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'2,000-year-old Jesus box' may not be a fake, as Jerusalem forgery trial nears collapses
Daily Mail ^ | 30 Oct 2008 | Daily Mail

Posted on 10/29/2008 7:42:25 PM PDT by BGHater

A judge is set to throw out charges against experts accused of faking a stone box that claimed to offer the first physical proof of the existence of Christ - raising the possibility once again that it could be genuine.

The discovery of the 2,000-year-old ossuary, or bone box, bearing the words, 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus', was regarded as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries when it emerged nearly a decade ago.

Fake or genuine: Men accused of forging an inscription of the 'Jesus Box' could be released

The disputed inscription on the 'Jesus Box'

But other experts decided the inscription on the 'priceless' limestone artefact had been added at a later date.

It was dismissed as a fake and Israeli authorities began criminal investigations.

But yesterday a three-year forgery trial in Israel was close to collapse, reopening the possibility it might indeed be the only tangible evidence for the life of Jesus.

Jerusalem judge Aharon Farkash told prosecutors trying Israeli collector Oded Golan: 'Have you really proved beyond a reasonable doubt that these artefacts are fakes as charged in the indictment?

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: antiquities; biblicalarchaeology; box; christianity; godsgravesglyphs; icons; james; jesus; ossuary; provenance; religion; rushtojudgement
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1 posted on 10/29/2008 7:42:26 PM PDT by BGHater
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To: SunkenCiv

Ping.

James in the news again. I had thought it was a fake, who knows.


2 posted on 10/29/2008 7:43:22 PM PDT by BGHater (The GOP, the new DNC.)
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To: BGHater
the only tangible evidence for the life of Jesus

Yea, there's that. And about a billion Christians . . .
3 posted on 10/29/2008 7:46:04 PM PDT by horse_doc
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To: BGHater

I suspect the box labeled Billy Bob is fake.


4 posted on 10/29/2008 7:53:04 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: BGHater

Old news...already proven to be fake some time ago.


5 posted on 10/29/2008 7:53:50 PM PDT by SumProVita ("Cogito ergo sum pro vita." .....updated Descartes)
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To: horse_doc

1.6 Billion to be precise.


6 posted on 10/29/2008 7:54:39 PM PDT by SoftwareEngineer
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To: BGHater
hmmmmmm

I wish I could know the details of the trial

7 posted on 10/29/2008 7:55:24 PM PDT by rface
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To: SumProVita

some time ago....??? I remember the original controversy, but this is a new development....is it not?


8 posted on 10/29/2008 7:57:26 PM PDT by rface
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To: horse_doc

Bitter clingers all. :P


9 posted on 10/29/2008 7:59:36 PM PDT by TheZMan (Admin Moderator, "No. We dumped it because it was stupid.")
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To: SumProVita
SumProVita wrote:

"Old news...already proven to be fake some time ago."


FTA:
But yesterday a three-year forgery trial in Israel was close to collapse, reopening the possibility it might indeed be the only tangible evidence for the life of Jesus.

Jerusalem judge Aharon Farkash told prosecutors trying Israeli collector Oded Golan: 'Have you really proved beyond a reasonable doubt that these artefacts are fakes as charged in the indictment?

'The experts disagree among themselves.

'Where is the evidence to show that Oded Golan faked them?'

10 posted on 10/29/2008 8:11:37 PM PDT by LuxMaker (The Constitution is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, Thomas J 1819)
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To: horse_doc
the only tangible evidence for the life of Jesus

I wonder what BC and AD means.

11 posted on 10/29/2008 8:15:38 PM PDT by feedback doctor (The first female president will be a Conservative Republican)
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To: BGHater
Actually, the folks at BAR (Biblical Archaeology Review) have continued to put together sources supporting the original claims.

There is alot of animosity to allowing anything to prove Jesus. And alot of fakes to be sure - but this one is still up in the air, from all that I have read.

12 posted on 10/29/2008 8:29:59 PM PDT by txzman (Jer 23:29)
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To: BGHater

The controversy has been re-ignited because a new translation shows the inscription actually says “James, son of Joseph, brother of Barack.”


13 posted on 10/29/2008 8:39:31 PM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: BGHater

From Nat. Geo. News 2003:
“In April the Israel Antiquities Authority formed two committees to examine the evidence. One was assigned the task of examining “the scientific aspects in the writing and style [to be able to] confirm the authenticity of the writing;” the other was tasked with verifying the “originality of the patina” on the stone’s engraving and the stone material itself.

The committees released their unanimous findings Wednesday: the box itself may be correctly dated, but the inscription was added at a later date.”

An old stone box has some value but add an inscription and you’ve got a gold mine!


14 posted on 10/29/2008 11:05:36 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: BGHater; Swordmaker; NYer; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks BGHater! There was in fact NO evidence for fakery, but the accusation was immediate, and came from scientists in name only, wannabees, and cheerleaders. Israel's antiquities authorities put together a team to railroad the artifact into obscurity, but not everyone involved cooperated, and the railroad didn't actually get built.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo ·
· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


15 posted on 10/30/2008 4:27:26 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______Profile finally updated Saturday, October 11, 2008 !!!)
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To: Anti-Bubba182
“I suspect the box labeled Billy Bob is fake.”

HOLD ON! Wasn't Billy Bob the 14th disciple?

16 posted on 10/30/2008 4:32:11 AM PDT by wolfcreek (I see miles and miles of Texas....let's keep it that way.)
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To: horse_doc

Well, the Romans obviously believed something had gone on.
And they were much closer in time and space to the actual events, and were fairly competent record keepers, irregardless if we have copies of those records.

And none of us know what’s buried in the Vatican archives. They have way, way more than we will ever see.


17 posted on 10/30/2008 4:34:02 AM PDT by djf (I have dimes. Brother, can you spare a dame?)
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To: kaehurowing

That’s *almost* not funny.

(But I laughed anyway.)


18 posted on 10/30/2008 4:40:39 AM PDT by shibumi (...vampire outlaw of the milky way...)
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To: LuxMaker

Trust me, it’s based on a lie and will NOT prove to be genuine.

This takes nothing away from the FACT that Jesus Christ is real.


19 posted on 10/30/2008 4:51:57 AM PDT by SumProVita ("Cogito ergo sum pro vita." .....updated Descartes)
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To: SumProVita
Nothing has been proven but there have been all sorts of outrageous assertions. So far, I'd say the evidence is that the bone box is real.

This is from last winter. Looks like nothing has changed since then.

“The case against Golan is different. He is charged with actually forging something—the famous ossuary, or bone box, inscribed, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” The government claims it found in his apartment forgery instruments and materials to make forgeries, as well as some partially completed forgeries. On the other hand, some very prominent paleographers, including André Lemaire and the highly regarded Israeli paleographer Ada Yardeni, are convinced that the James ossuary is authentic. No expert paleographer has testified otherwise. Normally, the testimony of Lemaire and Yardeni would come as part of the defendants’ case. But, for some strange reason, the government called them as its witnesses. Their testimony that the inscription is authentic would in itself seem sufficient to raise a “reasonable doubt” concerning the government’s allegation that the inscription is a forgery, thus requiring dismissal of the charge.” http://www.bib-arch.org/debates/antiquities-trial-01.asp

20 posted on 10/30/2008 4:56:13 AM PDT by Varda
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