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Matthew Kalman, writing for the Jerusalem Post:

One of Israel’s best-known antiquities dealers said this week he was the innocent victim of a “witch-hunt” initiated by the Antiquities Authority aimed at destroying his career and reputation.
Robert Deutsch, 58, has been on trial at the Jerusalem District Court since September 2005 on six charges of faking and selling priceless antiquities. He is the owner of the Archeological Center, with shops in Tel Aviv and Jaffa, and runs twice-yearly antiquities auctions that attract the world’s top collectors of ancient Judaica.
Deutsch’s co-defendant, leading antiquities collector Oded Golan, is charged with faking the burial box of Jesus’s brother and an inscribed stone attributed to King Jehoash that once adorned the First Temple, plus dozens of smaller items.
As Deutsch took the stand this week for the first time after more than three years in court, 120 witnesses and 8,000 pages of testimony, he said the charges against him were “lies and hallucinations.”

The story continues here, and the author does a good job of presenting both sides of the story. 

Kalman has a blog dedicated to the trial.

HT: Joe Lauer

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A rush shipment of a series of fantastic new products has just arrived at the BiblePlaces.com International Distribution Center.  All of these items are available for immediate shipment.

Bag of Rocks: Authentic specimens from a hill in Israel.  You can plant these in your garden, and before you know it, your garden will be full of them.

Basket of Authentic Potsherds: Unwashed, unsorted. May include EB through Ottoman period artifacts. Your basket might contain an ostracon!

Biblical Archaeologist Swimsuit Calendar: Featuring 12 of the world’s most renowned excavators on exotic tells that they dig.

Packet of Mud: Wet soil possibly washed off by the blind man at the Pool of Siloam.

Ossuary: Inscriptions of famous biblical people added for an extra charge.

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Tour Pass: Good for a one-day tour of the archaeological sites of the Gaza Strip, personally hosted by Khaled Mashaal and his friends.


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Fibers from the rope around the high priest’s ankle

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Television Special, 60 Minutes (DVD): Breaking report that reveals how a Jewish temple never existed in Jerusalem.  Features extensive research and interviews with two three smart locals.

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The 2-hour movie narrates the history of the city. Beginning at 9pm Eastern/Pacific, the documentary is narrated by Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Susan Wunderink of Christianity Today reviews the film:

The film starts with Abraham leaving Ur at a time when Jerusalem was already settled by Canaanite tribes. The documentary embellishes biblical history, adding in traditions that say, for example, that Jerusalem is also where God created Adam. jerusalem_pbs Suarez goes into the details of the destruction and rebuildings of the Jewish Temple. Jesus’ short life is given about 15 minutes of the two-hour run time. For viewers who know what happens up to 70 A.D.—and then nothing—it will fill in some big gaps. The second half of the film explains how the city came to look as it does today, if you can keep up. Toward the end, the pace picks up as Suarez lists how “the world’s most contested piece of real estate” changes hands among multiple Christian and Muslim rulers. Christians, Muslims, Jews, and others fought, came, and went, sometimes leaving Jerusalem little more than a tourist trap. Mark Twain found it an unappealing, sleepy place when he visited. The Romans, after nearly wiping out the Jewish population, expelled the rest; Saladin’s Muslims let them re-settle.

The full review is here. The producer’s website includes a trailer.

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