MORE ON THE ALLEGED TAMPERING WITH THE "JAMES OSSUARY" INSCRIPTION: Paul Flesher tells the Casper Star Tribune ("Scholar calls Jesus box a fake") about the still-anonymous Israeli archaeologist who says he saw the ossuary in the 1990s, when it was in the hands of an antiquities dealer, and it lacked the last part of the inscription, "brother of Jesus." The conclusion: the end of the inscription is fake. (Note to Paul: does that mean the first part of the inscription is genuine? Isn't the modern patina on the whole inscription?)

This is a very interesting account, which a number of people have heard from the archaeologist in question, and they vouch for his reliability. My understanding is that in due course his testimony will come out in court and it will be at that point that we all can put it into full context and decide exactly what to make of it. Watch this space.