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Unholy Business: A True Tale Of Faith, Greed And Forgery In The Holy Land (2008)

by Nina Burleigh(Favorite Author)

3.44 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0061458457 (ISBN13: 9780061458453)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Smithsonian

review 1: This book provides an interesting but complex look at the unsavory world of Holy Land antiquities. It carefully follows the trail of the James ossuary – purported to be that of Jesus’ brother. Like a detective mystery unraveling, this book reveals how the James ossuary and many other antiquities prove to be fakes. Nina Burleigh carefully explores the seedy underworld of this trade. Any antiquity that points to the historical existence of Jesus and/or the ancient kingdom of Israel is valuable both monetarily and politically, so penetrating its murky depths proves to be difficult. One always wonders how many layers of deceit and corruption still remain undiscovered.A revealing read.
review 2: The title is a little broad but entirely true. This tale of fa... moreith, greed & forgery revolves around a couple of artifacts that surfaced in 2002: the so-called “James Ossuary” and the “Jehoash Tablet”. The first was international news, as it was touted as the first archaeological evidence of Jesus existence. The James Ossuary is a small limestone box which was used to contain the bones of James, the “brother” of Jesus. The ossuary has an inscription reading “Ya’akov bar Yosef achui Yeshua” (James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus). The other item, the “Jehoash Tablet” purported to be an artifact dating from the time of and relating to the Temple of Solomon. This would be every bit as important to Jews as the James Ossuary would be to Christians (and probably more so).Nina Burleigh details the unfolding stories of how these items came to light and subsequent investigations their authenticity. It is a fascinating tale. As you might discern from the title, the artifacts were forgeries. There are a number of sad tales here, not just the forgeries, but the destruction of genuine artifacts, the plundering of archaeological sites, and scale of deception and fraud involving ancient artifacts from the Middle East. less

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