Excerpt #36 from my book, Religion, An Obstacle to Human Progress
In an Associated Press article, it was reported that an inscription that purportedly links an ancient burial chest to Jesus’ brother is a forgery, Israel said, dashing excitement about an artifact that had been touted as one of the greatest archeological finds of modern times.
The beige box caused a stir when it was discovered in October 2002 because some said the inscription on it, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” was a physical connection between the modern world and the Bible.
Israel’s Antiquities Authority said that the 20-by-11-inch buria container was indeed ancient, but the inscription wasn’t.
The telltale sign, it said, was that the letters cut through the patina, a thin coating acquired with age.
“The inscription appears new, written in modernity by someone attempting to reproduce ancient written characters,” a statement from the authority said.
Professor Avigdor Horowitz, who served on one of the investigating committees, said not one of the inscribed passages on the tablet was without a mistake.
“The person who wrote the inscription was a person who thinks in modern Hebrew,” he told reporters in Jerusalem.
“A person thinking in biblical Hebrew would see it as ridiculous.”
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE DON’T KNOW UNTIL WE KNOW BETTER.
“During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. The Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after doing its duty in but a lazy and indolent way for 800 years, gathered up its halters, thumbscrews, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured, hanged and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or cry.” – Mark Twain