James Ossuary

The James ossuary was on display at the Royal Ontario Museum from November 15, 2002 to January 5, 2003.

The James Ossuary is a 1st-century limestone box that is attributed to James, brother of Jesus, who is also known as James the Just, St. James, or Santiago. According to the burial customs of the Jewish community of Jerusalem in the first century AD, such boxes were used to intern the bones of the dead. The Aramaic inscription: Ya'akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua (English translation: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus") is cut into one side of the box. The inscription is considered significant because, if genuine, it might provide archaeological evidence for Jesus of Nazareth.[1] The James Ossuary received international attention[2] after the writing inscribed on it was identified as authentic by several antiquity experts and research laboratories.[3][4] However, the authenticity of the inscription has been challenged. The Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) claimed in 2003 that the inscription, or its patina, was forged at a much later date.[5][6][7][8] Several IAA committee members who examined the ossuary, stated in their reports that the inscription is ancient or that they could not rule out the ancient provenance of the ossuary and its inscription.[9]

The existence of the ossuary was announced at an October 21, 2002 Washington press conference co-hosted by the Discovery Channel and the Biblical Archaeology Society. The owner of the ossuary is Oded Golan, an Israeli engineer and biblical antiquities collector.[10] The initial translation of the inscription was done by André Alexandre Lemaire, a Semitic epigrapher, whose article claiming that the ossuary and its inscription were authentic was published in the November/December 2002 Biblical Archaeology Review.[11][12]

The authenticity of the James Ossuary became the focus of a trial in Jerusalem's District Court. In December 2004, Oded Golan was charged with 11 counts of forgery, fraud and deception, including forgery of half of the James Ossuary inscription.[13][14] The trial lasted seven years before Judge Aharon Farkash came to a verdict. On March 14, 2012, Judge Farkash acquitted Golan of all charges of forgery, fraud, and deception. Golan was convicted of minor non-forgery charges related to the trial only.[15] Judge Farkash stated that there is no evidence that the James Ossuary inscription, or part of it, was forged. The IAA and the government did not appeal against the decision. The judge said this acquittal does not mean that the inscription on the ossuary is authentic or that it was written 2,000 years ago, but also stated that there is no evidence that the James Ossuary inscription, or part of it, was forged.[16][17] In Oct 2013, the James ossuary was returned to Oded Golan, who put it on public display.[18][19][20][21]

The trial involved 126 witnesses, including over 50 international experts, who testified to the inscription's authenticity. The allegations triggered extensive scientific examinations of the Ossuary's inscription by experts in archaeometry, geology, geo-microbiology, patina, microscopy, engraving technologies, stone conservation, isotopes, archaeology, and paleography. Based on these tests, some of the experts concluded that the inscription on the James Ossuary is authentic (ancient) and was engraved in entirety in the first century AD, while others were uncertain about its engraving even though they acknowledged the antiquity of the ossuary itself.[22] [23][24][25][26]

Significance

An ossuary is a stone depository for storing bones of the dead.[27] The dead would lie in a cave for a year, then would be collected and placed in an ossuary. It was a common practice to write the name of the deceased on the exterior of the ossuary inscription may indicate that the ossuary was that of James the Just, the brother of Jesus, the founder of Christianity.[18]

Professor Camil Fuchs (born 1945) of Tel Aviv University stated that, of the thousands of ossuaries found, only one has been found with a reference to a brother, concluding that "there is little doubt that this [naming a brother or son] was done only when there was a very meaningful reason to refer to a family member of the deceased, usually due to his importance and fame." He produced a statistical analysis of the occurrence of these three names in ancient Jerusalem and projected that there were 1.71 people named James, with a father named Joseph and a brother named Jesus, living in Jerusalem around the time at which the ossuary was produced.[28]

Scholarly analysis

The James ossuary came from the Silwan area in the Kidron Valley, southeast of the Temple Mount. The bones originally inside the ossuary had been discarded, which is the case in nearly all ossuaries not discovered by archaeologists. The first-century origin of the ossuary is not in question, since the only time Jews buried in that fashion was from approximately 20 BC to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The dispute centered on the date of origin of the inscription.

