Freethought & Rationalism Archive

maryhelena · 04-03-2011, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephan huller

Here's another contender

stephan huller · 04-03-2011, 01:30 PM

My remembrance of the photo of the person on the lead sheet is that it looks like the face at the museum in Jordan. I might be wrong. Some more articles:

http://www.goddiscussion.com/44692/c...s-says-expert/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/reli...ists-life.html

From the second article

Quote:

Mr Elkington does have one other rather timely and co-incidental involvement with the treasure trove that has so excited academics: on Monday April 11 his agent, Johnathan Lloyd from Curtis Brown, will be trying to find a publisher for a book the couple have written on the codices, and their action packed efforts to protect them, at the prestigious London Book Fair. The Elkingtons' insist Mr Lloyd has been ''holding off'' selling their manuscript until they had made their news announcement of the discovery, ''not the other way round.''

According to Mrs Elkington: ''We made the news announcement now, as there was a very real threat that Hassan Saeda and his cohorts would sell the codices on the black market very soon. The fact that London Book Fair happens to be in a few weeks time is pure co-incidence. Convenient, albeit not necessary, to sell the book. We have never been motivated by commercial means, although acknowledge that, like everyone else, we have to make a living and we have a story to tell that hopefully the public will appreciate.''

Toto · 04-03-2011, 05:15 PM

The Coast to Coast interview is now online, although I'm not sure if it's worth going through the entire show

Quote:

According to Elkington, these books are a major find for Christianity, as they appear to confirm the story of Jesus presented in the New Testament gospel accounts. The metal pages include iconography of 7-branched Jewish menorahs, fruiting palm trees, and eight-pointed stars, which are indicative of Messianic descriptions in the Bible, he explained. One book depicts a first century topographic map of Jerusalem, complete with a crucifix just beyond the city walls and a tomb, presumably belonging to Christ, he noted. Another tablet portrays images inspired by Palm Sunday, he added. A cursory analysis of the books seems to indicate that Jesus did exist and this is the first ever hard evidence for it, Elkington declared. He also commented on the connection of this finding with the sealed books of Revelation.

Honestly, where did he get this amount of proof of the existence of Jesus from some untranslated paleo-Hebrew code and a few symbols? Is this the same man who said that Jesus was just Horus? Is this what his agent says will sell?

Toto · 04-03-2011, 05:26 PM

latest news

At least the Telegraph has downgraded Elkington from a "biblical scholar" to a "religious author."

Quote:

According to the Elkingtons they have been involved in a cloak and dagger escapade to safeguard the priceless religious artefacts from the clutches of unscrupulous foreign mavericks intent upon making millions in the Middle East's shadowy black market in antiquities.

''It has been a race against time to protect the collection's future,'' says Elkington. ''The shenanigans that have gone on have all the makings of an Indian Jones yarn.''

...

''We've had guns fired at us in Jordan, which was a warning we had got too close, and told if we didn't back off our 'heads would be cut off and put on spikes,'' says Elkington. ''We've even been contacted by Robert Watts who was involved in producing the Indiana Jones films about the possibility of a movie.''

The Elkingtons' role as saviours of the lost symbols is certainly dramatic - if, indeed, all is as it seems. But it does throw up as many questions as it does answers about the treasure trove ...

It seems there is a need for human drama and excitement, and a supply of entrepreneurs who will meet that demand for a price.

stephan huller · 04-03-2011, 06:25 PM

This is a new low in the relationship between media and archaeology.

Cege · 04-03-2011, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

Driving home, I heard David Elkington on Coast2Coast. (In previous weeks, I had heard Bart Ehrman on C2C.)

He did not claim any particular Biblical expertise, and he admitted that there were some obvious forgeries included with the codices. But he claimed that the age of the metal was proof of the ancient nature of the codices. He kept saying, if these are forgeries, what are they forgeries of? Wouldn't a forger try to forge a known type, such as a scroll?

His bio there says:

Quote:

David Elkington is the author of In the Name of the Gods, the highly acclaimed academic thesis on the resonance and acoustical origins of religion. David is primarily an Egyptologist, specializing in Egypt-Palestinian links that have inevitably drawn him into the field of Biblical studies.

I didn't hear the end of the program. The host was about to get into end time prophecies.

C2C has some real doozies! It's been years since I drove that late at night to hear the program, but I was always entertained. :rolling:

Toto · 04-03-2011, 08:05 PM

Elkington has been variously described as a Biblical Historian, an archaeologist, an academic, a former priest, but none of this has been documented. There is no claim, and no evidence, that he has any sort of degree. He is an author, although his work has not been highly aclaimed outside of alternative reality sites that also deal in ghosts and alien abductions.

Of course, he has also been described as a crank and a con man.

Media Fail

Toto · 04-03-2011, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maryhelena

Since, it's now down to faces - perhaps this face might be a contender....

...

Tom Verenna on the face in the lead

Quote:

On top of this, David, Dan, and I have been discussing the many similarities of the cast images on the tablets to coins and other artifacts located at museums in the region. David has highlighted the similarity between the “face of Jesus” tablet with a bust of Apollo at the Jordan Archaeology Museum.

Toto · 04-03-2011, 08:48 PM

Elkington in his own words

Quote:

Name:
(Paul) David Elkington

... I'm now a writer/egyptologist and have a few books out at the moment, but studying at Corsham was a great foundation, even though I didn't finish the course and left somewhat under a cloud which was later identified as ill-health, now cleared, thank goodness.

After leaving I had various jobs in film and TV until I got the 'egypt' bug and pursued a new career in the field of ancient history and linguistics. ...

And there is a comment on a blog here from someone who claims to be his son, unable to collect support from him because he is on some sort of disability benefit that can't be touched. . .

stephan huller · 04-03-2011, 09:14 PM

What a lot of people don't realize is that the journalist standards of yesterday no longer exist. Reporters are underpaid, newspapers have been reduced to 'content providers' and the real people writing the news are an army of public relations people; the 'reporters' are now reduced to essentially 'cherry picking' original 'stories' produced by those trying to influence public opinion on behalf of corporations trying to sell things. This sad situation is certainly here on display.

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04-03-2011, 06:25 PM	#125
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	This is a new low in the relationship between media and archaeology.

04-03-2011, 08:05 PM	#127
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Elkington has been variously described as a Biblical Historian, an archaeologist, an academic, a former priest, but none of this has been documented. There is no claim, and no evidence, that he has any sort of degree. He is an author, although his work has not been highly aclaimed outside of alternative reality sites that also deal in ghosts and alien abductions. Of course, he has also been described as a crank and a con man. Media Fail

04-03-2011, 09:14 PM	#130
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	What a lot of people don't realize is that the journalist standards of yesterday no longer exist. Reporters are underpaid, newspapers have been reduced to 'content providers' and the real people writing the news are an army of public relations people; the 'reporters' are now reduced to essentially 'cherry picking' original 'stories' produced by those trying to influence public opinion on behalf of corporations trying to sell things. This sad situation is certainly here on display.

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