AN ISRAELI-BORN film-maker is claiming that two nails found in a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem cave are the ones used to crucify Jesus Christ.
Simha Jacobovici, a religious Jew who wears a large skullcap, makes his claim in a new documentary film entitled Nails of the Cross, the culmination of three years of research.
The story begins in 1990 when an ancient burial cave containing two ancient ossuaries was discovered during the construction of a road in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of east Talpiot, which lies between Jerusalem’s Old City and Bethlehem.
Mr Jacobovici and others claimed the site was the burial place of the Jewish high priest Caiaphas who, in the New Testament, presided over the trial of Jesus.
In the cave a number of ancient artefacts were found, including two rusted iron nails.
In his film Mr Jacobovici, who lives in Canada, claims the two nails mysteriously disappeared until he discovered them in a Tel Aviv lab belonging to a forensic anthropologist who has been studying them for the past 15 years.
Mr Jacobovici argues that Caiaphas changed his mind about Jesus after the crucifixion and the priest’s descendants decided to bury artefacts connected to Christ, including the nails, in the tomb. “In first century Judaism, crucifixion nails had magical powers and were a powerful talisman protecting the owner in this life and the next. I guess that it is an insurance policy in the afterlife,” he said.
The film-maker said he cannot be 100 per cent sure as DNA tests are not possible on iron, but he stands by his claim. “Given that Caiaphas is only associated with the crucifixion of Jesus they very well could be those nails.” Officials from the Israel Antiquities Authority stressed that it has never been proved that the east Talpiot tomb was that of Caiaphas, and in any event nails are commonly found in ancient tombs.
Local archeologists also dismissed his claims, with some calling it a publicity stunt. Gaby Barkay, an archeologist from Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv, said Mr Jacobovinci’s claims lacked scientific proof.