4.2 • Qumran (Archaeological Discovery)
Qumran was an ancient settlement situated near Jericho, on the western shore of the Dead Sea (in the present-day West Bank). This locale was home to a community of Essenes (often regarded as early “monks” due to their ascetic lifestyle).
During the First Jewish War (66-73 AD), in the summer of 68 AD, Titus, commanding Legion X Fretensis, razed Qumran.
Although European explorers had been aware of the site’s ruins since the 19th century, it gained prominence in the 20th century following the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Within the ruins, specifically in a group of twelve caves (believed to be a sort of “library” for the community) numerous ancient papyri were uncovered…
Those caves, sealed by the Essenes around the year 68 (before the Romans destroyed everything) in the aftermath of the Jewish Wars, were only reopened starting from 1949. It was then that archaeologists commenced excavations in the so-called “first cave”.
Digging away in cave number seven, one day they stumbled upon what would later be recognized as papyrus 7Q5: a fragment measuring a few centimeters across, featuring five lines of Greek text amounting to a total of twenty letters.
The papyrus lingered in relative obscurity until 1971 when the papyrologist José O’Callaghan, utilizing Ibykus (a hardware and software package designed for research in the “Thesaurus Linguae Graecae” database, encompassing Greek literature classics from Homer to the 6th century AD), identified that arrangement of letters as potentially corresponding to a passage from the Gospel of Matthew (It’s worth noting that this determination was made with some reservations, given the unclear rendering of certain letters).
If the proposed correspondence is indeed accurate, it would imply an earlier dating for the Gospel of Mark, predating 68 AD (which aligns with the year the manuscript deposit was sealed in the Qumran caves).
There were those who confirmed O’Callaghan’s proposal (Carsten Thiede, Herbert Hunger, Ferdinand Rohrhirsch, Hugo Staudinger, Harald Riesenfeld, Marta Sordi, etc.), and those who denied the identification (Stefan Enste, Daniel Wallace, etc.). There has been a big fuss about this…
In summary, as previously mentioned, it’s prudent to regard this as a hypothesis.
4.3 • History’s First Anti-Christian Satire (Discovered in High School Textbooks)
I discovered that the earliest satire in history against Christianity dates back to none other than 60 AD.
A precursor to Charlie Hebdo, so to speak.
The author of this early anti-Christian satire is Petronius Arbiter, and the work in question is the Satyricon, believed to have been composed around 60 AD.
The Satyricon, a rather fragmentary text of which we only have incomplete excerpts, revolves around the character Encolpius. Having offended the god Priapus, Encolpius becomes the focal point of the narrative, enduring a series of tragicomic erotic misadventures throughout the work…
There is a substantial passage in the Satyricon, specifically the one detailing Trimalchio’s Dinner, that, due to space constraints, I won’t quote in full. However, this passage appears to include numerous references or satirical elements related to the Last Supper and the account of Jesus’ final hours.
Due to space constraints, I recommend looking up and reading the extensive passage about Trimalchio’s Dinner in the Satyricon on Wikipedia for a detailed understanding:
Instantly, he uncorked a vial of spikenard, anointed all of us, and remarked “I anticipate relishing it in the afterlife as much as I do in the present”. Subsequently, he instructed the infusion of wine into a jug, stating “Imagine you’re attending my own funeral.
[…]
As he uttered these words, a rooster crowed.
[…]
…In my last testament, I bequeath my possessions to those in freedom under the condition that they partake in consuming portions of my flesh before witnesses.
(Satyricon CXLI, 2)
The pinnacle, however, is the segment featuring the matron of Ephesus (also found in the Satyricon):
A matron of Ephesus, […] who had recently lost her husband, went so far as to follow his remains into the tomb. […] Simultaneously, the provincial governor ordered the crucifixion of thieves right near the tomb where the grieving matron lamented her deceased spouse. On the subsequent night, as the soldier guarding the crosses – to be sure that no one would try to steal the corps to bury them – observed a light emanating between the tombs and heard the sound of someone weeping […], he became curious to ascertain the identity and purpose of the individual. Consequently, he descended into the tomb. […] They spent not only the initial night when their union was consummated but also the subsequent night and the third day, diligently keeping the tomb doors closed.[…] However, noticing a reduction in surveillance, the relatives of one of the crucified individuals took down the deceased during the night to perform the final rites.
And when the following day the soldier […] saw a cross without a corpse, horrified by the inexplicable event, he recounted the occurrence to the woman. […] She then instructed them to remove her husband’s body from the chest and affix it to the empty cross. The soldier took advantage of the ingenious suggestion of the astute woman, and the next day, the people marveled at how that deceased man could have ascended the cross.
(Sat. CXI-CXII)
I’ll leave it to you to draw the appropriate associations with:
- The Crucifixion of Jesus
- Guards stationed to watch over the body
- Resurrection on the third day
5 • Dating the Gospels – Epilogue
For those inclined to delve deeper into the question of dating the Gospels, if asked to recommend a single book that addresses these topics with clarity, conciseness, and, above all, intellectual honesty, my choice would likely be Vittorio Messori’s “Jesus Hypotheses”.
sale
(Winter 2016)