April 4, 2012, Updated April 10, 2012

Together with Professor James Tabor of the University of North Carolina and Professor Rami Arav of the University of Nebraska, Jacobovici and his team commissioned a state-of-the-art robotic arm and camera to probe deep beneath a Jerusalem apartment building and explore never before seen First Century artifacts.

In their documentary, The Resurrection Tomb, the team explores what has been dubbed the “Patio Tomb” containing several ossuaries.

They captured images of early Christian art including a depiction of Jonah being spat out of the whale. The team found the earliest testimony of faith in the resurrection of Jesus pre-dating any New Testament Gospels and the earliest Christian symbols ever discovered.

“The discovery effectively pushes back the date on early Christian archaeological evidence by two hundred years. More significantly, it takes us back into the lifetime of Jesus himself providing incredible insight into strong, early beliefs in the Resurrection,” said award-winning producer Jacobovici.

The Discovery Channel will broadcast The Resurrection Tomb in the US and Canada on April 12.

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