Bargil Pixner

Bargil Pixner (March 23, 1921 – April 5, 2002) was an ethnically German Italian-American monk of the Order of Saint Benedict, Biblical scholar and archaeologist, and commentator on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Biography

Pixner was born in 1921, the first of eight children, in Untermais, Merano, South Tyrol.

Theories Pixner's theories, linking archaeological sites to events and figures in the Bible, have been met with mixed acceptance by scholars. In particular, he argued for a connection between Jesus and the Essenes and for the identification of the "Essene Gateway" (excavated beginning in 1977) on Mount Zion, and the dating of the crucifixion to Friday, April 7, AD 30. an identification which the State of Israel made official in 1989 after excavations in 1987. Pixner showed the site to Pope John Paul II in March 2000, declaring a key excavated from the site to be the "key to the first Vatican."

Works 1986. Glory of Bethlehem. Judson Press. 1992. With Jesus Through Galilee: According to the Fifth Gospel. Corazin Publishing. 1996. With Jesus In Jerusalem: His First and Last Days in Judea. Corazin Publishing. 1991. Paths of the Messiah And Sites of the Early Church from Galilee to Jerusalem. Ignatius.