The People Who Knew Jesus
A special section of the exhibition is dedicated to ossuaries or “bone boxes” that were discovered in recent decades in the vicinity of Jerusalem, belonging to contemporaries of Jesus who witnessed the momentous events of their times.

For a brief period in history of about 100 years (ending around 70 AD — the year the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed — the Jewish inhabitants of the Holy Land customarily placed the dead in burial caves, as Jesus was placed in the burial cave of Joseph of Arimathea in Jerusalem after His crucifixion. After one year, the bones were transferred to a stone box (ossuary), specifically manufactured for this purpose, and replaced in the cave for posterity.

Some bone-boxes were magnificently decorated with geometric designs. In some cases, the ossuaries were also engraved with the name of the deceased and other identifying information — such as the deceased’s father’s name, occupation, or nickname.