We couldn’t find anything that would lead us to the conclusion that it was a forgery. Dr Amnon Rosenfeld, Geological Survey of Israel
In 1980 archaeologists investigated an apparently unremarkable tomb under a building site outside Jerusalem. They found a number of ancient bone boxes or ossuaries and a series of names that sparked a sensational claim: that this unremarkable tomb could contain the remains of Jesus Christ, his family, and shocking evidence he wasn’t resurrected. But married? And that he even had a son. Lost Tomb of Jesus? Discovery 2007
‘Jesus, Son of Joseph’: this find sparked an international archaeological drama. ibid.
It was the names apparently etched on the bone-boxes inside that captivated those who formulated the sensational Jesus tomb theory. As well as the ‘Jesus, son of Joseph’ translation there were several other interpretations of names that led to the stunning suggestion Talpiut could be the family tomb of Jesus Christ. There was Maria in Hebrew, a form of Mary; another name was interpreted as Mariamne, written in Greek – perhaps another form of Mary. There was also a Jose in Hebrew, a nickname for Joseph. ibid.
But recently an ossuary appeared on the Israeli antiquities market bearing the inscription ‘James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus’ ... But subsequent investigations have cast grave doubts over the so-called James ossuary. ibid.
Even if the flawed translations are right, the apparently impressive cluster of names is actually statistically unremarkable. All of these names were common at the time. ibid.
The Talpiut tomb is buried beneath this concrete slab in a suburb on the edge of Jerusalem. ibid.
If a crucified man was buried at Talpiut, the signs would have been hard to miss. ibid.
The ossuary that was found in a burial cave contained ... three iron nails. Biblical Conspiracies: Secrets of the Crucifixion, Discovery 2015
I couldn’t believe it. Are you kidding? It’s not the same script. There’s not even a complete script design ... This thing is obviously a fake. Dr Rochelle Altman, forensic document analyst
Then, in uncannily similar circumstances, another extraordinary artefact became headline news … The man with the briefcase claimed to be acting on behalf of a client. He couldn’t reveal his client’s identity … ‘a gorgeous piece of black stone’. The Solomon Treasures, Sky 2008
The inscription on the shiny black stone described repairs made to the Temple of Solomon by a king called Jehoash in the 8th century B.C. If it was genuine, it was priceless. Like the Ivory Pomegranate it appeared to confirm that Solomon’s Temple actually existed. Better still, it provided unique confirmation of events in the Old Testament. The Professors wanted to know who the owner was and where the object had come from. All the stranger would reveal was it was found near the Temple Mount. ibid.
Analysis of the tablet by the scientists had revealed more: they found the surface contained tiny flecks of charcoal – which proved to be over two thousand years old. And they found tiny specks of gold – just what might be expected if it had survived a fire when the gold-encrusted Temple of Solomon was destroyed. ibid.
The years of detective work lead … to the home of a businessman. One of Israel’s leading antiquities collectors – Oded Golan. Golan has been collecting ancient artefacts since he was a boy. He admitted he had been helping to sell the missing stone tablet but denied he had ever been its owner. But the authorities were not convinced by the story. And what made them highly suspicious was that the same collector, Oded Golan, had recently been involved with another sensational discovery that suddenly appeared. ibid.
There are hundreds of stone boxes all dating date to the time of Jesus … They are ossuaries, receptacles for storing the bones of the dead. ibid.
In 2002 one of these ancient bone boxes became the centre of world-wide media attention ... The inscription translates as: James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus … The ancient bone-box was hailed as the final resting place for St James, the brother of Jesus of Nazareth. And the first archaeological evidence linked to Jesus himself. It caused a sensation and was viewed by nearly 100,000 people at the Royal Ontario museum in Toronto. Another extraordinary Biblical artefact. And its owner was Oded Golan. He claimed he had owned the ossuary for years. ibid.
With allegations of fakery flying around, the authorities decided to crack down. Police and Antiquities Authority agents raided Oded Golan’s home. They found an incriminating photograph of the collector clutching the missing Jehoash tablet, which he had always denied owning. They made him hand it over then confiscated the ossuary too. The artefacts and their collector were about to be subjected to intensive scrutiny. The Israel Antiquities Authority set up a task force to decide on the authenticity of both objects. In charge of the scientific investigation was Professor Yuval Goren of Tel Aviv University. He began with the stone tablet ... But when Goren examined the patina he found it was different on the front to the back of the stone. The patina on the front did indeed appear to come from Jerusalem but instead of being bonded to the stone, it lifted off quite easily. ibid.
