Forgery Archives - Page 10 of 11

Norman Golb’s Son Arrested on Charges of Impersonation

Having been the victim of unwelcome, sometimes lengthy, and usually inflammatory comments on posts on this blog related to the Dead Sea Scrolls, I’m happy to see that New York police have arrested a man for allegedly creating many false identities, impersonating scholars, and slandering Dr. Lawrence Schiffman. The guilty party, whether he is the accused or someone else, had a single agenda: to promote the widely panned theories of Dr. Norman Golb. I have long been curious what sort of person would be so committed to such an endeavor as to spend countless hours to promote this view in places that have little real significance (this and other blogs, Wikipedia). The answer, if NY prosecutors are correct, makes some sense: the perpetrator was Golb’s son. That son, however, was not 14 years old, but 49. One scholar who has wrangled extensively with the multiple-aliased offender is Bob Cargill. A scholar at UCLA, Cargill has posted an extraordinary catalog of the campaign of this individual (be he the accused or someone else). A few hours after Cargill posted his catalog, NY police announced the arrest. From the NY Times:

For decades, the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been intensely debated.
The prevailing theory is that these ancient documents, which include texts from the Hebrew Bible, were written over the three centuries before 100 A.D. by a Jewish sect known as the Essenes, who were based in Qumran, a settlement at the northwest shore of the Dead Sea near the caves where the scrolls were found between 1947 and 1956.
An alternative theory, passionately proffered by a University of Chicago professor, is that the scrolls’ authors were not Essenes, and that the scrolls themselves were kept in various libraries in Jerusalem until they were hidden in the caves around Qumran for safekeeping during the Roman war of A.D. 67 to 73. Qumran, he has said, was not an Essene monastery but a fortress, one of several armed defensive bastions around Jerusalem.
The professor, Norman Golb, has stood behind his theory despite significant criticism. His son, Raphael Haim Golb, has been one of his greatest allies.
But prosecutors said on Thursday that Raphael Golb took defending his father’s theory too far. Mr. Golb is accused of using stolen identities of various people, including a New York University professor who disagreed with his father, to elevate his father’s theory and besmirch its critics, Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, said at a news conference.
Mr. Golb, 49, was arrested Thursday morning and charged in Manhattan Criminal Court with identity theft, criminal impersonation and aggravated harassment. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors said Mr. Golb opened an e-mail account in the name of Lawrence H. Schiffman, the New York University professor who disagreed with Mr. Golb’s father. He sent messages in Professor Schiffman’s name to various people at N.Y.U. and to others involved in the Dead Sea Scrolls debate, fabricating an admission by Professor Schiffman that he had plagiarized some of Professor Golb’s work, Mr. Morgenthau said. Raphael Golb also set up blogs under various names that accused Dr. Schiffman of plagiarism, Mr. Morgenthau said.

NYUNews has posted one of the emails that Golb is alleged to have forged.

(HT: Joe Lauer)

Unfortunately dad’s response is not altogether encouraging.

Reached at his office in Chicago on Thursday afternoon, Professor Golb said he was shocked at the allegations leveled against his son, who is a real estate lawyer and has a Ph.D in comparative literature from Harvard.
“My son is an honorable person,” Professor Golb said. “He could not have done such a thing.”
Professor Golb said that opposing scholars had tried to quash his views over the years through tactics like barring him from Dead Sea Scrolls exhibitions. He said he saw the criminal charges as another attack on his work.
“Don’t you see how there was kind of a setup?” he said. “This was to hit me harder.”

I’m not sure that this is the best time for Professor Golb to be complaining of the same thing that led the impersonator to carry out his campaign.

Tagged Dead Sea, Forgery

Ivory Pomegranate Inscription Not Forged, Says Scientist

The Biblical Archaeology Society has posted a new study by Professor Yitzhak Roman of Hebrew University in which he concludes that the inscription was carved before the ivory pomegranate was broken. This agrees with the previous study of André Lemaire of Sorbonne University, against the conclusion of Yuval Goren and the Israel Museum that the inscription was forged in modern times.

You can get the original report in Hebrew, or an English translation, as well as various related materials at the BAS website. There’s been quite a bit of discussion in the ANE-2 list, largely attacking the experts or explaining why now it doesn’t matter. If Roman’s and Lemaire’s arguments are invalid, hopefully someone will step up and refute the evidence. You can do your own analysis of the photographs here.

Tagged Forgery

Jehoash Inscription: Five Scholars Claim Authentic

The Jehoash Inscription is a total fraud and everyone knows that, according to some people.

