Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society

Sunday, 16th November 2008 at 8 p.m.

Prof. Shimon Gibson (University of North Carolina, Charlotte)

FAKES, FORGERIES AND LOOTED ARTIFACTS IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE HOLY LAND

A number of major artifacts, thought to be ancient and exhibited in respectable museums, were recently exposed as fakes, causing discomfort among archaeologists and museum curators who had previously identified them as bona fide ancient objects. The recent case of the 'James Brother of Jesus' ossuary will be discussed in some detail, as well as the amusing story of the famous Shapira scroll that was offered to the British Museum for a million pounds in the late nineteenth century. The lecture will also deal with the terrible looting of archaeological sites in the Levant (Israel, Palestine and Jordan), with important artifacts being sold on the antiquities market and ending up in private collections. Should scholarship deal with these unprovenanced artifacts or ignore them?

Shimon Gibson is Senior Associate at the W F Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and adjunct Professor of Archaeology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Co-editor of the Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society, he is currently working at the Mount Zion excavations. His new book on Jesus in Jerusalem will be published next year.