OCCUPATION:
Joseph of Arimathea was a tin merchant according to some ancient traditions, and made many trips to Cornwall, England.

According to the TALMUD Joseph was the great uncle of Jesus. Joseph the carpenter (earthly father of Jesus) apparently died in Jesus' youth and Joseph of Arimathea became the legal guardian of Jesus. Joseph the carpenter is not mentioned in the Gospels after the family's trip to Jerusalem when Jesus was 12. Many early Christian writings state that he was past middle age, or even an old man when he married Mary, which appears to support the claim of his death to have occurred at least before the beginning of Jesus' public ministry.

Ancient sources state that Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy tin merchant. He may have been the richest man in that area of the world during that time. He made many trips to Britain where he had tin mines in Cornwall. It is 'possible' that Jesus Himself accompanied Joseph on voyages there during His childhood, but this is only speculation. Diordorus Siculus, Julius Caesar, and other ancient classical writers wrote at length of the tin trade between Cornwall and Phoenicia.

After Jesus was crucified and died on the Cross, shedding his blood for our sins,
Joseph of Arimathea asked for Jesus body. He took our Lord and wrapped his body in clean linen cloth. Then Joseph laid Jesus in his own newly hewn tomb. Three days later Jesus arose from the dead. After 40 days Jesus ascended into heaven after giving instruction to His followers to carry the gospel to all the world.

Ancient sources also make the following claim:
In 36 A.D. Joseph of Arimathea, Mary and other disciples were exiled from Israel in a boat without oars for the crime of being believers in Christ. The boat drifted to Marsailles, France where they disembarked, and eventually went to Britain, where Joseph became the first Christian missionary, establishing Christianity on that continent FAR BEFORE Augustine arrived with Catholicism.