He [Goren] concluded that someone had taken an old stone from somewhere else and carved an inscription on the front which had then been concealed under a new artificial patina. He could even see evidence that the carving was recent. And what of the ancient charcoal and traces of gold which had convinced earlier scientists? Goren concluded they had simply been added to the artificial patina applied to the front of the stone. The he turned to the Brother of Jesus Ossuary. The bone-box itself appears to be genuine. The stone was covered by a chalky patina. Just what he’d expect if it had spent many years in an underground tomb. But the patina in the grooves of the inscription was different. Like the Jehoash Tablet it was not firmly bonded to the surface. It looked as if the engraver had cut through the original patina then filled in the grooves with a new material to make it look ancient. On June 18th 2003 the Israel Antiquities Authority goes public. Both objects are declared fake. It hits the headlines worldwide. Experts who authenticated the artefacts have their names dragged through the mud. But more damning evidence comes to light when police and authority inspectors raid Oded Golan’s premises again. They find engraving tools, chemicals and soil samples taken from sites all over Israel together with scores of artefacts; many look freshly minted or half finished. ibid.
A sophisticated fraud is beginning to unravel. The scandal has provoked anxiety about every artefact supposedly from Biblical times that has come from sources or dealers unknown. Could they all be forgeries? Yuval Goren has checked scores of items that museums and collectors have acquired on the market. He has concluded that almost all of them are fake. ibid.
So it was inevitable that attention would return to that priceless object in the Israel Museum, the Ivory Pomegranate … Experts have discovered it wasn’t actually made of elephant ivory, but came from a quite different beast … ‘the tooth of a hippopotamus’. ibid.
Then he [Goren] turned his attention to the inscription ... He noticed that the grooves cut by the engraver appeared to stop short of the break … ibid.
An ancient burial box inscribed with the named James: Son of Joseph Brother of Jesus … Who was his brother James? From doubter to leader – but why has James been lost to history? Jesus Code: The Secret Brother of Jesus, Discovery 2016
Oded Golan is found guilty on two charges relating to the trade in antiquities; but when it comes to the charges of forgery he is found not guilty. ibid.
Nothing is original under the sun. Art and Craft: Mark Landis, Sky Arts 2015
I [Mark Landis] was in the habit of saying I had a sister. ibid.
I just like to copy things. It’s reassuring. ibid.
‘I found 46 museums in 20 States; but more than 100 pieces he’s offered up to these institutions.’ ibid. curator
I live by the code of The Saint ... Such a great show. ibid. Landis
Copying pictures is my gift. ibid.
‘He gave it to the museum for free.’ ibid. rozzer
The public want sincerity from an artist. And if you can fake that, you’re made. Frankie Howerd, cited Reputations s9e1: Frankie Howerd, attributions & variations, BBC 2002
Sincerity – if you can fake that, you’ve got it made. George Burns, attributions & variations
I know very little about acting. I’m just an incredibly gifted faker. Robert Downey junior
This is the normal world. You go to work in a city. All around you are enormous new buildings. They look alike. But you will never be able to afford to live in them. Because they are not really homes. They are blocks of money bought by global investors whose money had nowhere else to go. Adam Curtis, Living in an Unreal World, BBC 2016
They and you live in a dream world detached from reality. You spend your days and nights on social media. Ibid
But as you work in glass-walled offices you know that the targets are manipulated and fake. And the managers know that you know. But you all sit there and pretend it is objective and rational. ibid.
The [Soviet] system was starting to crack. Russia became a society where everyone knew that what their leaders said is not real. Because they could see with their own eyes the economy was falling apart. But everybody had to play along and pretend that it was real. Because no-one could imagine any alternative. One Soviet writer called it Hypernormalisation. ibid.
We live in a strange time. Extraordinary events keep happening that undermine the stability of our world. Suicide bombs, waves of refugees, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, even Brexit. Yet those in control seem unable to deal with. And no-one has any vision of a different or a better kind of future. Adam Curtis, HyperNormalisation, BBC 2016
Over the past forty years politicians, financiers and technological Utopians rather than face up to the real complexities of the world, retreated. Instead, they constructed a simpler version of the world in order to hang on to power. And as this fake world grew, all of us went along with it. The simplicity was reassuring. ibid.