The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus

A world-renowned historian of early Christianity and ancient Judaism lifts the veil on the life of Mary--revealing her revolutionary role as the matriarch of the Jesus movement

"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

Mary, mother of Jesus, is the best known--and least known--woman in history. Revered and worshipped by millions, she remains a figment of the imagination, the ethereal subject of Raphaels and Botticellis, bathed in heavenly light, too virginal and pure to move among us.

But what about the real Mary? The young Jewish woman and single mother of eight--five boys and three girls. The defiant citizen of Roman-occupied Galilee who survived through one of the most dangerous periods of Jewish history--an ancient "game of thrones" that claimed the lives of three of her sons: Jesus and Simon by crucifixion, James by stoning. The historical Mary whose teachings and courageous example may in fact make her the "first founder" of what we now call Christianity.

This Mary has not only been lost to us--she has been systematically erased over the past two millennia by a theological, cultural, and political program intent on removing her from the human realm and marginalizing her womanhood, motherhood, and Jewishness.

In The Lost Mary, James D. Tabor corrects the record, laying out the results of his intensive textual and archaeological sleuthing over the past three decades, including new evidence regarding Mary's genealogy (which may be hiding in plain sight in the New Testament!). Tabor's quest for the historical Mary offers a transformative perspective on Jesus and his early followers, and recovers the nature and essence of earliest Christianity.

Author: James D. Tabor
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 09/30/2025
Pages: 240
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.50w x 0.66d
ISBN: 9781101947845


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2025
Library Journal 07/01/2025 pg. 60
Booklist 08/01/2025

About the Author
JAMES D. TABOR is a retired professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he served as department chair for a decade. His previous ten books include the international bestseller The Jesus Dynasty, The Jesus Discovery, and Paul and Jesus. Over the past three decades Tabor has combined his study of ancient texts with field work in archaeology, and since 2008 he has been co-director of the acclaimed Mt. Zion excavation in Jerusalem. Tabor's work has been featured in dozens of major magazines and TV documentaries, including on PBS Frontline, BBC, Discovery Channel, Nightline, 20/20, and the History Channel. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.