Final arguments have been offered in the James Ossuary forgery case against Oded Golan and Robert Deutsch and all that remains is for the judge to issue a verdict. Matthew Kalman, the only reporter covering the case, writes that “the feeling in the tiny courtroom, where fewer than a dozen people (including only one reporter) have followed the proceedings, was that the prosecution had failed to prove that the items were forgeries or that Golan and Deutsch had faked them.” It may be several months before the judge rules on the case that began five years ago. The story at AOL News has the background and quotes from one of the defendants.
The archaeologists working at Tel Hazor have posted a brief summary of the 2010 season results. Work was focused on a large structure similar to Yadin’s stable/storehouse complex.
The whole area [M] is divided by seven parallel wide walls, about one meter wide each, running through the area from west to east (Fig. 1). It appears that these walls belong to two large buildings, similar in plan to the Three Halls Structures known from Yadin’s excavations and the renewed excavations in area A-2. The two buildings share a common wall with a 4 meters wide entrance in its center, and thus form one administrative complex of unparalleled size at Hazor and even elsewhere in the period.
The archaeologists conclude that this one functioned as a storehouse. The report mentions the basalt workshop and cuneiform tablet and includes several good photographs of Area M.
- Tagged Excavations, Galilee
The Israel Antiquities Authority and Jewish National Fund are sponsoring a series of lectures described in this flyer (HT: Joe Lauer). Givat Yeshiahu is in the Shephelah, not far from Khirbet Qeiyafa. From the flyer:
The Israel Antiquities Authority and JNF invites the community at large and local residents to a series of lectures in English on a variety of archeological themes focusing on our regional heritage – past and future.
Oct 13 New Discoveries from Excavations in the Jerusalem Region, by Jon Seligman, Jerusalem Regional Archaeologist, Israel Antiquities Authority
Oct 27 Tel Kaifa – the Ayelah [Elah] Fortress, by Professor Yossi Garfinkel, Hebrew University
Nov 3 Stories of plunder: treasures and forgeries, by Shai Bartura, chief investigator for illegal sale and theft of antiquities
The lectures will be held on Wednesday evenings at 20:00 at the Jewish National Fund (JNF) Center near Givat Yeshiahu in the Ayelah [Elah] Valley.
Cost of individual lectures:20 NIS
For further information and registration call: 02-9921136 or 1-800-350-550.
