 |
 |
 |
|
|
Inscription on ancient pomegranate, long prized by the Israel Museum, now believed to be forged. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Associated Press December 29, 2004 |
|
| |
Four Israeli antiquities collectors and dealers were indicted Wednesday on charges they ran a sophisticated forgery ring that spanned the globe and produced a treasure trove of fake Bible-era artifacts, including some that were hailed as major archaeological finds.
Police said the ring forged what were presented as perhaps the two biggest biblical discoveries in the Holy Land in recent years _ the purported burial box of Jesus' brother James and a stone tablet with written instructions by King Yoash on maintenance work at the Jewish Temple.
The forgers "were trying to change history," said Shuka Dorfman, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Investigators warned that collectors and museums around the world could be in the possession of fakes, and scholars said museums should re-examine items of suspicious origin. The forgery ring has been operating for more than 20 years, Dorfman said.
Scholars said the forgers were exploiting the deep emotional need of Jews and Christians to find physical evidence to reinforce their beliefs. "This does not discredit the profession. It discredits unscrupulous dealers and collectors," said Eric Myers, an archaeology professor at Duke University in North Carolina.
The announcement of the indictments was made at a joint news conference of the Antiquities Authority and the police, capping a two-year probe. The indictment listed 124 witnesses, including antiquities collectors, archaeologists, officials from Sotheby's auction house in Israel and representatives of the British Museum and the Brooklyn Museum.
Dorfman said the Israeli investigators had limited resources, and the scope of the fraud appears to go far beyond what has been uncovered so far. "We discovered only the tip of the iceberg. This spans the globe. It generated millions of dollars," Dorfman said.
The forgers would often use authentic but relatively mundane artifacts, such as a plain burial box, decanter or shard, and boost their value enormously by adding inscriptions, Dorfman said. Once the words were engraved, the forgers would try to recreate patina, or ancient grime, to cover the carvings, the indictment said.
The four men indicted were Tel Aviv collector Oded Golan, owner of the James ossuary and the Yoash tablet; Robert Deutsch, an inscriptions expert who teaches at Haifa University; collector Shlomo Cohen, and antiquities dealer Faiz al-Amaleh. The four are free on bail, police said.
Golan said in a statement Wednesday that "there is not one grain of truth in the fantastic allegations related to me," and that the investigation was aimed at "destroying collecting and trade in antiquities in Israel." Deutsch dismissed the indictment as "ridiculous."
Additional indictments were to be issued in coming days, said Shaul Naim, the chief investigator of the Jerusalem police. A fifth person was mentioned in Wednesday's indictment, but his name was withheld because he has not yet been located, officials said.
The probe began after the Yoash tablet was offered for sale to the Israel Museum for US$4.5 million two years ago. Uzi Dahari, a top official in the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a recent lecture that some of the forgeries were done by an Egyptian artisan who has worked in Israel for the past 15 years. The Egyptian went out drinking in a Tel Aviv pub from time to time and would brag about his exploits, Dahari said, adding that some of the pub-goers alerted the police.
Naim, the police investigator, said many more fakes are apparently in the possession of collectors and museums worldwide. "We have reason to believe that many more forged antiquities which we haven't uncovered yet are being held by private collectors in Israel and abroad, and in museums in Israel and abroad."
Shimon Gibson, an Israeli archaeologist, said museums should review items of questionable origin. "Now it looks like we are going to have to go backward and double-check all our facts to make sure that what we thought was real really is," he said.
Last week, the Israel Museum said one of its most prized possessions, an ivory pomegranate scholars long believed served as the tip of a scepter for Jewish Temple priests, was also a fake.
The indictment listed the pomegranate as one of the items forged by the ring, but no charges were brought in this case because the statute of limitations expired. The pomegranate was bought by the Israel Museum in the late 1980s from an anonymous collector for US$550,000.
In a statement, the Israel Museum expressed support for efforts to "end such criminal activities," adding that its investigation of the authenticity of the pomegranate was its own.
Investigators visited foreign countries and confiscated some artifacts, police said, but would give no further details.
Hershel Shanks, the editor of the Washington-based Biblical Archaeology Review, said he was not sure the Israeli authorities had solid proof against the suspected forgers. "Either this is going to be proven a horrific scandal or the greatest embarrassment to the Israel Antiquities Authority," Shanks said in a telephone interview.
Shanks disclosed the existence of the James ossuary at a November 2002 news conference. Scholars said that if proven authentic, the ossuary would be the first physical link between Jesus and the modern world.
Dan Rahimi of the Royal Ontario Museum said it displayed the ossuary only after the Israeli government "reviewed the artifact and its provenance."
Golan initially insisted on not being identified as the owner of the ossuary, but later said he bought the burial box in the mid-1970s from an antiquities dealer in the Old City of Jerusalem for about US$200. He said at the time he could not remember the dealer's name. Several Old City dealers are on the government's witness list.
The investigation trained a spotlight on the sometimes murky antiquities trade in the Holy Land.
"It's a free-for-all market ... and there is no control over something that doesn't come from a proper excavation, photographed and documented," Dorfman said.
Under a 1978 law, collectors can keep what they found before that date.
Naim said that the forgery ring produced fake affidavits saying the artifacts were discovered before 1978 and attached experts' findings that the items were authentic. While in some cases, experts might have made honest mistakes, "I am not certain that this was always done unknowingly, to give a stamp of approval to enable a sale," Dorfman said.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
