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No one knows where she is buried. Christian belief (or perhaps tradition) takes the view that the graves of the 'dead-in-Christ' are not disturbed so it is unlikely her grave will ever be found no matter what devotees of the Da Vinci Code believe. 'Magdalene' is an alternative name for a 'Phoenician. It comes from the Hebrew 'Migdol' for tower. Most assume that Mary came from Magdala which is a fishing village on Lake Galilee. Unusually, there seems to be no evidence whatsoever for a tower at Magdala. So why call it that? The place used to be a Phoenician base for fish farming in the lake. Rev Richard Bewes, formerly Rector at All Souls Anglican, Langham Place, London, noted that the fish in Galilee are the same as those found in the large East African lakes. Phoenicians used towers to house soldiers to protect their merchandise. From the turrets (c.f., Tyre), archers would deter invaders, poachers or thieves. But at Magdala, since the 'merchandise' was fish in the lake, towers with turrets were irrelevant.

Almost certainly, this is evidence of activity of Phoenician traders between Ophir (Auphirah or Africa) and Israel-Phoenicia (or Punt).

Mary the Phoenician was named "Magdalene" because Greeks and Romans hated the Phoenicians. In the plays of Menander, the Greek satirist, the Phoenicians were always the bad people. The Romans had an especially deep animosity towards Tyre and the Phoenicians because of the wars against Carthage. Thus, the gospel writers used a nick-name to disguise her origins. That is why there is now an air of mystery surrounding her. It also seems quite possible, although we are relying on information from sources that we know little about, that Mary was involved with early Jewish-Christian evangelism as the gospel spread throughout Tyre-Phoenicia's former dominions in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. If she died on one of those travels, she could have been buried anywhere from Galilee to Northumberland or even in a certain place in Scotland (Da Vinci Code) but there is little point searching for her grave.

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13y ago

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