Dem Bones Smell

The ossuary which many have recently alleged contains the bones of James, the brother of Jesus, was confiscated from the antique dealer, Golan, into whose hands it had mysteriously fallen some twenty years ago.  And where did the Antiquities Authority Detective Unit find the sacred relic?

"He opened a small chamber on the roof, and I saw this chamber is a toilet, and what I found on top of the toilet, I found the ossuary of James the brother of Jesus," says Ganor.  Golan doesn't try to deny that he kept the ossuary on the toilet, but he says don't leap to unwarranted conclusions.

Why on Golan's toilet, of course!  The toilet was apparently in close proximity to a workshop containing just the sort of equipment and materials that would be required to fake ancient artifcats, but Golan insists that their sole purpose was to refurbish sacred relics so they looked more original:

"This is just a wrong allegation. It's a false allegation, that's all what I can tell you," says Golan. "Because all the materials that I had, which are some soils, different color soils. It's in order to give when you restore an ancient piece you would like to give a feeling to the viewer that it looks old."

Um, yeah.  And a nod to Hume:

I should not believe such a story were it told me by Cato, was a proverbial saying in Rome, even during the lifetime of that philosophical patriot.  The incredibility of a fact, it was allowed, might invalidate so great an authority.

Golan is no Cato.  The full story is here.

Update:

Comments

[Matthew Mullins]

CBS is slow getting around to this story. You can read all you want and more about the conflicting reports here. Last time I checked the truth of the matter depends on which scholars you want to trust. I have to say that at the time the IAA report struck me as mildly politically motivated.