Weltall

Never ends does it? Has anyone seen Haran around? I'm surprised he hasn't commented yet.

Vorkosigan

Let's not pick on Haran, Weltall. He's been abused enough. And anyway, the fat lady has not yet sung.

Haran

There's not much to say that hasn't already been said, I'm afraid. Read the ANE list. There are some interesting things going on there with respect to Altman, her new book, Ian Ransom's book, and the ossuary.

And of course, there is the article which no one posted:
Oded Golan's very recent comments

Is he telling the truth? Who knows. Of course, if the IAA continues their ad hominem campaign against Golan without real proof and action, they're going to lose the respect of a lot of people if they haven't already.

Ultimately, though Golan may have been involved and the ossuary may be a forgery, I don't believe in the gigantic and absurd world-conspiracy theories being told. And since there are those who heavily imply that I am involved (which is ridiculous and libelous), it seems obvious that they are blowing billows of journalistic smoke to make some big bucks.

As I've said before, the ossuary seems to be a forgery (for non-paleographical reasons). However, the behavior of many of those involved in trying to uncover what they believe to be a forgery has been utterly despicable, which does not engender believability or faith for most reasonable people.

Haran

P.S. -

Who is Ian Ransom? The only information I can find is second-hand. Where did he go to school? What does he do? Where does he work? What are his qualifications? Does he have any other publications?

In all seriousness, any answers to these questions would be appreciated.

Steven Carr

Golan's article is worth reading.

One amusing thing he writes is '.....police officials performed countless acts of negligence (from breaking the Yehoash tablet which they took from my possession to improper handling and storing the valuable antiquities from my collection which IAA officials had seized, causing breakage and the destruction of rare and valuable items).'

Gosh, perhaps the IAA cracked the ossuary.

Shocking that the police did not store these items with the same care that Golan had done. Perhaps they had run out of toilets?

Steven Carr

http://www.bib-arch.org/bswbbreakinggroundless.html

'The date is important. André Lemaire, the Sorbonne paleologist who wrote the original article in the November/December 2002 BAR2 , did not interpret the inscription for Golan until April 2002. If the rumor Meyers reports were true, Golan knew the significance of the inscription before Lemaire identified it for him. Golan has always claimed he did not appreciate the significance of the inscription until Lemaire read it for him and explained its reference to the brother of Jesus.'

In Schank's book, Lemaire states that it was Golan who told him that the 'brother' bit was signficant because it matched a rare entry in a catalogue.

Haran

A few of my questions are currently and finally being answered on the ANE list this month.

The most interesting post so far is about this "egyptologist's" alleged translation of an Egyptian "Hymn". I shall be interested to see his response to this serious challenge that appears to bring his integrity greatly into question.

Is Ian Ransom a real person, a made up person, or the pen name of someone who does not wish their true identity to be revealed? This author of a book about the "James ossuary" has, according to his own words on ANE, used his brother "Jakob's" (ie. "James") epinions account to write reviews, and for some unusual reason doesn't appear to use his full name "Joshua" (ie. "Jesus") on his publications but instead uses his nickname "Ian".

I have always been highly suspicious of the five glowing, five-star reviews given to Ransom's ossuary book. There are quite a few similarites between them (note things such as the words in all caps, the nick names, the mentions of the ANE list, the lack of any other reviews at all by any of them). No one, so far as I am yet aware, has been able to find the doctoral dissertation of Selena Hewitt-Long. Perhaps these people will come back and post a new review with an amazon "Real Name" badge. For some reason, Ian Ransom appeared to have posted to the ANE list under the yahoo email address of "Anders Erikkson" (an address which happens to be dead now), one of the reviewers. Perhaps he was sharing this account as he did his brother's...

Whether it is or not, something smells rotten....

offa

Yes, it is a tip of the iceberg. Using Eusibius as an example, religion has no boundaries as far as lying goes. Just do your tax return. It goes back through the ages. A truthlessness to day began centuries ago and has multiplied to a fathomless degree.

Just watch our president ... you know he is lying.

I challenge the findings at Masada. I challenge the findings at Elephantine. I think they were plants.

The USA Today is panhandling the "Shroud of Turin" and we scholars at this board know better ... don't we?

offa