An ancient Torah scroll reportedly seized from smugglers by security forces in Turkey in November is in fact a crude forgery, the museum analyzing it said on Tuesday.The writing appeared upside-down because the book was being held upside-down. But, yes, it wasn't a Torah, as I had already said. I should have clarified that it is a book, not a scroll. I don't know if it is a fake per se, or just a crude tourist trinket.
The story of the seizure gained worldwide attention in several media outlets last month after Turkish news agencies said police in the country’s south west had unearthed what they believed was a 700-year old holy text being offered by "smugglers" for $1.93 million.
Pictures of the rare discovery showed a colorful but haphazardly leather-bound book, with Hebrew markings that appeared at first glance to be upside-down and don’t seem to resemble actual Hebrew phrases.
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Background here, with links to notices of many other doubtful antiquities that have surfaced recently in Turkey.
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