A Hebrew Bible that was seized following an operation by Turkey’s Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Branch in the southern province of Gaziantep and thought to date back to the era of Jesus Christ (Prophet Isa in Islam) with an alleged worth of one million dollars has turned out to be a fake.The writing isn't even Hebrew. It's Syriac. It looks a lot like other fakes circulating in Turkey in recent years.[...]
It's disquieting that this same story keeps coming up with minor variations. Smugglers in Turkey were trying to sell a "Torah" or a "Bible." The manuscript is really old. And they say it's "priceless" or worth a million dollars or more. See here, here, here, here, and here. That takes us back to 2013. There may be more, but I have other things to do this morning.
For other stories of fake or dubious manuscripts seized in Turkey, start at that last link and keep following the links. Again, I commend the Turkish police for their diligence in tracking down smugglers and forgers.
This sure happens a lot. And, of course, these cases are just the ones the police catch. How often does the grift work and we never hear about it? I hope not often.
Cross-file under Apprehended.
For a real ancient Syriac text discovered recently in Turkey, see here and here.
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