ARCHAEOLOGIST DEFENDS JAMES OSSUARY

Andre Lemaire, who first identified the inscription on the reputed James Ossuary, stands by his original claim despite the Israeli Antiquities Authority declaring the inscription a fake:

"You have a problem with the patina of the beginning of the inscription (James, son of Joseph)," Lemaire said. "There are two interpretations: either it was a fake, or it was the result of a cleaning."

The inscription cut through the ancient limestone box's patina, proving the writing was not ancient, the Antiquities Authority ruled. "The inscription appears new, written in modernity by someone attempting to reproduce ancient written characters," according to a summary panel released of its findings.

Lemaire believes that the first part of the inscription was cleaned by an antiquities dealer who was trying to improve the readability of the inscription. The second part of the inscription, "Brother of Jesus," would be more likely to be added later, but has a patina with no evidence of being cleaned, he said.

"They found traces of patina even in the first part," Lemaire said.

"The members of the committee, I know some of them," Lemaire said. "They are not specialized in inscriptions; when you read their report carefully, they disagree between themselves. Their conclusion is not clear; it's not justified. It could have been cleaned. They just mention that possibility, then they forget it."

And what might be their motivation?

Lemaire accuses the Antiquities Authority of not wanting to deal with the possibility that the inscription on the box is authentic.

"The problem is of identification; who is this man?" Lemaire said. "Very probably, this was the James that was the brother of Jesus. For them, the best way to get rid of this problem of identification is to tell that it is a fake."

Sounds plausible to me.