Free Republic

Update—Finds or Fakes? Forgery Bombshell May 16, 2006 The ossuary inscribed "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" has recently been studied by Professor Wolfgang E. Krumbein, a world-renowned authority. He has reached startling conclusions that will change the debate over this highly controversial artifact. Printed below is a summary of Professor Krumbein's report; click the following links for the full text of the report and the accompanying photographs. As this is being written, Israeli antiquities collector Oded Golan is being tried in criminal court for forging the now-famous James ossuary inscription ("James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"). A...

JERUSALEM - Israeli police have arrested an antiquities dealer in connection with two alleged forgeries, including a burial box once thought to belong to the brother of Jesus. Oded Golan appeared in a Jerusalem court Tuesday, a day after police picked him up at his Tel Aviv home. Police allege Golan faked an inscription on the so-called James ossuary to make it appear it belonged to the brother of Jesus. The limestone box is inscribed in Aramaic with the words "Ya'akov (James), son of Yosef (Joseph), brother of Yeshua (Jesus)." Experts later branded the inscription and a tablet as fakes....