Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hershel Shanks, 60 Minutes, and a false confession?

HERSHEL SHANKS accuses 60 Minutes of faking a confession by an Egyptian jeweler of forging the Jehoash inscription: First Person: The Lion and the Flea (BAR). Excerpt:
The only thing this article is about is whether 60 Minutes accurately reported what Marco said. Did Marco say that he made things “just like this [the Yehoash Inscription] for Golan.” Or did he say only that he “could” make something just like this, if that’s what his customer wanted?

There is no question that Marco denied to me that he ever said he forged the Yehoash tablet. He was firm and clear, as was his anger at 60 Minutes.
I agree with Hershel that 60 Minutes should release the full transcript of the interview. Heck, they should be willing to release the full videotape. That's just basic journalistic integrity. There's no reason why there needs to be any controversy over what actually happened.

That said, Mr. Marco comes off a little dodgy here even if he is telling the truth about the 60 Minutes interview. So he would be willing to make a Jehoash tablet for a customer, it's just that he didn't do it in this particular case? This is the sort of thing he does as a matter of course? I would like to hear a fuller explanation of what that is about.

Some recent coverage of the Jehoash/Joash inscription is here.