An inscription on an ancient stone burial box suggesting it held the remains of James, the brother of Jesus, is a fake, Israeli archaeological experts say.
The Aramaic inscription on the limestone box, called an ossuary, was deemed genuine last October when scholars and scientists announced the artifact could provide a link between the Jesus of the Bible and a historical figure named Jesus. If authenticated, the ossuary would have been one of the oldest archaeological references to biblical figures.
The inscription, which reads “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” originally thought to date to about 63 A.D., was in fact carved over the stones natural fossilized sheen, or patina, the experts of the Israeli Antiquities Authority said.
Last October, scholars defending the box’s authenticity argued the Aramaic script used on the box matches the style that was popular in the first decades of the first century after the birth of Jesus.
Extensive tests also dated the burial box back to 63 A.D. — a year after James’ death and within the half-century such boxes were used.
Still, archaeological specialists in Israel announced June 18 though the artifact is real, the inscription is a forgery.
“The ossuary is real. But the inscription is fake,” said Shuka Dorfman, director of the Israeli Antiquities
Authority, according to wires services. “What this means is that someone took the real box and forged the writing on it, probably to give it a religious significance.”
Other experts, however, have said that finding may be premature.
“The problem is, the report is not out yet,” said Hershel Shanks of the Biblical Archaeological Review in Washington, adding that there may be disagreement among the scientists. “There may be some
archaeological politics involved.”
Two other groups of specialists from the Geological Survey of Israel and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto also studied the stone box earlier and determined it was genuine, Shanks added. Moreover, the patina over the inscription could have been worn down because the mother of the man who owned it scrubbed it heavily, he said.
James, who historians say was stoned to death in 62 A.D., is often considered the first bishop of the Christian church in Jerusalem. He is also described as Jesus’ brother in the Gospels. Protestants and Jews accept James as Jesus’ brother, but Catholics, who believe Mary spent her life as a virgin, say he was a cousin. Many Orthodox Christians regard James as Jesus’ half-brother from a previous marriage of Joseph’s.
The strong possibility that the ossuary’s inscription, thought to be one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, may be a modern forgery leaves many braced for disappointment.
“If it turns out to be a fake, whoever did it should be put in jail,” Shanks said. (RNS)
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