Nas Asuf

[poliphilo]

Jesus survived the crucifixion, fled to Kashmir, lived to be 80 and is buried in Srinigar, where his tomb, under the same roof as the tomb of a much later Muslim holy man, is still venerated- though no-one seems to get terribly excited about it.

In Kashmir they remember him as Nas Asuf- meaning the Healer.

That's what they told me on TV last night. Wow.

So I Googled. The tomb is for real. And it contains a burial oriented east-west, which is the Jewish standard, rather than north-south, which is the Muslim standard.

It also contains an odd little carving of Nas Asuf's feet. The feet have marks on them which the easily-persuaded interpret as the scars of crucifixion.

So?

There the trail runs into the sand. We have traditions of Jesus (Isa) having visited India and studied Buddhism, but they are either oral or based on documents that have disappeared (rather in the manner of Joseph Smith's golden tablets.) The prime propagators of the legend were a nineteenth century Russian adventurer and a nineteenth century Muslim bloke who set himself up as the Messiah- dodgy characters, both of them.

I get a strong whiff of theosophical nuttiness.

But the story isn't utterly implausible. People did survive crucifixion, there were established trade routes between the eastern Roman Empire and Northern India, and there's a tradition that the people of Kashmir are descended from the Jews who were carted off into exile by the Assyrians- and didn't Jesus say he had a mission to preach to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel"?

A simple way forward would be to dig up Nas Asuf and have a look at his hands and feet. But that would be sacrilege. And consider all the vested interests...

It's not going to happen, is it?

Comments

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The truth is just six feet and a taboo away. And we can't get to it. I find that really frustrating.

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[jubal51394.livejournal.com]

I am assuming that you have considered what the effects of this discovered truth might have on our civilization?

I will admit to sharing your fascination and frustration but still...

We could well be talking about the end of our world as we know it. It's more scary than anything else, methinks. *sigh*

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think our world would survive.

Of course I'm writing from an English perspective; most English people already put the resurrection in the same category as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

And even if the tomb was found to contain an ossuary labelled "Jesus of Nazareth" the true believers would be able to argue (quite rightly) that Jesus was a very common 1st century name...

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[jubal51394.livejournal.com]

Here, in Charismatic Christian country such a discovery could turn otherwise harmless fanatics into monstrous revolutionaries! I'm thinking the crusades here with state of the art technology!

I have always assumed that your experiences in religion have taken you into every variety of fanatic. It occurs to me today that you may not have met any of our grass roots Oral Roberts-Benny Hinn types. If they ever banded together and declared war on the truth... millions of otherwise sensible Americans would declare a jihad!

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I know the Oral Roberts type only by reputation. I suppose I regard it as a kind of fabulous beast- like a unicorn or a yeti.

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[jubal51394.livejournal.com]

I have REAL neighbors who, if Oral Roberts said the sky was falling, would build a bomb shelter, no questions asked.

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We do have charismatics and born-again fundamentalists- but they're a tiny minority- almost entirely without power. We find it hard to imagine what it'd be like if such quaint and cranky people were in a position to call the shots.

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[jubal51394.livejournal.com]

"such quaint and cranky people were in a position to call the shots."

You mean like our "Dubya"?

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I suppose I might... :)

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

what is "our world"? very little (if any) of the fighting would happen in england, i think. i'm fairly certain the indian government doesn't want to do anything that will draw america's attention and religious fervor. we have a lot of fundamentalists and religious whackos over here, and a president who is so insane as to actually be looking forward to nuclear war with iran. i can't blame india for wanting to keep a low profile.

Re: It's not going to happen, is it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean.

I sometimes forget that Britannia no longer rulkes the waves.