The Storm over the Bone Box

On June 18, 2003, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) held a news conference at which it announced its conclusion that two inscriptions that have recently surfaced on the antiquities market are forgeries—the ossuary inscribed “James, the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus” and the so-called Jehoash (also spelled Yehoash) inscription describing repairs to the Temple by the Judahite king Jehoash in the ninth century B.C.E., as described in 2 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 24.

Both inscriptions had been previously discussed in BAR.