The Lost Mary

“A great leap forward in understanding and contextualizing Mary’s life, after two millennia of her being dismissed and rewritten by patriarchal power structures.” —James Cameron, creator of Avatar, Titanic, and The Terminator

“The Lost Mary unfolds in five radical claims. . . . Together these arguments are Tabor’s attempt to rescue Mary from pious abstraction and revolutionize our picture of her as one of the most consequential women in history. . . . In recovering her story, we discover not only the hidden roots of Christianity but also a model of resilience that speaks across time. Mary, Tabor shows, reminds us that behind every movement are women whose voices have been silenced, whose influence has been hidden in plain sight.” —Candida Moss, National Geographic

“In The Lost Mary, renowned historian James Tabor launches a bold quest to rediscover the historical Mary, mother of Jesus. Far from the passive, deified figure of Christian tradition, the real Mary was a Jewish woman shaped by the revolutionary fervor of her time. Tabor restores her voice, her faith, her motherhood, and, most of all, her humanity, in this groundbreaking portrait that challenges everything we thought we knew about the origins of Christianity.” —Reza Aslan, author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

“Gospels, histories, legends, traditions, archaeological artifacts: James Tabor brings all these sources to bear as he retells the story of Mary, the mother not only of Jesus but also of the movement that he championed. The Lost Mary effects an imaginative repatriation of this ancient and elusive figure, vividly conjuring both her character and the times that she lived in. Tabor’s Mary is ‘lost’ no more.” —Paula Fredriksen, author of When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation

“Mary mother of Jesus, perhaps the most poorly-understood person who ever lived, could not find a better modern interpreter than James Tabor, whose life-long training in both archaeology and textual studies has given him the keys to, for the first time, construct a convincing portrayal of this enigmatic figure.” —John Dominic Crossan, author of The Historical Jesus

“Tabor’s accessible, informed and wide-ranging exploration challenges Mary’s traditional portrayal, while situating Mary solidly within the social and political world of her times. This is a book that will appeal to those who seek an alternative view of Christian history.” —Joan E. Taylor, author of Boy Jesus: Growing Up Judean in Turbulent Times

“She is the most revered woman in history, but how many people know who Mary, the mother of Jesus, really was? In a penetrating and deep analysis of all our available sources, James Tabor presents a surprising, historical view that places Mary in her own, first-century, Jewish context.” —Bart Ehrman, author of Misquoting Jesus

“Informed by archaeology, the history of Romen-ruled Judea and the Galilee, Jewish messianic speculation, and early Christian texts, Tabor offers numerous striking insights regarding not only Mary of Nazareth, but also her son Jesus, John the Baptizer, and James the Just. Engaging, creative, thought-provoking, and revelatory.” —Amy-Jill Levine, author of Jesus for Everyone: Not Just Christians

“A fresh perspective on a figure who continues to fascinate . . . Tabor makes a strong case for a Mary who was not a bystander but an integral part of a messianic movement.” —Ilene Cooper, Booklist

“[A] deep dive into Mary as a credible historical reality . . . Tabor’s very readable retelling of her life boasts impressive research.” —Library Journal

“Dr. Tabor succeeds in shedding light on the historical Mary. . . . a convincing book that places Mary in proper context as a first century Jewish mother living in a time of increased messianic expectations fueled, at least in part, by oppression from the Roman Empire.” —Jill Prouty, TheCitizen.com