Mary Magdalene is Now Missing: A Corrected Reading of Rahmani Ossuary 701This article is in PDF.
SUMMARY POINTS OF DISCUSSION:
- 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.
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Citation: Stephen J. Pfann, " Mary Magdalene is Now Missing: A Corrected Reading of Rahmani Ossuary 701," SBL Forum , n.p. [cited March 2007]. Online:http://sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleID=653