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Israel's Antiquities Authority unanimously calls James Ossuary inscription a forgery
A committee of archaeological experts organized by Israel's Antiquities Authority has unanimously concluded that the inscription on the James Ossuary is a forgery.

The inscription on the bone burial box, which says "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," "appears new, written in modernity by someone attempting to reproduce ancient written characters," the Antiquities Authority said in a statement. In addition, the archeologists said the stone of the box is more likely to have come from Cyprus or northern Syria than ancient Israel.

"The ossuary is real, but the inscription is fake," Shuka Dorfman, director of the Antiquities Authority, told Reuters after a Jerusalem press conference yesterday. "What this means is that somebody took a real box and forged the writing on it, probably to give it a religious significance."

Gideon Avni, one of the archaeologists, told CBS News that he believes "this forgery was done sometime in the last decades, maybe in the last years." (A recent Jerusalem Post review runs down other ossuary problems.)

Oded Golan, owner of the ossuary, stands by its authenticity. "I am certain the ossuary is real," he told the Associated Press. "I am certain the committee is wrong regarding its conclusions."

But Golan probably isn't the person to listen to on this issue. First of all, he's admittedly a collector and amateur, not an expert. Second, his dealings with the ossuary have been very secretive. Third, he has treated both the ossuary and another of his supposedly priceless artifacts, a small tablet corroborating the biblical account of Solomon's Temple, so shabbily that both items were significantly damaged. And fourth, according to Jerusalem television news stations (via Canada's CTV), Israeli police found possible forgery tools in Golan's warehouse. Israeli police are still investigating whether Golan's acquisition of the ossuary was illegal.

And more bad news for Golan and his supporters—the Antiquities Authority says that the tablet, known as the Joash Tablet, is a fake, too. Biblical language professor Avigdor Horowitz says the inscription's wording is anachronistic. "The person who wrote the inscription was a person who thinks in modern Hebrew," he told reporters. "A person thinking in biblical Hebrew would see it as ridiculous." (The Geological Survey of Israel had earlier said it was authentic.)

We're really waiting to hear from Biblical Archaeology Review editor Hershel Shanks, and, more importantly, Asbury Seminary New Testament scholar Ben Witherington III. The two have been the biggest cheerleaders for the ossuary, recently publishing a book on it.

Homosexuals will soon be allowed to marry in all of Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said yesterday that they will not appeal last week's Ontario Court of Appeal ruling allowing homosexuals to marry.

"Not to appeal means that we have recognized the definition that has been developed by the courts," Cauchon said.

In the next few weeks, the federal government will draft a bill extending gay marriage to the rest of the country. Chrétien promised that the bill will exempt religious groups  from having to perform same-sex weddings, but it's unclear what the law will mean for religious organizations where employment law is concerned.

"What is important for me is the freedom of the churches to interpret according to their faith," said the Prime Minister.

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June (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47