Apparently these five scholars didn’t get the memo, as they conclude that the inscription is authentic.

The Bible and Interpretation has the article. Here is the abstract:

A gray, fine-grained arkosic sandstone tablet bearing an inscription in ancient Hebrew from the First Temple Period contains a rich assemblage of particles accumulated in the covering patina. Two types of patina cover the tablet: a thin layer of black to orange iron-oxide-rich layer, a product of micro-biogenic processes, and a light beige patina that contains feldspars, carbonate, iron oxide, subangular quartz grains, carbon ash particles and gold globules (1 to 4 micrometers [1 micrometer = 0.001 millimeter] in diameter). The patina covers the rock surface as well as the engraved lettering grooves and blankets and thus post-dates the incised inscription as well as a crack that runs across the stone and several of the engraved letters. Radiocarbon analyses of the carbon particles in the patina yield a calibrated radiocarbon age of 2340 to 2150 Cal BP. The presence of microcolonial fungi and associated pitting in the patina indicates slow growth over many years. The occurrence of pure gold globules is evidence of a thermal event in close proximity to the tablet (above 1000 degrees Celsius). This study supports the antiquity of the patina, which in turn, strengthens the contention that the inscription is authentic.

This isn’t the last word, but that’s the point. Scholars must be allowed to study this inscription without desperate-sounding people trying to silence those they disagree with.

The best indication of the inscription’s authenticity that I know and understand (which doesn’t include archaeometric evidence) concerns the “obvious” linguistic error in the inscription. It doesn’t make sense that someone brilliant enough to do so many things right on this inscription would make such an obvious mistake. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t know everything about how Hebrew was used in the 8th century.

The Bible and Interpretation has published much more on this inscription in previous years.

UPDATE (11/17): The more scientific version of this article was mentioned previously here.

Tagged Forgery, Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Prosecution Struggling at Forgery Trial

The San Francisco Chronicle reported about a week ago that the Israeli government’s case against alleged forger Oded Golan is near collapse. The Israeli judge was rather harsh with the prosecution.

After all the evidence we have heard, including the testimony of the prime defendant, is the picture still the same as the one you had when he was charged?” District Court Judge Aharon Farkash pointedly asked public prosecutor, Adi Damti. “Not every case ends in the way you think it will when it starts. Maybe we can save ourselves the rest.

The Daily Mail reported:

Jerusalem judge Aharon Farkash told prosecutors trying Israeli collector Oded Golan: ‘Have you really proved beyond a reasonable doubt that these artefacts are fakes as charged in the indictment?

The primary artifacts in question are the James Ossuary and the Jehoash Inscription. The Israel Antiquities Authority has maintained that the inscription, or part of the inscription, reading “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” was added to an ancient ossuary. These artifacts and others are alleged to have come out of the workshop of Oded Golan, or that of his Egyptian friend, Marco Samah Shoukri Ghatas.

I do not know if these two artifacts are ancient, though based on what experts have told me, I think they probably are genuine. If one or both are proven to be fraudulent, it won’t affect anyone’s beliefs in the accuracy or non-accuracy of the Bible.

What bothers me and others is the attempt by some professionals and some non-professionals to silence discussion on the issues. Because 60 Minutes did a report on the subject, the case must be closed. Because the Israel Antiquities Authority produced a report on the items, scholarly interaction on the matters is apparently inappropriate. Wrong!, says the judge.

If the judge isn’t convinced after hearing far more evidence than you or I or probably any other expert not at the trial, then I dare say that any conclusions claiming these artifacts were forged were based on less than all of the evidence. This makes it all the more disturbing that those who made those conclusions are the ones who would deny further discussion. Some lessons:

Scholars have agendas. Very few are unbiased.
The loudest ones usually have the most to lose. Discoveries tend to confirm the Bible (name the last one that provided clear evidence that the biblical record was inaccurate), and with each (authentic) discovery, the ground is eroding from underneath them
Refuse to listen to those who say the case is closed. Patience is a virtue. There is no need to rush to judgment when important scholars dissent from the majority view.

Tagged Forgery

Jehoash Inscription: Geologists Think Authentic

Five years ago, a big stir was created with the announcement of the existence of the Jehoash Inscription. The tablet was so exciting because it appeared to come from the Jerusalem temple, dating to approximately 800 B.C., and paralleling 2 Kings 12:12.

The inscription, however, had problems. The chief one was that it surfaced in the hands of an antiquities collector, not in a controlled archaeological dig. That by itself is enough for some to deny the authenticity of the artifact, even though many demonstrably authentic objects were recovered illegally.