According to Dr. André Alexandre Lemaire, the Parisian epigrapher initially invited by antiquities collector Oded Golan to view the ossuary in Golan's apartment, the cursive Aramaic script is consistent with first-century lettering. He determined that the inscription was not incised with modern tools, as it contains no elements not available in the ancient world.[6][29] The first part of the inscription, "James son of Joseph," seems more deeply incised than the latter "brother of Jesus." This may be due to the inscription being made at a different time, or due to differences in the hardness of the limestone.

The fragile condition of the ossuary attests to its antiquity. The Israel Geological Survey submitted the ossuary to a variety of scientific tests, which determined that the limestone of the ossuary had a patina or sheen consistent with being in a cave for many centuries. The same type of patina covers the incised lettering of the inscription as the rest of the surface. It is claimed that if the inscription were recent, this would not be the case.[30]

On June 18, 2003 the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) published a report concluding that the inscription is a modern forgery based on their analysis of the patina. Specifically, it claimed that the inscription, or its patina, was added in modern times and made to look old by addition of a chalk solution. In 2006, Wolfgang Elisabeth Krumbein (born 1937), a Professor of Geomicrobiology from Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany, having analyzed the ossuary,[31] concluded that the Israeli Antiquities Authority's conclusion "...originate[s] from a series of errors, biases, mistaken premises, use of inappropriate methodology, mistaken geochemistry, defective error control, reliance on unconfirmed data, disregard of information such as the cleaning and preservation actions performed [on the ossuary], and the use of a comparative isotope methodology despite the fact that the [James ossuary] inscription fail[s] to meet the cumulative prerequisite conditions for such tests and comparisons."

The Discovery Channel's 2004 documentary James, Brother of Jesus shows the examination of the inscription's patina by the Royal Ontario Museum using longwave ultraviolet light, and they concluded there was "nothing suspicious" about the engraving.

In their scientific tests, experts in archaeometry, geology, geo-microbiology, patina, microscopy and paleography positively identified natural patina of biological origin that developed gradually over hundreds of years as a result of micro-organism activity, deep in the grooves of several letters of the inscription, and specifically in the words “Ahui d’Ysehu”. According to these experts, this finding confirms that the whole inscription is an early one.[32]

During the trial, in 2007-2008, experts in petrography and stone representing the Israeli Antiquities Authority confirmed in court that through their tests, they also identified natural patina deep inside some of the inscription letters, which had developed over several centuries.[33]

In 2007 Finnish theologian Matti Myllykoski (Arto Matti Tuomas Myllykoski) (born 1958) summarised his position thus: "The authenticity and significance of the ossuary has been defended by Shanks (2003), while some scholars—relying on convincing evidence, to say the least—strongly suspect that it is a modern forgery."[34][35]

Prof Roni Reich, an archeologist and researcher of ancient Jerusalem, stated in his testimony: "In my opinion, each of the features of the inscription on its own and together, without exception, indicate that this is an authentic inscription from the late Second Temple Period".[36]

Prof. Gabriel Barkay, an archeologist, testified that the entire ossuary inscription is ancient and he found no scientific evidence to doubt its authenticity. The owner of the James Ossuary, Oded Golan, wrote an article summarizing the experts’ opinions in the case.[37]

A 2014 archaeometric analysis conducted by Amnon Rosenfeld (1944-2014), Howard Randall Feldman (born 1958), and Wolfgang Elisabeth Krumbein strengthened the authenticity contention of the ossuary. It found that patina on the ossuary surface matched that in the engravings, and that microfossils in the inscription seemed naturally deposited.[38][39]

Israeli investigation

Close-up of the Aramaic inscription: "Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua" ("James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus")

Limor Livnat, Israeli Minister of Culture, mandated the work of a scientific commission to study the suspicious finds. IAA began an investigation into the affair. The James Ossuary was authentic—albeit unusual in shape—but they claimed the inscription (or at least its patina) was a fake.

