Israeli dealers accused of antiquity fraud

[emad]

The Independent
By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
30 December 2004


Israeli police yesterday charged four antiquities collectors and dealers on 17 counts of forging some of the most treasured biblical artefacts to have surfaced in recent years.

They included a limestone ossuary box said to have held the bones of James, the brother of Jesus, supposedly the oldest physical link to the New Testament; a tiny ivory pomegranate bought by the Israel Museum for $550,000 (£287,000) as the only known relic of King Solomon's Temple; and a stone tablet, from the ninth century BC, inscribed in ancient Hebrew with instructions by King Joash for maintaining the Temple.

A 27-page indictment submitted to a Jerusalem magistrate after months of under- cover investigation alleged that the men - Oded Golan, Robert Deutsch, Shlomo Cohen and Faiz al-Amaleh - took genuine antiquities, then added false inscriptions to increase their value. They were clever enough to fool some of the world's most respected experts.

Mr Golan, a leading Israeli collector, owned the "James ossuary", inscribed "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," and the "Joash tablet". Detectives said they found a sophisticated laboratory in his home. The men are accused of painting the "improved" items with a special coating to imitate the patina that would accumulate over thousands of years.

More:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=596781

TIME to arrest cunning Islamic art fraudster David Khalili????

See:
http://www.bu.edu/bridge/archive/2003/02-07/khalili.htm

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