Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed & Forgery in the Holy LandBy Nina Burleigh
Smithsonian Books, 2008. 271 pgs. Nonfiction.
The title is a little broad but entirely true. This tale of faith, greed & forgery revolves around a couple of artifacts that surfaced in 2002: the so-called “James Ossuary” and the “Jehoash Tablet”. The first was international news, as it was touted as the first archaeological evidence of Jesus existence. The James Ossuary is a small limestone box which was used to contain the bones of James, the “brother” of Jesus. The ossuary has an inscription reading “Ya’akov bar Yosef achui Yeshua” (James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus). The other item, the “Jehoash Tablet” purported to be an artifact dating from the time of and relating to the Temple of Solomon. This would be every bit as important to Jews as the James Ossuary would be to Christians (and probably more so).
Nina Burleigh details the unfolding stories of how these items came to light and subsequent investigations their authenticity. It is a fascinating tale. As you might discern from the title, the artifacts were forgeries. There are a number of sad tales here, not just the forgeries, but the destruction of genuine artifacts, the plundering of archaeological sites, and scale of deception and fraud involving ancient artifacts from the Middle East.
SML
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