However, in an external expert report, dated September 2005, Wolfgang E. Krumbein entered the controversy. His conclusions contradict those of the IAA stating "Our preliminary investigations cannot prove the authenticity of the three objects beyond any doubt. Doubtlessly the patina is continuous in many places throughout surface and lettering grooves in the case of ossuary and tablet. On the other hand a proof of forgery is not given by the experts nominated by the IAA."[40]

The Israeli Antiquities Authority has failed to offer any report explaining why it concluded the ossuary is a forgery. Unsurprisingly, international experts are unable to give their opinions on the ossuary's authenticity until the IAA allows scholars to review its findings.

Edward John Keall, the Senior Curator at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Near Eastern & Asian Civilizations Department, continues to argue for the ossuary’s authenticity, saying "the ROM has always been open to questioning the ossuary's authenticity, but so far no definitive proof of forgery has yet been presented, in spite of the current claims being made."[41]

The Biblical Archaeology Review also continued to defend the ossuary. In articles in the February 2005 issues, several paleographic experts argue that the James Ossuary is authentic and should be examined by specialists outside of Israel. Another article claims the cleaning of the James Ossuary before it was examined may have caused the problem with the patina.[35] On June 13, 2012 a Biblical Archaeology Review press release announced the first major post-trial analysis of the ossuary, discussing the plausibility of its authenticity and using statistical analysis of ancient names to suggest that in contemporary Jerusalem, there would be 1.71 people named James with a father Joseph and a brother named Jesus.[42]

Trial of Oded Golan

Oded Golan claimed publicly to believe his finds were genuine. Hershel Shanks declared that he did not believe the evidence of forgery and launched a personal complaint against IAA director Shuka Dorfman. Lemaire supported his original assessment when Frank Cross regretted Shanks' attitude. The Royal Ontario Museum, in its statement about Oded Golan's arrest and the validity of the so-called James Ossuary stated, "There is always a question of authenticity when objects do not come from a controlled archaeological excavation, as is the case with the James Ossuary."[41] The Israel Antiquities Authority desires to limit the trade in Bible-era artifacts, which they believe encourages grave robbers, who smuggle the choicest finds out of the country.[35][43]

On 29 December 2004, Golan was accused by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) of involvement in the forgery of one half of the James Ossuary inscription. The prosecution stated that there is no doubt that the first half of the inscription is ancient. Golan denied any involvement in forgery, and argued that he purchased the inscribed ossuary from a licensed antiquities dealers in 1976, and to the best of his understanding, the whole inscription is ancient.[44][45] Four other defendants were indicted along with Golan, including two major antiquities dealers in Israel.

In February, 2007, at Golan's trial, the defense produced photographs taken in Golan's home that were dated to 1976. In these photographs, the ossuary is shown on a shelf. In an enlargement, the whole inscription can be seen. The photographs were printed on 1970s photographic paper and stamped March 1976. The photo was examined by Gerald Richard, a former FBI agent and an expert for the defense. Richard testified that nothing about the photographs suggested that they were produced other than in 1976 as the stamps and paper indicated. These photographs undermined the prosecution's theory that the ossuary was a recent forgery by Golan intended to be sold for profit. Golan's attorney, Lior Bringer argued, "The prosecution claims that Golan forged the inscription after the beginning of 2000. But here is a detailed report from an FBI photo lab that states that the inscription existed at least since the 70s. It is unreasonable that someone would forge an inscription like this in the 70s and suddenly decide to come out with it in 2002." [46] However, it would also be necessary for some time to pass for a forgery to acquire the characteristics of an authentic patina. Later under oath, the government's chief scientific witness, Professor Yuval Goren of Tel Aviv University admitted on cross-examination that there was original ancient patina in the word "Jesus."[28]

Two paleographers, Andre Lemaire of the Sorbonne and Ada Yardeni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, pronounced it as authentic in the trial. No paleographer of repute has challenged their analysis.[28] By 2009, many of the world's top archaeological experts had testified for both the prosecution and defense. Judge Aharon Farkash, who has a degree in archaeology, indicated difficulty in making a judgment regarding the objects' authenticity if the professors could not agree amongst themselves.[47] In the second week of October 2010, the judge in the case against Golan and others retired to consider his verdict.

