Haran

For those interested, the current issue of BAR has some very interesting new tidbits on the ossuary controversy this month.

The "imaginary trial" of Oded Golan is both hilarious and quite telling about how Golan and the ossuary have been treated.

One of the most interesting parts involved Golan discussing the infamous "ossuary dethroned" picture with the bare ossuary, sitting on top of a toilet, exposed to the elements. I was even taken aback at the seeming lack of care and concern. Perhaps the intention was that I and others would feel this way...

According to Golan in this BAR article, the ossuary was placed in the bathroom on the roof because it was the safest place he could think of for protecting the now very famous artifact. However, he states that he had wrapped the ossuary in several layers of bubble wrap. Apparently, when the police came in the middle of the night to search his house, he led them to it, they unwrapped it, set it back in place, took pictures of it, and later gave the pictures to the media. Hmm...

Ok, fine. This article is an "imaginary trial" of Oded Golan, but if true (as many of the comments seem to be), then my suspicions about the severe biases against the ossuary and its owner are being confirmed.

In addition, a few more tidbits. For those who said, against me, that Ada Yardeni agreed with Altman. This same article seems to indicate that she agrees with Andre Lemaire. .... Some good Israeli scholars appear to be accusing the IAA committee of bias and calling for a new committee to be appointed. They appear to note that some of the scholars on the IAA committee expressed negative opinions about the authenticity of the ossuary beforehand, just as I saw on the ANE e-list and mentioned here.

Finally, for those who read BAR and peruse the pictures, I also think that someone should come forward and explain why he has seemingly treated the ossuary inscription as authentic in many of his writings and yet is being accused of making private claims that he saw the ossuary without the "brother of Jesus"!

And for all of the ossuary conspiracy theorists here and scholar conspiracy theorists (some of whom have quite stubbornly and ignorantly tried to implicate even me!!!), I have some words....You are unreasonably paranoid and verging on delusional!

Sauron

And we should trust the BAR article and its interview of Golan because as we all know, Golan is just sooooo honest.

:boohoo:

Vorkosigan

Haran, do you realize the depth of the egg that will be on your face when Golan and his cronies go down? Why do you keep posting about this? For example, you can easily expose Golan's lies:

• Apparently, when the police came in the middle of the night to search his house, he led them to it, they unwrapped it, set it back in place, took pictures of it, and later gave the pictures to the media. Hmm...

That picture wasn't released by the police, Haran. It was released by the IAA.

Vorkosigan

Haran

Vork, the problem is that you know only what certain other scholars know and that is speculation and paranoia at best. If you have some information that implicates Golan and "his cronies" without a doubt, then please let us know. It would definitely put a stop to my posts. I would be happy to have a definitive answer to the whole deal rather than the endless, mindless and highly biased rhetoric that surrounds Golan and the ossuary.

My point in mentioning the toilet incident and the other information is that these things have been consistently used, but are turning out to be incidents spun out of control to make Golan and the ossuary look bad. I was summarizing the article, so whether Golan said it was the police or IAA, I do not remember (though you shouldn't forget that the IAA is part of the Israeli government). Either way, if the police or IAA did such a thing, then how can they be trusted? By the way, as stated in the article, the bubble wrap that apparently covered the ossuary can be seen in the picture(click on the picture for a larger version).

Not only that, but it is being noticed by other Israeli scholars how biased the opinions and conclusions of the IAA committee were with respect to both the James ossuary and the Yehoash inscription.

And others are being caught in seeming lies apparently because they are simply trying to have the ossuary and its owner discredited and dismissed. It's just good that the bias and lies of so many against the ossuary are finally being exposed.

So again Vork, unless you have some sort of definitive proof that can show us all beyond a shadow of a doubt that Golan and "his cronies" are responsible for a forgery, then I'm afraid I'll persist in my reasonable belief (being proved by evidence) that extreme rhetoric, tricks, and lies are being used against Golan and the ossuary. No more silly, rhetorical egg in the face talk... Put up... I want to be convinced one way or the other.

Sauron

And your only evidence to support that defense is Golan himself.
Which contradicts Vork's point.
And which is precisely why I lampooned your post, because Golan's honesty is seriously in doubt.

Steven Carr

But not his knowledge of ancient paleography, as we know he was the first to realise that the inscription matched an inscription in the Rahmani catalogue of published ossuaries.

Haran

"One-sided" IAA committee... A scholar who seemed to support authenticity and one consistent scribal hand across the inscription now claiming he saw the ossuary without part of the inscription... Other scholars who implicate even me in their overly wide-reaching conspiracy theories... Sorry, guys, all I see is bias, delusion, and paranoia...

Haran

Oh yes, and with respect to Golan lying about the toilet incident. You can believe that if you like. However, as BAR reported and I confirmed and relayed, you can still see the bubble wrap layers on the floor in the picture. Sounds like Golan might not have been lying. If he was lying, all the IAA and/or police would have to do is to put another special on Israeli TV condemning Golan's story as they seem to have done before... Once again, people are assuming guilt before innocence. So much for American ideals...