Editor's Summary
3 March 2005
Bone of contention
Israel's Antiquities Authority has judged that the Jehoash Tablet, said to corroborate biblical accounts of King Solomon's Temple, and a bone burial box inscribed "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus", are forgeries. Haim Watzman looks at the forensic science used to test the authenticity of these artefacts that have had a dramatic impact in the arcane world of archaeology — and in the wider spheres of geopolitics and georeligion.
News Feature: Antiquities fraud: Reality check
They were highly prized artefacts with inscriptions that dated back to biblical times. The only problem was they were fake. Haim Watzman unearths the authentication work that has rocked Israel's archaeology community.
doi:10.1038/434013a