In his closing statement, the prosecutor noted that had the prosecution been aware of all the facts and test findings that came to light during the trial, there was a high probability that no charges of forgery would have been made regarding the James ossuary inscription.[48]

On March 14, 2012, Jerusalem Judge Aharon Farkash stated "that there is no evidence that any of the major artifacts were forged, and that the prosecution failed to prove their accusations beyond a reasonable doubt."[15] He was particularly scathing about tests carried out by the Israel police forensics laboratory that he said had probably contaminated the ossuary, making it impossible to carry out further scientific tests on the inscription.[49] On May 30, 2012, Oded Golan was fined 30,000 shekels for minor non-forgery charges related to the trial.[50]

Discovery Channel documentaries

On February 26, 2007 a news conference was held at the New York Public Library by director James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici to discuss their documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which discusses the 1980 finding of the Talpiot Tomb, which they claim is in fact Jesus' family tomb. In the film, they also suggest that the so-called James ossuary is actually the "missing link" from the tomb (at the original discovery of the Talpiot Tomb, there were ten ossuaries, however one has since been lost—Jacobovici suggests the James Ossuary could be the tenth from Talpiot). According to the film, "recent tests conducted at the CSI Suffolk Crime lab in New York demonstrate that the patina (a chemical film encrustation on the box) from the James ossuary matches the patina from the other ossuaries in the Talpiot tomb."

Following the 4 March 2007 airing of The Lost Tomb of Jesus on the Discovery Channel, Ted Koppel aired a program entitled The Lost Tomb of Jesus: A Critical Look, whose guests included the director Simcha Jacobovici, James Tabor (a consultant and advisor on the docudrama), Johnathan Reed, Professor of Religion at the University of LaVerne and co-author of Excavating Jesus Beneath the Stones, Behind the Text, and William Dever, an archaeologist with 40 plus years experience in Middle Eastern archaeological digs.

The Washington Post in an article of 28 February 2007 quotes Dever as saying, "I just think it's a shame the way this story is being hyped and manipulated" and "all of the names [contained in the tomb] are common."[51]

Alan Cooperman, writer of the Washington Post article also states:

"Similar assessments came yesterday from two Israeli scholars, Amos Kloner, who originally excavated the tomb, and Joe Zias, former curator of archaeology at the Israeli Antiquities Authority. Kloner told the Jerusalem Post that the documentary is "nonsense." Zias described it in an e-mail to The Washington Post as a "hyped up film which is intellectually and scientifically dishonest."[51]

In the docudrama The Lost Tomb of Jesus, Simcha Jacobovici claims:

  1. concerning the ossuary marked Jesus and the one believed to be that of Mary Magdalene: because "the DNA did not match, the forensic archaeologist concluded that they must be husband and wife";
  2. that testing showed that there was a match between the patina on the James and Jesus ossuaries and refers to the James ossuary as a possible "missing link" from the tomb of Jesus;
  3. and that an ossuary that became missing from the tomb of Jesus had actually been the infamous James ossuary.

During Ted Koppel's critique, The Lost Tomb of Jesus: A Critical Look, Koppel stated he had denials from three people Simcha Jacobovici had misquoted in the documentary.

  1. Koppel had a written denial from the forensic archaeologist asserting that he had not concluded that the remains of Jesus and Miriamne showed they were husband and wife.
  2. Koppel had a written denial from the Suffolk Crime Lab Director asserting that he had not stated the James ossuary patina "matched" that of the Jesus ossuary. Jacobovici had a written denial of Koppel's written denial saying that the term "match" had a legal meaning that could not be applied to the patina tests; however, the patinas corresponded closely enough to meet an evidentiary standard of admissibility.
  3. Koppel had a verbal denial from Professor Amos Kloner, the archaeologist who had supervised the initial 1980 dig of the tomb of Jesus, with whom he spoke on 4 March 2007, asserting that the ossuary that later turned up missing from the tomb could not have been what is now known as the James ossuary because the ossuary he had seen and photographed and catalogued in 1980 had been totally unmarked, whereas the James ossuary is marked with the name of James and a rosette.

