Scholar defends artifact's authenticity

TORONTO -- The French scholar who discovered the purported burial box of Jesus' brother, James, strongly defended the artifact's identification Sunday against skeptical points raised at a convention of religion scholars.

Despite the doubts, Andre Lemaire asserted that "myself, I have been very cautious. I say it is very probable."

The animated panel discussion, attended by 800 people, involved mainly crucial technical points such as grammar and the forms of handwriting in the inscription, which reads "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."

The words appear on a 1st century bone box known as an "ossuary," a form of Jewish burial that ended in A.D. 70. The New Testament identifies James as Jesus' brother and the leader of Jerusalem's early Christians.

If experts decide the inscription refers to Jesus of Nazareth rather than some other Jesus, and is not a forgery, the box would rank as a monumental archaeological discovery.

Since Lemaire reported the box's existence last month in Biblical Archaeology Review magazine, some have suggested the Jesus phrase could have been added by a forger, more likely in ancient than in modern times.

Some scientific questions about the box, on display at the Royal Ontario Museum through Dec. 29, may be clarified when the Israel Antiquities Authority conducts further examination.

Two specialists with Israel's Geological Survey have certified that the surface patina indicates all the letters were inscribed in ancient times with no sign they were tampered with.

Eric Meyers of Duke University, who got his first look at the box last week, told the meeting he has "serious questions about authenticity" and urged caution, among other reasons because the "brother of Jesus" phrase could have been added.

Due to the claimed link to Jesus, the artifact has been valued at $1 million to $2 million, Meyers said.

University of Toronto archaeologist Peter Richardson told a separate panel at the Ontario museum that the inscription shows two different writing styles, but the "character of the letters changes gradually" from one end to the other, making forgery less likely.

But Kyle McCarter of Johns Hopkins University responded that the existence of two writing styles "suggests the possibility of a second hand."

Lemaire said the more fundamental question is whether the inscription refers to the biblical James. On that, he estimated that in 1st century Jerusalem only 20 males named James might have had a father named Joseph and a brother named Jesus.

He reached his "very probable" identification because it was extremely rare to name a brother, so this particular Jesus must have stood out.

John Painter, an Australian historian who has written on James, questioned the statistical basis for Lemaire's estimate.

But Oded Golan, the Israeli collector who owns the box, told the museum session that Tel Aviv University statistician Camil Fuchs has narrowed the odds to three people or, by less cautious reckoning, "down to almost one person of the period."

He said Fuchs' calculations, not yet published, eliminate Jerusalem's non-Jews, children, the 85 percent who were illiterate and the 50 percent who could not afford ossuary burial.

Fuchs' conclusion would cover a span of 90 years. But the museum's display says the letter shapes narrow the time of the inscription to roughly A.D. 50-70. Josephus, the most important Jewish historian in the 1st century, recorded that James was executed as a heretic in A.D. 62.

Hershel Shanks, editor of the archaeology magazine, who is co-authoring a book and advising a television documentary about the box, said of all the questions being posed, "There's a kind of resistance. We don't want to believe it."

The annual convention of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature, two major associations of North American religion scholars, continues through Tuesday.

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On the Net:

Biblical Archaeology Review article -- http://www.bib-arch.org