Yesterday the State Attorney’s office in Israel announced that it was withdrawing its appeal on the allegedly forged items in the collection of Oded Golan. Hershel Shanks has written a brief update on the situation.
The Israel Antiquities Authority is scheduled to return the famous ossuary, or bone box, inscribed “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” to Oded Golan, the Israeli collector who owns it, after a five-year trial charging that he forged the Jesus reference in the inscription. In March 2012, the trial judge Aharon Farkash acquitted Oded Golan of the forgery charge. Stung by the verdict, state prosecutor Dan Bahat (not the eminent Israeli archaeologist of the same name) mounted an appeal of some aspects of the verdict, but not the James Ossuary. The government apparently accepted as final the judge’s decision regarding the ossuary. On July 18, Bahat’s superiors in the office of the State’s Attorney announced to the Israel Supreme Court that it was withdrawing the appeal on other aspects of the verdict.
The update continues here. I have noted in the past that most experts believe that the James Ossuary inscription is authentic and many believe that the Jehoash Tablet is as well.
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They withdrew the appeal but now they want to keep the Tablet. See my exclusive report on the court hearing here: http://jamesossuarytrial.blogspot.co.il/2013/08/jehoash-tablet-no-longer-forgery-israel.html