Additionally, Simcha Jacobovici's association of the ossuary with the 'Tomb of Jesus' seems to be excluded by the 1976 photograph of the ossuary presented at trial. The assertions of The Lost Tomb of Jesus are not supported by the overwhelming majority of scholars.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Scholars: Oldest evidence of Jesus?". CNN Tech. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  2. ↑ Wilford, John Noble (2002-10-22). "'Jesus' Inscription on Stone May Be Earliest Ever Found". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  3. ↑ http://www.gesustorico.it/webdocs/bswbOOossuary_Lemaire.pdf
  4. ↑ Rosenfeld A. and Ilani S. (2002) (GSI), SEM-EDS 'Analyses of Patina Samples from an Ossuary of Ya’akov Son of Yossef Brother of Yeshua'. Biblical Archaeology Review, p.28-9.
  5. ↑ Uzi Dahari. "Final Report Of The Examining Committees For the Yehoash Inscription and James Ossuary". Israeli Antiquities Authority. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  6. 1 2 James D. Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity, Simon and Schuster, 2006 pp 6–36
  7. ↑ "Israel Antiquities Authority". www.antiquities.org.il. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  8. ↑ James D. Tabor, 'The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity', Simon and Schuster, 2006 p.6-36.
  9. ↑ See case 482/04 Verdict (District Court of Jerusalem), testimonies of Prof. Ronny Reich (sections 65-70), Orna Cohen, Israeli Antiquities Authority (section 123-9); Prof. Goren, Tel Aviv University (section 204); Dr. Tal Ilan (section 57); Dr. Hagai Misgav (section 76); Prof. Shmuel Ahituv (section 51); Dr. E. Boaretto (section 92); Jack Nager (section 96); Dr. Gideon Avni; Prof. Avigdor Horowitz: www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/485637843608857.doc.
  10. ↑ Mark Rose. "Ossuary Tales". Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
  11. ↑ Neil Asher. "Faking Biblical History". Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
  12. ↑ "Related Coverage on the James Ossuary and Forgery Trial". Biblical Archaeology Review. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  13. ↑ Matthew Kalman (2011-10-05). "Judge Mulls Verdict in Jesus Forgery Trial". AOL news. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  14. ↑ P.11-12 www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/485637843608857.doc.
  15. 1 2 http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/breaking-news-golan-and-deutsch-acquitted-of-all-forgery-charges/
  16. ↑ http://www.timesofisrael.com/oded-golan-is-not-guilty-of-forgery-so-is-the-james-ossuary-for-real/
  17. ↑ Section 1297, www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/485637843608857.doc.
  18. 1 2 Kalman, Matthew (December 25, 2013). "Ancient burial box claimed to have earliest reference to Jesus". The Guardian. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  19. ↑ Hasson, Nir (2012-03-30). "Israeli Antiquities Collector Talks About His Trial – and His Acquittal". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  20. ↑ Hasson, Nir (2013-10-17). "Ending a 7-year Saga Court: Israel Must Return Biblical-era 'Jehoash's Tablet' to Owner". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-04-14. horizontal tab character in |title= at position 26 (help)
  21. ↑ Kalman, Matthew (2013-12-25). "Ancient burial box claimed to have earliest reference to Jesus". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  22. ↑ Is the “Brother of Jesus” Inscription on the James Ossuary a Forgery? Biblical Archaeology, 2015
  23. ↑ Case 482/04 Verdict (District Court of Jerusalem), testimonies of Prof. W. Krumbein, Oldenburg University (sections 136-137, 140, 143), Dr. Shimon Ilani and Dr. A. Rosenfeld, Geological Survey of Israel (sections 150-151); Dr. D. Rahimi, ROM Museum (section 130-132); Orna Cohen, Israeli Antiquities Authority (section 125); Prof. Goren, Tel Aviv University (sections 121, 204); Prof. Andre Lemaire Sorbonne University (section 82); Prof. Dr. Hagai Misgav, Hebrew University of Jeruslaem (section 76); Prof. Shmuel Ahituv, Be'er Sheva University (section 51); Dr. Ada Yardeni, Hebrew University of Jeruslaem (section 73); Prof. Ronny Reich, Haifa University (sections 65-70); Prof. Gabriel Barkai, Bar Ilan University (section 80); Prof. J. Harrell, Toledo University; Dr A. Shimron, Geological Survey of Israel: www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/485637843608857.doc.
