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Israel's Antiquities Authority begins investigation of James ossuary, wants Joash tablet
A first-century limestone box that may have held the bones of James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the early church, is back in Israel after its display at the Royal Ontario Museum. The Antiquities Authority has created two separate commissions of archaeologists, geologists, and language experts to study the ossuary, the Associated Press reported yesterday. It's trying to authenticate the box and its inscription. Many scholars already accept their legitimacy, though there is some question about whether the inscription "James, the Brother of Jesus" must refer to the biblical men.

There's still plenty of mystery surrounding the James ossuary—questions of where it was found, for example, may forever remain unclear—but a bigger biblical archaeology tempest is swirling around the Joash inscription, which describes repairs to the First Temple in language very similar to 2 Kings 12.

The Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reports that the inscription is "stirring controversy and suspicion among archaeologists, historians, religious and state authorities, and even the police."

Biblical Archaeology Review says the inscription is big news, whether it's real or fake:

If authentic, it may provide evidence for Israel's claim to the Temple Mount. If a forgery, some Israeli may be trying to manufacture evidence of Israel's claim to the Temple Mount. Or some Palestinian may be trying to plant an obvious forgery in order to undermine supposed evidence of Israel's claim to the Temple Mount. If authentic, it would support the historicity of the Book of Kings. If authentic, it might even show that the First Temple—Solomon's Temple—was decorated with gold. If authentic, it would cast doubt on the ability of epigraphers and philologists and Biblical scholars to detect a forgery. If a forgery, it would cast doubt on the ability of geologists to detect a forgery.

But it might be difficult to get to a decision either way. "The unnamed owner of the tablet had given it briefly to the Geological Survey, which dated it back to the 9th century B.C. and said it could have actually been a part of Solomon's Temple," the Associated Press says. "The owner of the artifact has since taken it from the institute, and police are investigating its whereabouts."

That's complicated, says Haaretz, since no one really seems to know who the owner is, and investigation into that question reads like an episode of Alias:

When the story broke in January, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the police decided to question many of the experts who had been given the stone to examine by a mystery man identified only as "Isaac Tzur."

Following a number of leads, including a cellular telephone number left with Professor Yosef Naveh of the Hebrew University, the police arrested a man at Ben Gurion Airport who allegedly held a cellular telephone with that number. However, at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court later that month, despite positive identification by another of the experts questioned, the man denied all connection with the affair and was released under restricted conditions.

Haaretz reports that the best bet on the real owner is Oded Golan, who also owns the James ossuary. He denies it, but Isaac Tzur was apparently a pseudonym used by a private detective hired by Golan.

If you're really into these archaeological mysteries and debates, be sure to check out Biblical Archaeology Review's article by Richard A. Freund, who apologizes for a press release claiming his team discovered the bones of John the Baptist— and claims he's been libeled by one of his colleagues.

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March (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47