James ossuary part of Israeli fraud charges

Last Updated: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 | 12:17 PM ET

CBC Arts

Israeli authorities charged four antique dealers and collectors Wednesday with running a forgery ring that created fake biblical artifacts, including the so-called James ossuary exhibited at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum in 2002.

The limestone burial box, which purportedly held the remains of James, Jesus' brother, was among a number of items listed as forgeries. The 27-page indictment also singled out an ivory pomegranate touted as the only existing relic from King Solomon's temple.

"During the last 20 years, many archeological items were sold, or an attempt was made to sell them, in Israel and in the world," read the indictment. "These items, many of them of great scientific, religious, sentimental, political and economic value, were created specifically with intent to defraud."

The Israel Museum removed the ivory pomegranate, touted as the only existing relic from Solomon's temple, from public exhibition last week (CP file photo).

Police indicted Oded Golan and three dealers – Robert Deutsch, Shlomo Cohen and Faiz al-Amaleh – on 18 counts, including forgery, receiving fraudulent goods and damaging antiquities.

The authorities believe that the members of the forgery ring took genuine artifacts and altered them, adding inscriptions and chemically aging the pieces in order to inflate their value.

"We only discovered the tip of the iceberg. This spans the globe. It generated millions of dollars," Shuka Dorfman, head of Israel Antiquities Authority, told the Associated Press.

In 2003, the Israel Antiquities Authority declared the ossuary a fake (CBC file photo).

• RELATED STORY: James ossuary a fake, experts declare

In fall 2002, the stone box was damaged and left with a crack during its trip to Toronto from Tel Aviv. As museum officials repaired the crack, they were able to examine the ossuary more carefully and discovered ancient fossils of roots in the stone.

About eight months later, Dorfman announced that though he believed the limestone ossuary truly dated from ancient times, the inscription that labelled it as the tomb of Jesus' brother had been forged.

Also, the Israel Museum announced last Friday that it believed the ivory pomegranate in its collection to be a forgery.

• RELATED STORY: Relic from Solomon's temple fake: Israeli museum

In a statement, Golan denied the accusations as a campaign of lies spread by the local archeological community to destroy the antiquities trade and said his name would be cleared in court.

"There is not one grain of truth in the fantastic allegations related to me," he said.