{"id":439,"date":"2007-09-21T19:49:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-21T19:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve--ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html"},"modified":"2007-09-21T19:49:00","modified_gmt":"2007-09-21T19:49:00","slug":"just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html","title":{"rendered":"Just in Time for All Hallow&#8217;s Eve&#8211; Ezekiel&#8217;s Skeleton People Show Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"title\">Prophecy in Ezekiel 37 Proved True&#8212;<br \/><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"title\">Story follows: (http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/node\/29976?utm_source=EMTF_Onion)<br \/><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"title\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<br \/><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"title\">Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People<\/h2>\n<p class=\"meta\">December 8, 1999 | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/content\/index\/3545\">Issue 35\u202245<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Related Story&#8212;<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"sect\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"related\"><a class=\"thumbnail\" href=\"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/content\/node\/39512\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Evangelical\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/sites\/137\/images\/Evangelical-Scientists-thum.frontpage_thumbnail_small.jpg.jpg\" height=\"64\" width=\"64\" \/><\/a> <a class=\"title\" href=\"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/content\/node\/39512\">Evangelical Scientists  Refute Gravity With New &#8216;Intelligent Falling&#8217; Theory<\/a> <span class=\"date\">August  17, 2005<\/span> <\/li>\n<li class=\"related\"><span class=\"date\"><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<form action=\"\">\n<div>\n<p>OAS_AD(<br \/>AL JIZAH, EGYPT\u2014A team of British and Egyptian archaeologists made a stunning  discovery Monday, unearthing several intact specimens of &#8220;skeleton  people&#8221;\u2014skinless, organless humans who populated the Nile delta region an  estimated 6,000 years ago. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--googleon: index--><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article_photo\" style=\"width: 178px\"><a href=\"void(0);\"><span>Enlarge Image<\/span> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/sites\/137\/images\/onion_news2205.article.jpg\" height=\"250\" width=\"178\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>An archaeologist examines the intact remains of a spooky &#8220;skeleton  person.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--[image:29974]--> <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is an incredible find,&#8221; said Dr. Christian Hutchins, Oxford University  archaeologist and head of the dig team. &#8220;Imagine: At one time, this entire area  was filled with spooky, bony, walking skeletons.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The implications are staggering,&#8221; Hutchins continued. &#8220;We now know that the  skeletons we see in horror films and on Halloween are not mere products of the  imagination, but actually lived on Earth.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Standing at the excavation site, a 20-by-20-foot square pit along the Nile  River, Hutchins noted key elements of the find. &#8220;The skeletons lived in this  mud-brick structure, which, based on what we know of these people, was probably  haunted,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Although we found crude cooking utensils in the area, as  well as evidence of crafts like pottery and weaving, we are inclined to believe  that the skeletons&#8217; chief activity was jumping out at nearby humans and scaring  them. And though we know little of their language and means of communication, it  is likely that they said &#8216;boogedy-boogedy&#8217; a lot.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Approximately 200 yards west of the excavation site, the archaeologists also  found evidence of farming. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s puzzling about this,&#8221; Cambridge University archaeologist Sir Ian  Edmund-White said, &#8220;is that skeletons would not benefit from harvested crops, as  any food taken orally would immediately fall through the hole behind the jaw and  down through the rib cage, eventually hitting the ground. Our best guess is that  they scared away a group of human farmers, then remained behind to haunt the  dwelling. Or perhaps they bartered goods in a nearby city to acquire skeleton  accessories, such as chains, coffins and tattered, dirty clothing.&#8221; <\/p>\n<div class=\"article_photo\" style=\"width: 188px\"><a href=\"void(0);\"><span>Enlarge Image<\/span> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People jump\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/sites\/137\/images\/onion_news2206.article.jpg\" height=\"250\" width=\"188\" \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>An artist&#8217;s rendering of what a warrior-skeleton may have looked  like.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--[image:29975]--> <\/p>\n<p>Continued Edmund-White: &#8220;The hole in that theory, however, is that a 1997  excavation of this area which yielded extensive records of local clans and  merchants made no mention of even one animated mass of bones coming to town for  the purpose of trade. But we are taking great pains to recover as much of the  site as possible, while also being extremely careful not to fall victim to some  kind of spooky skeleton curse.