Judge to decide fate of ossuary, Jehoash tabletDestroying the objects would be a terrible idea and I wonder if the judge's words are being quoted accurately and, if so, whether he was speaking tongue in cheek. The James Ossuary is itself an ancient artifact, whether or not part of the inscription is forged. Would it even be legal to order it destroyed?
By MATTHEW KALMAN (Jerusalem Post)
29/05/2012
Scholars say items should be preserved; J'lem judge could order items destroy under "ruling of Solomon."
A Jerusalem judge will announce on Wednesday whether he has decided to order the destruction of a burial box that could have held the bones of the brother of Jesus and an inscribed tablet that could have come from the First Temple.
At a Jerusalem District Court hearing in April, Judge Aharon Farkash said he might exercise “the judgement of Solomon” and order both items to be destroyed.
[...]
On Wednesday, Judge Farkash will pass sentence on the defendant, Oded Golan, who was acquitted on 41 charges of forgery, fraud and other serious crimes, but found guilty of three minor misdemeanors of trading in antiquities without a license and handling goods suspected of being stolen.
At a hearing in April, the prosecution demanded a tough sentence including jail time and said that the ossuary, the tablet and many other items should be confiscated by the court, even though Golan had been acquitted of all charges related to them.
“Maybe I’ll order them to be destroyed and neither side will have them,” said Farkash in comments that were not recorded in the official court transcript.
It would be “the judgement of Solomon,” said Judge Farkash.
“Neither of you will have the ossuary or the Jehoash tablet. They broke once already; they can be broken again. Just destroy them,” he said.
The ossuary cracked into two pieces in 2002 while it was being shipped to an exhibition in Canada and was repaired by restorers at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The Jehoash tablet broke along an existing crack in 2003 while it was being handled by investigators at the Israel Police forensic laboratory.
The judge also suggested that the items might be put on display for the public.
“Maybe they should be exhibited at the Israel Museum as items from this trial suspected of being fakes,” he said.
Experts who gave evidence for both sides last night urged Judge Farkash not to destroy the items.
[...]
I think the Jehoash/Joash inscription is a forgery, but it should be kept and at least studied to learn more about the techniques of modern forgers.
May I respectfully remind the judge that Solomon did not actually carry out that particular judgment.
Much background on the Israel forgery trial is here and links.