Another problem was the stone itself and the patina (sheen produced by age). Though the first geologists to study the inscription said it was ancient, the Israel Antiquities Authority issued a report concluding that the inscription was a modern forgery. 60 Minutes aired a horrible report (regardless of conclusion, the report was dishonest) which included an interview with a man claimed to have created the inscription.

To me, the most interesting part of all of this has been the way one side has acted on the matter. And I don’t mean the 60 Minutes crew (who merit only the lowest of expectations anyway). There are some professionals who have acted as if they have a lot to lose if this inscription is authentic. On the other hand, those who think the inscription may be ancient appear to me to desire simply that the proper studies be done. Some professionals apparently think that a few tests are sufficient, after which all discussion must be silenced and all tests denied.

Which means their dander is up after another study was published this summer in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The conclusion of the five geologists who wrote the article is that the inscription is likely ancient. The pdf is available for a fee, but the abstract is online:

A gray, fine-grained arkosic sandstone tablet bearing an inscription in ancient Hebrew from the First Temple Period contains a rich assemblage of particles accumulated in the covering patina that includes calcite, dolomite, quartz and feldspar grains, iron oxides, carbon ash particles, microorganisms, and gold globules (1–4 μm in diameter). There are two types of patina present: thin layers of a black to orange-brown, iron oxide-rich patina, a product of micro-biogenetical activity, as well as a light beige patina mainly composed of carbonates, quartz and feldspar grains. The patina covers the rock surfaces and inscription grooves post-dating the incised inscription as well as a fissure that runs across the stone and several of the engraved letters. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) analyses of the carbon particles in the patina yields a calibrated radiocarbon age of 2340–2150 Cal BP and a conventional radiocarbon age of 2250 ± 40 years BP. The presence of microcolonial fungi and associated pitting indicates slow growth over many years. The occurrence of pure gold globules is evidence of melting (above 1000 °C) indicates a thermal event. This study supports the antiquity of the patina, which in turn, strengthens the contention that the inscription is authentic.

Let the studies continue! When there is a “reasonable doubt” about authenticity, it is anti-scientific and anti-academic to try to prevent further investigation.

(Note: the trial against the alleged forgers is going on three years and running, which suggests, to me at least, that the evidence is not as iron-clad as the prosecutors and their fans have insisted.)

Tagged Forgery

Forgery Trial, 3 Years Going (and Going)

Haaretz gives an update of the forgery trial against Oded Golan and Robert Deutsch. Most of what is “new” here seems to be taken from the courageously honest 60 Minutes report. I’m always reluctant to analyze a news article written by a journalist because I know how skewed facts can get between the interview and the printed page. But I’ll make a few comments on the assumption that the record is generally accurate.

1. The prosecution has been presenting its case for three years. Israel doesn’t have constitutional protections like the United States, but some judge should intervene to tell them that there’s something humane about a speedy trial, and if the prosecution can’t present its case in short order, it’s over.

2. The “silver bullet” in the case is an Egyptian artist. The article says that he “confessed to manufacturing many items for Golan, including the Jehoash inscription.” I need more evidence than the reporter’s word (or the prosecution’s statement). Note that 60 Minutes, who interviewed him on TV, did not have a statement from him that he forged it. Maybe he did, or maybe the prosecution wants to make you think he did. That’s why there’s such a thing called cross-examination. (For those of you new to the case, it’s simply incredible that a guy with a shop in an Egyptian market has the necessary skills to make an object of this nature that has fooled many experts into thinking it is authentic. Scholars have told me that there’s not a single person alive with all of the knowledge necessary to make the Jehoash Inscription. Maybe five scholars collaborated, each contributing their own specialized knowledge. But one artist in Egypt?)

3. The article says:

Among the evidence presented by the prosecution in court: photos and exhibits taken from the labs in Golan’s home, where, according to the indictment, the forgeries were made; various sketches and other materials that were used in the preparation of the forgeries.

Now this sounds convincing to the reader at home. Open-and-shut case. If so, then why all of the delay? Why do they need to bring the Egyptian artist to testify? Again, this is why this case cannot be decided in the media alone.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll note it again: I don’t know if any of these items are authentic or not. And I don’t care. It doesn’t change my view of the Bible or archaeology if the James Ossuary or the Jehoash Inscription are forgeries. But there are very significant problems with the way that these matters have been handled by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the prosecution, and some scholars. There are other agendas.

Tagged Forgery