The "Tablet from Nazareth" is a marble slab measuring thirty-seven by sixty centimeters, on which a Greek text is engraved prohibiting disturbing burial sites, in particular, removing the deceased from their graves.
The origin of the tablet is unclear. It is believed to have been acquired by the former curator of the Louvre, Wilhelm Fraener, in 1878. He bought it in Paris from an unknown antiquities dealer and kept it in his private collection until his death. After that, the tablet ended up in the Paris National Library, where the attention of the curators was attracted by a paper label announcing that the item was brought from Nazareth.
The tablet very quickly gained popularity among religious people and by the end of the 20th century was seriously considered as evidence of the life and death of Christ. It was assumed that the text on it was an excerpt from a decree attributed to the Emperor Claudius (reigned 41-54 AD), which was a reaction to the resurrection of Christ and, accordingly, the disappearance of his body. According to the version attributed to the Jewish high priests, it was rigged by the disciples of Christ, who stole the corpse. As if the emperor of Rome learned about this story, which was at the other end of the then world, and ordered no more to remove the dead from their coffins. This opinion persists to this day, you can find it on the sites of the corresponding orientation.
A team of scientists from the University of Oklahoma tried to check this version using the methods of modern science. They managed to get a tiny piece of marble from the back of the tablet and carry out isotopic analysis.
It turned out that the marble was mined on the island of Kos in the southeastern Aegean Sea. His subsequent arrival in the Middle East is theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely - in that era, the stone was rarely transported far, except that it was about something completely exclusive.
In addition, based on the duration of the quarries on Kos, scientists believe that this piece of marble was quarried no later than the middle of the 1st century BC, that is, about a century before the alleged crucifixion of Christ.
Sergey Sysoev
