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I am at a loss to understand this one: Taylor Luck, 'Tests support 'Jordan texts' authenticity', The Jordan Times 15 June 2011. I simply do not accept that the tablets we have all seen photos of are not modern commercial fakes. Well, what are they "carbon dating"? The tablets are of metal. They were retrieved from the black market not a sealed archaeological context containing charcoal. What is the origin of the 14C samples received by the three external labs - is it properly documented? What have the Jordanians got - how do they know it is the same material as the "books" being touted by Hassan Saeda and author David Elkington? I suspect some kind of manipulation (or at best a mistake) is involved here - let us see the full documentation of the investigation. What have the Jordanians to gain by pursuing these artefacts with such stubbornness? Haven't they got any real antiquities to worry about? Ridiculous.
According to the Department of Antiquities (DoA), initial carbon tests to determine the authenticity of lead-sealed metal books billed as the greatest find in biblical archaeology since the Dead Sea scrolls have been “encouraging”.[...] The tests, carried out at the Royal Scientific Society labs, indicate that the texts may date back to the early first century AD [...] Efforts to repatriate the texts from Israel are pending the final results of the carbon dating, currently being carried out at the University of New Mexico, the Getty Conservation Institute and Sheffield University.
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4 comments:
Thankyou for keeping a careful eye on Mr Elkington and this silly silly nonsence!
You could, any way, make a forgery out of ancient lead. The bronze "codices" are clearly forgeries; the lead ones too. End of story !
Well, yes. But the news item actually refers specifically to radiocarbon dating which "authenticates" the examples the Jordanians have. This is why I said we need far more details before accepting what they are telling us.
Smacks of the "James ossuary" fiasco all over again!
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