[MSN] Israel. Criminal case 482/04, the State of Israel v. Oded Golan and others, lays out the details of one of the biggest forgery scandals ever in the history of archaeology

[MSN]

The art of authentic forgery

By Nadav Shragai


Criminal case 482/04, the State of Israel v. Oded Golan and others, lays out
the details of one of the biggest forgery scandals ever in the history of
archaeology. According to the indictment, those miseld by Golan, a
well-known Tel Aviv antiquities collector, included renowned experts who
were ready to confirm the authenticity of the many and controversial
findings he supposedly discovered, such as the Jehoash Tablet inscription
and an ossuary that supposedly held the bones of James, the brother of
Jesus. 

And yet, today, three years after the start of the trial, after more than 70
witnesses for the prosecution have taken the stand, and the defense has
started to present its arguments, the state prosecutor's office and the
Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which initiated the indictment, face a
problem: Marco Samah Shoukri Ghatas, the Egyptian artist who confessed to
manufacturing many items for Golan, including the Jehoash inscription, will
not be coming to Israel to testify. According to the IAA, it is the Egyptian
authorities that are preventing Ghatas from coming to Israel. Golan's
attorney, Lior Bringer, on the other hand, counters that it was the
Egyptian's choice not to come. 

Either way, the prosecution believes it will win the case even without the
testimony of Ghatas, a talented stone artist and jeweler from the Khan
al-Khalili market in Cairo. The testimony submitted in an interrogation
conducted by the Egyptians and in which he confessed to many of the crimes,
has already been cited in the Jerusalem District Court, where the case is
being heard by Judge Aharon Farkash. Nevertheless, says an IAA official,
"we're very interested in bringing him to Israel, so that the man who by his
own admission forged the antiquities for Golan, will say so formally in
court." 

Ghatas himself spoke openly about the artifacts he manufactured with
reporter Bob Simon, on the CBS-TV news program "60 Minutes." And authorities
here say they have assured him that if he comes to testify, he will not be
arrested. 

First Temple tablet 

When Haaretz reported over five years ago on the discovery of the Jehoash
inscription, the archaeology world was shaken. The inscription, some 10
lines in length, was etched onto a black stone tablet in ancient script. It
described the renovation conducted by Judean king Jehoash in the First
Temple, as described in 2 Kings 12. 

There were immediately doubts about the authenticity of the tablet, and two
committees of experts set up by the IAA confirmed the suspicions, concluding
that the inscription was indeed a forgery. At the end of 2004, antiquities
collector Oded Golan was put on trial. He was accused, along with others, of
forging the inscription, as well as fabricating and attempting to sell many
other fake antiquities. These included the James Ossuary (supposedly the
bone box of Jesus' brother); ancient pottery with inscriptions; a stone
menorah attributed by some to the high priest in the Second Temple; a tiny
ivory pomegranate, with an inscription, that was thought to be the only
existing artifact that had been used in the First Temple, and which was
displayed for many years at the Israel Museum. Also determined to be a
forgery was a quartz platter with an inscription in an ancient Egyptian
language, which ostensibly showed that the ancient city of Megiddo was
conquered by a commander of King Shishak. The inscription presumed to solve
the question occupying many scholars regarding the identity of the destroyer
of Megiddo. 

Amir Ganor, who heads the IAA's antiquities theft prevention unit, said in
his testimony that Ghatas personally confessed to him that he personally
forged the Jehoash inscription, on the basis of the sketches brought to him
by Oded Golan. Ganor also reveals that Ghatas admitted forging the handle of
the "Menasseh, King of Judah Seal," as well as manufacturing seals and
repairing clay pottery and other items according to specifications received
from Golan. As for the ossuary of Jesus' brother, James, says Ganor, "Marco
admitted only to rinsing and smearing it." 

Old friends 

Ganor describes the connection between Golan and Marco Ghatas as a close and
ongoing one: "This is a relationship that went on for 15 years. At certain
times, Marco lived in Oded's home. Marco had an Israeli girlfriend, who
testified at the trial, and described his actions. Among the items found in
Golan's possession were also crates with various items, on some of which
Marco's signature appeared." 

The original indictment was issued against five people. Two of them have in
the meantime admitted to some of the crimes attributed to them, were dropped
from the indictment and became state's witnesses. In addition to Golan, two
other accused people remain: Faiz al-Amla, an antiquities trader from the
village of Beit Ula in the southern part of the Hebron Hills, and Robert
Deutsch, a well-known antiquities dealer from Tel Aviv. The state signed a
plea bargain with al-Amla, and he was convicted and sentenced to a six-month
jail term. 

According to the indictment, in most cases original antiquities were taken,
and then fake inscriptions or decorations were added to them, which, if
authentic, would have made them extremely valuable. After the items were
prepared by this method, they had an artificial patina applied to them. The
patina, a layer that accumulates naturally on antiquities over the course of
time, was created with great expertise, to the point where many experts were
fooled into thinking that the antiquities are indeed authentic. Among the
specialists taken in were professionals from the Geological Survey of
Israel, in Jerusalem, and experts from archaeology labs and museums in
Israel and from around the world. 

In the case of the James Ossuary, the indictment alleges that Golan took an
ancient ossuary on which was an authentic inscription reading "Ya'akov bar
Yosef" (James, son of Joseph), and had added to it the words "ahuei
de'Yeshua" (brother of Jesus). The indictment also says that Golan, possibly
with assistance, covered up the forgery "by smearing various materials on
the ossuary," giving it a patina that would make the entire text appear to
have been written during the Second Temple period. Following that, Golan
allegedly drummed up publicity for the box, and arranged for it to be
displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto, "where it was seen by
tens of thousands of people and media from all over the world..." 

Expert appraisals 

After the forgery process was completed, according to the indictment, the
antiquities were given to experts, both for them to verify that the forgery
was successful and for them to appraise the importance of the objects.
"After receiving an appraisal, attempts were made to sell the items or
publicize them worldwide, with the aim of increasing their worth and selling
them in the future," the indictment continues. 

Among the evidence presented by the prosecution in court: photos and
exhibits taken from the labs in Golan's home, where, according to the
indictment, the forgeries were made; various sketches and other materials
that were used in the preparation of the forgeries. 

Lior Bringer, Golan's attorney, says his client denies all the charges
attributed to him and stands by the authenticity of the items. "It seems
unlikely to me," says Bringer, "that [Ghatas], who was in Israel so many
times, encountered trouble coming here to testify. It doesn't seem to me
that the Egyptian government prevented him from coming here. What seems more
likely is that the man himself prefers, for reasons of his own, not to come
to Israel. The antiquities that the Israel Antiquities Authority claims are
forgeries - the Jehoash inscription, the ossuary and all the rest, are
authentic," says Bringer.

http://www.haaretz.com/

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