The Debate Continues

The two purported ancient inscriptions that have made headlines over the past year will be the focus of a scholarly panel discussion at the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), to be held this year in Atlanta. The session is organized by the Biblical Archaeology Society, the publisher of BAR. The details:

Inscriptions from the Antiquities Market: The James Ossuary Inscription and the Jehoash Inscription—Where Matters Stand

Sunday, November 23, 2003

9:00 am-11:30 am

Hilton Atlanta Hotel, Salon D

Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Society, presiding

I. Introduction Hershel Shanks, Biblical Archaeology Society (10 min)

II: Is the Jehoash Inscription a Forgery? (30 min)

Chaim (Harold R.) Cohen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev:

“Not Proven Philologically”

Edward L. Greenstein, Tel Aviv University:

“It’s a Forgery”

III. The James Ossuary Inscription (40 min)

André Lemaire, Sorbonne:

“Assessing the IAA Report on the Ossuary Inscription”

P. Kyle McCarter, The Johns Hopkins University:

“The James Ossuary Inscription and the Limits of Paleographic Science”