PAUL FLESHER (University of Wyoming) already had had doubts about the the authenticity of the "James Ossuary" on philological grounds. Mark Elliott (spelling sic; the other "Wyoming scholar," editor of the Bible and Interpretation website) and Rochelle Altman also figure:

Wyoming scholars help expose ossuary (Billings Gazette)

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Paul Flesher, director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Wyoming, and Laramie County Community College Professor Mark Elliot arrived at the same conclusion months ago.

Last fall, a leading French archaeologist, Andre Lemaire, claimed that the ossuary held the body of James, the brother of Jesus. His evidence included writing on the ossuary that says, "James, the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus."

Flesher was one of the first to analyze the dialect of the inscription and concluded that it was more appropriate for Galilee of the third through the seventh centuries than for Jerusalem of the first century.

"While this point does not indicate the inscription cannot be what was claimed, it suggests it was more likely to be from another time and place," Flesher said.

Elliot, who runs a Web site called "Bible and Interpretation," published an analysis of the inscription.

The analysis was done by Rochelle Altman, an expert in styles of carving and writing letters in ancient Israel.

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Flesher has published a number of essays on the Ossuary on the Bible and Interpretation website.