The Jesus Boat Revealed
Posted By Solomon Productions on June 22, 2009
Jesus Boat Discovery
In the Galilee seaside village of Kibbutz Ginosar, an historic archaeological discovery was made on January 24th, 1986. The discovery rocked the worlds of faith, history and archaeology.
Following a prolonged drought that lowered the Galilee’s sea level, two fisherman brothers, Yuval and Moishale Lofan, discovered an ancient boat. At the same time a brilliant double rainbow crowned the skies over the Galilee. Extremely rare, many thought these rainbows and other simultaneous unexplainable events were signs from God, hailing the discovery of this ancient boat. Were these events just a coincidence – or were they actual signs from God?
To prevent looting or other inadvertent damage, the Lofan brothers, kibbutz members, famous marine archaeologist Kurt Raveh, Texas A&M University biblical archaeology professor Dr. Shelley Wachsman and renowned Galilee scholar Mendel Nun sought to keep the find secret until it could be properly excavated. Despite their best efforts, news of the boat spread like wildfire throughout the region. Much of the news was based on rumor rather than factual information. Because of this, most of those who heard about the boat were more interested than they would have been with a typical archaeological find.
In Israel, a land blessed with a rich history and hundreds of thousands of artifacts, important discoveries happen on a fairly regular basis. This discovery, though, was different; there must have been something more to the story. Experts were brought in to establish the boat’s authenticity and exact age using scientific methods, including three independent precision Carbon-14 dating examinations. Dr. Wachsman, Kurt Raveh, Orna Cohen (principal investigator for the laboratory of molecular and cellular biology at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) and many others played key roles in the boat’s complex and dangerous rescue over an intense and perilous eleven-day rescue period.
Word of this unprecedented discovery traveled far and fast throughout the scientific community and to people of faith around the
world. What had been found was a Bible-era artifact like no other. Some consider it to be among the top ten biblical archaeological discoveries ever found. The Jesus Boat is a one-of-a-kind actual touch-point back to the exact time and place of Jesus!
Jesus Boat Recovery
With the go-ahead they had received from Kurt Raveh and Shelley Wachsman’s pronouncement that the boat was ancient, the initial group of rescuers made contact with the Israeli Department of Antiquities.
When they had uncovered the boat to look at it, it was clear that the timbers were extremely waterlogged. The hull of the boat looked, at first glance, to be in fairly decent shape, but the wood had a soggy, spongy and crumbly texture to it. Over the nearly 2,000 years the boat had sat under the mud, most of the wood cells in the frames and planking had been replaced by water.
During the recovery an oil lamp, a cooking pot and some additional potsherds were found, but all of them were found outside of the
boat. The boat had not been carrying a cargo when the mud had buried it. Because of the proximity of the pottery the excavators could give a rough estimate of when the ship was in use, but accurate confirmation of the boat’s age would have to wait until some of the timbers could be tested using the Carbon-14 dating method.
During this preliminary rescue excavation, a film crew from the Israeli Television Authority came on site to record footage of the dig. It had been agreed that they would not release any of their footage until the boat was announced to the press, so the plan was to keep the boat quiet until the water level had risen again and covered the boat.
As it turned out however, the story was leaked, bringing the entire global media down upon this chaotic scene of growing interest, intrigue and very high drama. What followed over an incredibly short eleven-day rescue period is considered to be nothing short of a miracle. Consider these examples: Following a period of prolonged drought, a double rainbow shone above the boat at the very moment it was discovered.
An extremely rare “moon bow” (a night time rainbow) appeared to Orna Cohen during the rescue.
The long drought-parched Galilee region was deluged with rain almost immediately upon the boat’s discovery.
During the rescue, major “political,” personal and scientific conflicts were quickly settled; the seemingly impossible race against the clock was won; the shortages of money, manpower, and workable rescue solutions were solved; and never before seen cooperation and assistance was rendered continuously from kibbutz members, workers, sponsors, and government agencies.
And then we have this key fact: If this boat had been discovered even thirty years earlier than 1986, the basic scientific knowledge
necessary to rescue and permanently preserve this boat would not have existed. Despite these odds, the fact that this 2,000 year-old boat is on exhibit today must be seen as a miracle!
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