to be the equivalent of a Bishop.
I am still looking into exactly what the Mar title means
in the Eastern Religion. The A on the end of Mar, just
making the title feminine.
If Mar means “Master”, then there are two ways to view
the title. Master and Slave, and Master/Teacher and Apprentice/Student.
Mirame - Master - therefore Teacher.
Blessings!
Love + Light
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
Dear Kelly,
Your assumption of the word “and” is incorrect… it is a simple word that appears over and over in the Greek New Testament. Its meaning is typically that of our conjunction “and” and is translated such… If you go half way down this page you’ll find its translation…
http://www.heartofisrael.org/languages/greek/translation/john1-1.html
Sincerely, ED
Dear Kelly,
I get the feeling you’re wanting to grind a feminist axe with this topic. In so doing you are making points from fringe, if not heretical, documents that are not only suspect in their origin, but go against solid Biblical study. A simple “cut and paste” of text to prove one’s point will end up in poor proof texting at best. The experts you oppose are gracious is their documentation and could put all of us to rest in a debate on this topic.
Humbly yours, ED
The whole topic of the Gnostic religion is a heretical topic. The name Mariame is only
in heretical documents. Solid Biblical study is a bore. I like to think out of the box
the St. James Bible came in. That Mary Magdalene was the First Apostle, and main
teacher in the beginning of early Christianity is not “grinding a feminist axe”.
By the way, one of the translations of Noue/Naue/Nun is an Axe.
I doubt that any so called “expert” could put me to rest on this topic, as I know
the bible, as well as the “heretical fringe texts”.This whole discussion hinges
on the Acts of Philip and Hyppolitus - two heretical texts that I am very familiar with.
This is why Mariame’s message and importance has been lost,
& belittled. I wonder if she were alive today and having this conversation,
would you tell her as well that she has a “feminist axe to grind”?
When will Women ever be considered
as Holy Women, worthy of respect?
Love + Light
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
Here is the definition of the word hoax from the dictionary.
hoax –noun 1. something intended to deceive or defraud:
I think YOU have the ax to grind. As you used the word “hoax”
in your headline. I assumed that you used the word to invite
a converation and debate on the topic. I can see from your
angry response to my interest in the subject, that you intended
the word hoax.
Hoax is an EXTREMELY insulting word, in that, you are implying
that James Cameron and the Jesus Family Tomb was intentionally
made to de-fraud and deceive. This is absolutely not true,
as everyone involved in the project, including Dr. Tabor believe
that this is the Jesus Family Tomb.
Respectfully,
Kelly L. Fleming
Gypsy Goddess
Sacred Alchemy Products
Kelly,
It sounds like you are responding to Ed in Minneapolis’s comments above (reference his statement on axes to grind) as if they came from me, Chase, the writer on this site. Look above the comments to read the name of the comment author. I am not responding angrily to your interest on the topic, and am not sure that Ed is either, though I can’t speak for him, since I don’t know him. Two things to consider:
1. Ed is right about one thing - the word “Kai” in Greek is indisputably used for “and” (and a few other conjunctions, of course). You can check this out in BAGD if you have it (Bauer, Arndt Gingrich and Danker, probably the standard in Ancient Greek Lexicons).
2. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, there re two definitions of hoax:
1. An act intended to deceive or trick.
2. Something that has been established or accepted by fraudulent means.
In using the term “hoax” in the title of this website, I am using it in the second sense - i.e. the Jesus Family Tomb documentary presented “truths” that were established by fraudulent means. If I had to guess, and who in the world am I to judge a person’s motive, I would guess that Simcha really is trying to get to the truth (for the most part), but I’m not as sure about Tabor. I think the biggest motive here for all parties concerned is profit, but again, that is my opinion, and we all know what opinions are like!
One other thing: I think your poetry is beautiful, and have searched the internet and found some other examples of it. You are a talented writer. The object of worship in the above poem is clearly Mary Magdalene. I have a question for you to consider: Wouldn’t the best way to honor the memory and historical contributions of Mary Magdalene be to worship the one she worshiped, rather than her? Put another way - Mary was obviously changed and transfixed by her relationship with Jesus - I suggest to you that were she alive today, she would redirect any attention focused on herself to Jesus.