"In the fourth century they had at least somebody to talk to who knew something [about locations of events chronicled in the New Testament]," said Strange.
Zias and Puech are now trying to decipher another inscription along the side of the tomb. The only word they can currently read is Simeon, who according to the Gospel of Saint Luke blessed baby Jesus as the future messiah.
Zias now hopes to find an inscription linking James the Just -- whom some Christians believe to be Jesus' brother -- to the tomb as according to Christian tradition, Zacharias, Simeon and James were buried together. Roman Catholics -- who believe Jesus' mother Mary was a virgin all her life -- say James was his cousin.
"There is room for three people [in the tomb]. There are three burial niches so it certainly fits," Zias said.
He is bitterly aware that any discoveries related to James may be greeted with skepticism by the archeological world which is still reeling from a scandal over an ossuary or burial box that purported to be that of James.
It has since been declared a fake by a panel of leading Israeli archeologists. But the hoax proved to be very lucrative for those involved.
In contrast, Zias has had to go into debt trying to finance the laborious process of making plaster casts of the tomb's almost illegible inscriptions so they can be deciphered.
"The irony is that these guys came up with an ossuary that is a forgery and make millions of dollars," Zias said. "Here we come but with something that is authentic, unchallenged and we have to go on all fours for funding."
RSS