This book review was originally posted by GrrlScientist on Living the Scientific Life.
tags: book review, Unholy Business, religious antiquities, biblical antiquities, fraud, Christianity, Judaism, Nina Burleigh
There are two different types
of people in the world,
those who want to know,
and those who want to believe.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
In November 2002, an ancient carved limestone burial box designed to hold the disarticulated skeleton of a dead person was put on public display in Canada's Royal Ontario Museum. Although common throughout Israel, this particular box, known as an ossuary, was unusual because it was inscribed. Even more remarkable, its ancient Aramaic inscription -- "Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua" -- translated to read, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." This sent waves of hysteria through the Christian and Jewish communities, causing tens of thousands of faithful to mob the museum. But even before the ossuary was publicly displayed, experts declared the inscription to be a fraud. Unfazed by facts, the religious preferred to believe it was real. In Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land (NYC: Collins; 2008), the author, Nina Burleigh, uncovers the trail followed by forged biblical antiquities, from illegal excavations in Israel to a world-class museum in Canada.
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Easy read, and very entertaining and captivating. Recommend it to anyone interested in archaeology and mid-east studies.
a'akov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua" -- translated to read, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." very goo
a'akov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua" Recommend it to anyone interested in archaeology and mid-east studies.
Just downloaded this to my Kindle the other day and read it over the weekend. Very good book, and an eye-opener into the world of fraud and forgery (along with the criminal theft of artifacts - you can tell where I stand on the line on antiquities trading). Also learned that Shanks (of BAR fame) is a bigger tool than I thought. Easy read, and very entertaining and captivating. Recommend it to anyone interested in archaeology and mid-east studies.
There are two different types
of people in the world,
those who want to know,
and those who want to believe.
criminal theft of artifacts - you can tell where I stand on the line on antiquities trading). Also learned that Shanks (of BAR fame) is a bigger tool than I thought. Easy read, and very entertaining and captivating. Recommend it to anyone interested in archaeology and mid-east studies.
Also learned that Shanks (of BAR fame) is a bigger tool than I thought. Easy read, and very entertaining and captivating. Recommend it to anyone interested in archaeology and mid-east studies.