An ancient limestone burial box discovered in a Jerusalem tomb may be linked to the man who helped Jesus carry the cross, according to scholars reviewing its inscriptions.
The ossuary features an explicit inscription reading Alexander, son of Simon. The father and son name combination directly matches the individuals named in the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament.
New Testament researcher Dr Jeremiah Johnston said that available data points to a genuine connection between the artifact and the biblical narrative. He noted that Simon, his son Alexander, and a family from Cyrene were buried in Jerusalem during the period before 70 AD, adding that he believed it was quite likely the same family.
Researchers also identified another Hebrew inscription on the lid of the box, which they interpret as a reference to Cyrene. In the Gospel of Mark, Simon is described as a passerby coming in from the countryside whom Roman soldiers forced to carry the cross of Jesus through Jerusalem.
Johnston said the coincidence of the name, the mention of a son, the Cyrenian origin, and the dating was striking, creating a compelling basis for a real connection. The artifact was one of 11 burial boxes found inside the ancient tomb in Jerusalem.
Biblical accounts and tomb findings
During the Jewish Second Temple period, families in Jerusalem practiced secondary burial using limestone ossuaries. Bodies were initially placed in tomb niches until decomposition was complete, after which relatives gathered the bones into carved stone chests. This burial tradition ended when Roman forces under Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Johnston noted that among the 11 burial chests recovered from the tomb site, a box containing the remains of Alexander's brother Rufus was missing. The Gospel of Mark 15:21 specifically records that soldiers compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry the cross.
Commenting on the missing box and the overall evidence, Johnston noted that while a connection cannot be claimed with 100 percent certainty, the probability remains quite high.
Scholar Tom Powers, referencing research by Israeli historian Tal Ilan, also said he considered it very likely that the box belonged to the Alexander named in Mark's Gospel. Powers stated that the alignment of names, familial relationships, Cyrenian background, and first-century Jerusalem context creates a strong parallel with the biblical text.
Shared burial hypothesis and scholarly debate
Powers put forward a hypothesis that the limestone box may have held the remains of both Alexander and his father Simon. He suggested that Simon's name was carved onto the box first, with Alexander's name added later after his death.
Archaeologists know that multiple interments within a single ossuary were common during the 1st century. Under the proposed timeline, the bones of Simon were placed inside first, and the remains of Alexander were added later, necessitating an addition to the original inscription.
The joint burial theory remains controversial among academic researchers. Many scholars reject the shared burial assumption, arguing that the grammar and form of the inscriptions indicate that the box contained the remains of only one person, Alexander.
The analysis of the Jerusalem burial box and its potential links to early Christian history was reported by the Daily Mail.