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>As for what led to the extinction of the skeletons, Edmund-White offered a  theory. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Perhaps an Egyptian priest or king broke the curse of the skeletons, either  by defeating the head skeleton in combat or by discovering the magic words  needed to send their spirits back to Hell,&#8221; Edmund-White said. &#8220;In any case,  there is strong evidence that the Power of Greyskull played a significant role  in the defeat of the skeleton people.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>According to Hutchins, the skeletons bear numerous similarities to humans,  leading him to suspect that there may be an evolutionary link between the two  species. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Like humans, these creatures walked upright on two legs and possessed highly  developed opposable thumbs,&#8221; Edmund-White said. &#8220;These and many other  similarities lend credence to the theory that hundreds of thousands of years  ago, human development passed through a skeletal stage. These skeletons may, in  fact, be ancestors of us all.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Any of us could be part skeleton,&#8221; he added. <\/p>\n<p>Other experts disagreed. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The evidence of an evolutionary link between humans and skeletons is sparse  at best,&#8221; said Dr. Terrance Schneider of the University of Chicago.  &#8220;Furthermore, it is downright unscientific to theorize that skeleton life  originated in Egypt merely because mummies, another species of monster, are  indigenous to the area. Spooky creatures are found all over the world, from the  vampires of Transylvania to the headless horsemen of Sleepy Hollow.&#8221;<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"terminator\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/content\/themes\/onion\/assets\/terminator.gif\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prophecy in Ezekiel 37 Proved True&#8212; Story follows: (http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/node\/29976?utm_source=EMTF_Onion) &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People December 8, 1999 | Issue 35\u202245 Related Story&#8212; Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New &#8216;Intelligent Falling&#8217; Theory August 17, 2005 OAS_AD(AL JIZAH, EGYPT\u2014A team of British and Egyptian archaeologists made a stunning discovery Monday, unearthing several intact&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Just in Time for All Hallow&#039;s Eve- Ezekiel&#039;s Skeleton People Show Up - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Just in Time for All Hallow&#039;s Eve- Ezekiel&#039;s Skeleton People Show Up - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prophecy in Ezekiel 37 Proved True&#8212; Story follows: (http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/node\/29976?utm_source=EMTF_Onion) &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People December 8, 1999 | Issue 35\u202245 Related Story&#8212; Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New &#8216;Intelligent Falling&#8217; Theory August 17, 2005 OAS_AD(AL JIZAH, EGYPT\u2014A team of British and Egyptian archaeologists made a stunning discovery Monday, unearthing several intact&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-09-21T19:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/files\/images\/Evangelical-Scientists-thum.frontpage_thumbnail_small.jpg.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Just in Time for All Hallow's Eve- Ezekiel's Skeleton People Show Up - The Bible and Culture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Just in Time for All Hallow's Eve- Ezekiel's Skeleton People Show Up - The Bible and Culture","og_description":"Prophecy in Ezekiel 37 Proved True&#8212; Story follows: (http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/node\/29976?utm_source=EMTF_Onion) &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People December 8, 1999 | Issue 35\u202245 Related Story&#8212; Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New &#8216;Intelligent Falling&#8217; Theory August 17, 2005 OAS_AD(AL JIZAH, EGYPT\u2014A team of British and Egyptian archaeologists made a stunning discovery Monday, unearthing several intact&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2007-09-21T19:49:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/files\/images\/Evangelical-Scientists-thum.frontpage_thumbnail_small.jpg.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html","name":"Just in Time for All Hallow's Eve- Ezekiel's Skeleton People Show Up - The Bible and Culture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/files\/images\/Evangelical-Scientists-thum.frontpage_thumbnail_small.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2007-09-21T19:49:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-09-21T19:49:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/files\/images\/Evangelical-Scientists-thum.frontpage_thumbnail_small.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/content\/files\/images\/Evangelical-Scientists-thum.frontpage_thumbnail_small.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2007\/09\/just-in-time-for-all-hallows-eve-ezekiels-skeleton-people-show-up.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Just in Time for All Hallow&#8217;s Eve&#8211; Ezekiel&#8217;s Skeleton People Show Up"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"description":"Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&amp;E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}