S.C.Carlson

The latest BAR has a list of some of the (alleged) forgeries at trial involving Golan et al. Here are some notes I've taken about them, but my information is incomplete:

1. James Ossuary

Inscription on a limestone bone-box that reads "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."

Unprovenance. Surfaced in 2002 as a possession of Oded Golan, authenticated by Rosenfeld & Ilani (physical) and Lemaire (epigraphy), published by Lemaire in BAR in 2002, deauthenticated by IAA on physical grounds (modern patina over inscription).

2. Ivory Pomegranate

Inscription on an ivory pomegranate reads "Of the Hous[e of Yhw]h, holy to the priests"

Unprovenanced. Spotted by Lemaire in an antiquities shop in 1979, authenticated epigraphically and published by Lemaire in Revue Biblique in 1981, published again by Lemaire in BAR in 1984. Later found outside Israel in France, disappeared for a while, and then sold to Israeli Museum for US$550K. Reauthenticated epigraphically by Nahman Avigad in 1988, but deauthenticated physically by Yuval Goren in Dec. 2004 (synthetic material found in the inscription).

Connection to any of the defendants is unclear.

3. Jehoash Inscription

Fifteen lines of Hebrew text parallels 2 Kings 12:5-13.

Unprovenanced. Surfaced in 2001, shown to paleographer Joseph Naveh, who found it to be a probable forgery, but authenticated on physical grounds by Ilani, Rosenfelf, and Dvorachek. Found in the possession of Oded Golan when the police searched his place. Condemned as a forgery on epigraphical grounds by Frank Moore Cross, Kyle McCarter, Robert Deutch (a defendant), and Christopher Rollston.

4. Three Shekels and Widow's Plea Ostraca.

Inscriptions written on potsherds. The three shekels ostraca reads: "According to your order, Ashyahu the king, to give by the hand of [Z]ekaryahu silver of Tarshish for the house of Yhwh (BYTYHWH) 3 shekels."

The Widow's Plea reads: "May Yahweh bless you with peace. And now, let my lord, the prince, hear your servant: My husband is dead, (having left) no children. And may your hand be with me; and may you place in your servant's hand the property/inheritance which you promised to 'Amasyahu. But regarding the wheatfield which is in Na'amah: you have granted it to his brother."

Unprovenanced. Surfaced in the possession of Shlomo Moussaieff of London. Published and authenticated by Bordreuil, Israel, and Pardee in Semitica in 1997. Republished in BAR 1997 and reauthenticated by Cross, McCarter, and Lemaire (paleography). Disputed by Eph'al and Naveh in IEF 49 (1998), which was critiqued by Qimron. Disputed by Berlejung and Schüle on linguistic grounds in 1998. Deauthenticated by Goren on physical grounds (layer of paraffin between the patina and the ink).

5. Wine decanter

Inscription on a ceramic wine jug related "Of Mattanyahu, wine for cultic libation, one quarter"

Unprovenanced. Published by Deutsch and Heltzer. Sold by Golan to Moussaieff.

6. Almost 200 Bullae

Seal impressions on clay. Two read: "Baruch, son of Neriah the Scribe" and other "Hezekiah son of Ahaz kind of Judah."

Unprovenanced. Deauthenticated on account of the presence of fluoride in the water used to make the clay.

7. Oil Lamp.

Stone oil lamp with seven spouts and Jewish symbols.

Unprovenanced. Surfaced in the possession of Georges Weil who claimed to have bought it in 1968. BAR refused to publish it after Rosenfeld and Ilani (physical) and Sussman (stylistic) gave inconclusive opinions on its authenticity. Indictment alleges that Golan, Weil, and Eddy Shapira conspired to sell it.

8. Menashe Seal

A seal supposedly belonged to Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, set in a gold mounting.

Unprovenanced. Obtained by Golan from Fayez al-Ameleh and offered for sale to Moussaieff for $850K. Paleography disputed by Deutch and Lemaire and gold disputed by a London expert. Moussaieff turned down the sale, but later had second thoughts, but Golan said it was no longer available. Indictment alleges that Golan destroyed it.

Duke Leto

Golan has a cohort named Shapira? That's just too rich.

Vorkosigan

Damn! You're right, Steve. The golan forgeries are technically worse than I thought.

Also I share the comedy of Golan having a Shapira for a conspirator. Is that the same Eddy Shapira who was a special minister to Russia?

Vorkosigan

Duke Leto

I do have a bit of a soft spot for BAS. They were paying my bills for two years while I designed their Online Archive, but I have to wonder why Hershel keeps beating this dead horse.

Perhaps he doesn't want to admit he's wrong, but I think it has more to do with the fact that Israeli Archaeology is more or less on hold until the political situation improves. One can't really make content from without news.

S.C.Carlson

I don't get the Shapira references. Can somebody clue me in?

spin

The Shapira Affair was the name of the attempt, by an antiquities dealer 120 years ago, to sell what he claimed to be an ancient copy of Deuteronomy. When on examination it was declared a fake and a police investigation was sanctioned, he committed suicide.

That a Shapira is involved in the Golan accusations is somewhat ironic.


spin

S.C.Carlson

Got it. I just ran across this name when looking into the background of other Semitic artifacts (like the Mesha Stele). The O.T. is not my balliwick; I didn't realize how notorious he was.

andrewcriddle

FWIW Allegro wrote a book 'The Shapira Affair' suggesting that in the light of the dead sea scrolls maybe Shapira wasn't a forger after all.

Andrew Criddle

Duke Leto

Yeah there was debunk of that de-debunking book in BAR a couple of years ago. Then and again, it was done by Andre Lemaire.

spin

Yeah, I've heard of this book, but I've never seen it. I doubt if we can ever judge the situation, but I wonder if Allegro was able to muster anything beside the most trivial background info and loads of speculation?


spin