Bill

The CNN report of this story includes these additional details: But in spite being caught red-handed with the tools of the trade and "work in process," the con-man denied the charges: It will be interesting to see if he cops a plea. Of course, Israel has very lenient criminal punishments, with a maximum of 25 years in prison for even the most outrageous crime, so perhaps all of the millions of bucks this guy made over the years just might weigh stronger in favor of his continued denial of any criminality....

== Bill

Boro Nut

And a good job it turned out that way to, or as an atheist I would be out of a job. Scientists would have had a hard time explaining a genuine inscription on a fake ossuary. Phew!

Boro Nut

godfry n. glad

Oh, I dunno...

I don't think your job as an atheist would have been jeopardized if it had been a fake inscription on a fake ossuary, which is the common misconception about the thing.

godfry

....and...how does one get a "job" as an atheist? Are there any openings?

godfry n. glad

Geez Louise, Bill.... Didn't you know Oded was renting the space to "an Egyptian"? I guess the implication is that the tools were not his and the "works in process" had nothing to do with him, but rather belonged to this mysterious "Egyptian".

Yeah.... riiiiight.

And "Mister I've Been Collecting Antiquities Since I Was A Pre-Adolescent" had no idea that this "Egyptian" was running an illicit workshop manufacturing fraudulent antiquities on _his_ roof?

Yeah....riiiiiight....

So what was the "James Ossuary" doing placed on Golan's mantle when Lemaire came a-visiting? And, why was Golan's mother "cleaning" the inscription on the side...picking up extra cash doing cleaning for "the Egyptian"?

Man... The more these people try to "spin" the story, the more it spins out of control.

godfry

Haran

Ossuary Dethroned



Found in a filthy bathroom sitting on a toilet?!

Ok, this whole thing is just making me sick. Tell me the Israeli police staged this photo to nail a hated antiquities dealer! Please...

This post on ANE had some interesting rumors. This sounds like an Israeli tabloid, but it might contain some truthful tidbits. I noticed that Ada Yardeni is quoted as accepting the inscription as authentic (as I had attempted to tell others quite a while back). Roni(sp?) Reich apparently thought the inscription was authentic until the results of the scientific tests.

Good grief...

Vorkosigan

Haaretz notes;

"Police suspect Golan has sold millions of dollars worth of forged antiquities over the years to various museums and institutions
abroad. They say he inscribed stones dating back to the First Temple period (1006-586 BCE), making it very difficult for institutions to identify them as fakes. "

Article with pic of forgery workshop

Altman told me back in October or November that the police were investigating this as a modern forgery case.

Vorkosigan

Kosh

Remember this the next time you see a priest sprinking someone with "Holy Water".

Do you think he was trying to convert it to a toilet tank? It's about the right size....

Haran

Actually, that was exactly what I was thinking!

JCS

Would the Bible count as one of those relics?

fried beef sandwich

So... what kind of patina was on that thing anyway? Actually, I'd rather not know.

Sheesh, what further evidence does the Royal Ontario Museum want? Why don't they just admit that they were duped? It doesn't really hurt their credibility any. Or much, I should say.