  24. ↑ Dr. Keall E. J. (2003) (Royal Ontario Museum), New Tests Bolster Case for Authenticity. Biblical Archaeology Review, 26, 52-55.
  25. ↑ http://www.bibleinterp.com/PDFs/JamesOssuaryverdict.pdf
  26. ↑ http://www.forananswer.org/Top_General/James_Ossuary_Report.pdf
  27. ↑ "Ossuary". Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  28. 1 2 3 Biblical Archaeology Society (13 June 2012). "'Brother of Jesus' Proved Ancient and Authentic". Bible History Daily. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014.
  29. ↑ Paul L. Maier, The James Ossuary Lutheran Witness, 2003. p 1
  30. ↑ Craig A. Evans, Jesus and the Ossuaries Baylor University Press, 2003
  31. ↑ Wolfgang E. Krumbein, Preliminary Report: External Expert Opinion on three Stone Items, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 2005
  32. ↑ See Case 482/04 Verdict (District Court of Jerusalem). The experts included Prof. W. Krumbein, Oldenburg University (sections 136-137, 140, 143), Dr. Shimon Ilani and Dr. A. Rosenfeld, Geological Survey of Israel (sections 150-151); Dr. Edward Keall and Dr. D. Rahimi, ROM Museum (section 130-132); Orna Cohen, Israeli Antiquities Authority (section 125); Prof. Y. Goren, Tel Aviv University (sections 121, 204): www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/485637843608857.doc.
  33. ↑ Case 482/04 Verdict (District Court of Jerusalem), testimonies Orna Cohen, Israeli Antiquities Authority (section 125), and Prof. Goren, Tel Aviv University (sections 121, 204): www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/485637843608857.doc.
  34. ↑ Myllykoski, Matti (2007), "James the Just in History and Tradition: Perspectives of Past and Present Scholarship (Part II)," Currents in Biblical Research 6:11, p.84, doi:10.1177/1476993X07080242
  35. 1 2 3 AMY DOCKSER MARCUS Ancient Objects, Dubious Claims, The Wall Street Journal, 2010. pp 1–2
  36. ↑ http://andreasviklund.com/, Michael Randall / Original design: Andreas Viklund -. "The Bible and Interpretation". www.bibleinterp.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  37. ↑ http://www.bibleinterp.com/PDFs/Authenticity_Letter.pdf
  38. ↑ Rosenfeld, Amnon; Feldman, Howard R.; Krumbein, Wolfgang E. (2014). "The Authenticity of the James Ossuary". Open Journal of Geology 4 (3): 69–78. doi:10.4236/ojg.2014.43007. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  39. ↑ "2008 Joint Meeting of The Geological Society of America". The Conference Exchange. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  40. ↑ Biblical Archaeology Society
  41. 1 2 Royal Ontario Museum | About Us | Newsroom | Royal Ontario Museum Statement: Oded Golan’s arrest/ James Ossuary
  42. ↑ Biblical Archaeology Society | Press Release: "Brother of Jesus" Proved Ancient and Authentic
  43. ↑ Matthew Kalman, James Ossuary Trial, 2010. Google Link
  44. ↑ Hasson, Nir (2012-03-30). "Israeli Antiquities Collector Talks About His Trial – and His Acquittal". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  45. ↑ "Oded Golan: I never faked any antiquity". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  46. ↑ Collector accused of forging 'James ossuary' says old photos prove authenticity - Haaretz - Israel News
  47. ↑ "The Burial Box of Jesus' Brother: Fraud?". Time. 2009-09-05. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  48. ↑ Case 482/04, Verdict (District Court of Jerusalem), Section 303, www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/485637843608857.doc.
  49. ↑ "Search". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). May 21, 2012.
  50. ↑ http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/judge-rules-in-forgery-trial-sentencing/
  51. 1 2 Alan Cooperman, "'Lost Tomb of Jesus' Claim Called a Stunt; Archaeologists Decry TV Film," The Washington Post, page A3, February 28, 2007

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