Jesus' Great-Grandmother Identified

[n2doc]

By Jennifer Viegas
Thu Dec 9, 2010 07:00 AM ET

The great-grandmother of Jesus was a woman named Ismeria, according to Florentine medieval manuscripts analyzed by a historian.

The legend of St. Ismeria, presented in the current Journal of Medieval History, sheds light on both the Biblical Virgin Mary's family and also on religious and cultural values of 14th-century Florence.

"I don't think any other woman is mentioned" as Mary's grandmother in the Bible, Catherine Lawless, author of the paper, told Discovery News. "Mary's patrilineal lineage is the only one given."

"Mary herself is mentioned very little in the Bible," added Lawless, a lecturer in history at the University of Limerick. "The huge Marian cult that has evolved over centuries has very few scriptural sources."

more
http://news.discovery.com/history/jesus-great-grandmother.html

[stopbush]

1. Yep, those medieval legends are just as true as real history!

More bullshit about other bullshit.

[aquart]

6. LOL! I was about to say.

[thecrow]

2. I've always wondered about Mary's name....

Isn't the name Mary more of a European name?

Ismeria sounds like more from the middle east, but Mary sounds like she's from England.

Any thoughts on this?

[MineralMan]

5. Yah, Mary's just as authentic a name from that place and time

as Jesus. No such name then and there. Miriam, perhaps. No Marys in Bethlehem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. Mary is from "Maria," the Greek form of the Hebrew name Miriam.

In the Koran and among Arab Christians, "Mary" is "Maryam."

[era veteran]

7. I once had 4 waitresses out of 8 named Mary

Almost like a sitcom.

[Kennah]

10. Were you in a hottub at the time?

[onager]

11. Mary's a very popular name among Muslims as well.

Mary and its variants - Miriam, Mariam, Mariamne, etc.

When I was working in Egypt (2005-09), one of my Egyptian co-workers and his wife had a baby girl. They're Muslim. The co-worker told me they had named the baby "Mariam." Then he added, "like the mother of Jesus."

That was lost on me, since I'm one of those evil, bitter atheists you read so much about in here.

He also gave me a gift I still treasure. A week after an Egyptian baby is born, most people celebrate by having a sort of christening ritual that dates back to ancient Egypt. At least that's what I was told - it's a uniquely Egyptian ceremony, nothing to do with Islam or any other semi-modern religion.

They told me the ritual is called "scaring the baby," which sounded hilarious and sort of...well, scary. To frighten a week-old infant.

What they mean is, "making sure all the baby's parts work." The father stands to the side and yells. The adults make sure the baby looks in his direction, certifying that its ears, eyes and brain are all working, I guess. Though you think they would know that after a week. And if they scare the baby badly enough, I'm sure some other parts start working as well...

Anyway, I couldn't attend the ritual because I was working. The co-worker saved me the gift. It's a little ceramic jar with a lid, full of candy and nuts. The jar is closed with a long white ribbon that has the baby's name in Arabic on one side, and a verse from the Koran on the other side, giving thanks for the new child.

I gave the jar to my mother. For safekeeping, and because her name is Mary. ;-)

[Kennah]

3. That's Immaculate!

[stopbush]

8. Did you know that most Catholics believe that the Immaculate Conception

refers to the conception of Jesus, rather than the conception of Mary?

It's true.

[Ian David]

4. Centuries from now, scholars may debate who was the grandmother of historical Edward Scisorhands.

[stopbush]

9. Check out the cargo cults & the name John Frum.

It hardly takes centuries for god mythology to take hold.

[Ian David]

15. See also: Also the Elvis and Jedi religions. n/t

[AlecBGreen]

12. I can save you the trouble of waiting

Eddie Scissorhands is the result of an all night whiskey-soaked romp involving Groundskeeper Willie and his beloved garden shears. Och!

[struggle4progress]

13. Jesus’ Great-Grandmother Not Identified

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Richard Bartholomew

An interesting article in the Journal of Medieval History, by Catherine Lawless: ... Unlike more well-known versions of the Holy Kinship of Christ, where Ismeria is described as the sister of St Anne and grandmother of St John the Baptist, in this legend she is instead firmly described as St Anne’s mother and thus the grandmother of the Virgin and the great-grandmother of Christ ...

For Discovery News (associated with the Discovery Channel), this becomes: ... The great-grandmother of Jesus was a woman named Ismeria ...

This is a risible misinterpretation of the article ...

http://barthsnotes.wordpress.com/

[laconicsax]

14. The wool for the Emperor's cloak was spun by a woman living in the Loire Valley in France...

whose family had lived there for centuries as shepherds.