Editing Jehoash Inscription (section)

==Text of the inscription==

===The tablet===

{{verse translation|italicsoff=y|lang=hbo|rtl1=y|attr1=Original Hebrew text<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.orientalisti.net/contributipubblicazioni/ioash |title=The So-Called 'Jehoash Inscription' |publisher=Associazione Orientalisti |date=February 28, 2010 |access-date=September 16, 2012 |author=Regalzi, Giuseppe |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120721203614/http://www.orientalisti.net/contributipubblicazioni/ioash |archive-date=July 21, 2012 }}</ref>|[אנכי · יהואש · בן · א]
חזיהו . מ[
הדה . ואעש . את . הב[...]
ה . כאשר . נמלאה . נד
בת . לב אש . בארץ . ובמד
בר . ובכל . ערי . יהדה . ל
תת · כסף · הקדשם · לרב · 
לקנת · אבן · מחצב · ובר 
שם . ונחשת . אדמ . לעשת .
במלאכה . באמנה . ואעש
את . בדק . הבית . והקרת ס
בב . ואת . היצע . והשבכ
ם . והלולם . והגרעת . וה
דלתת . והיה . הים . הזה
לעדת . כי . תצלח . המלאכה
יצו . יהוה . את . עמו . בברכה
|[I am Jehoash, son of A-]
-haziah, k[ing of Ju-]
dah, and I performed the work on th[is ho]us-
e. When men's gener-
osity was full in the land and in the wilder-
ness, and in all the cities of Judah, to
give money as sacred donations abundantly,
to buy stone and juniper
wood and Edomite copper, performing
the work in good faith–then I ma-
de the repair of the Temple, and of the encircling wa-
lls, and the storied structure, and the lattice- 
s, and the spiral stairs, and the re-
cesses, and the doors. And this day will become
a testimony that the work will prosper.
May Yahweh ordain His people with blessing.
|attr2=English translation<ref>{{cite news|last=Shanks|first=Hershel|author-link=Hershel Shanks|title=What About the Jehoash Inscription?|work=[[Biblical Archaeology Review]] |url=https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/what-about-the-jehoash-inscription/|access-date=2023-10-09}}</ref>}}
{{Clear}}

===Police investigation===
Israeli magazine {{transliteration|he|[[Maariv]]}} correspondent [[Boaz Gaon]] reported that the Israel Antiquities Authority Theft Unit had focused their attention on the "Jehoash Inscription" as expensive bait to defraud a prominent collector in London. Israeli investigators linked a phony [[business card]] and a phone number to a Tel Aviv private eye who admitted that his employer was [[Oded Golan]], the collector who owned the [[James Ossuary]] (another artifact of uncertain authenticity). Golan denied that he was the owner of the stone and claimed that the real owner was a Palestinian antiquities dealer who lived in an area under [[Palestinian Authority]] and could not be identified.

A March 19, 2003, article in {{transliteration|he|Maariv}} reported that a court had issued a [[search warrant]] for Golan's apartment, office and rented warehouse. The search brought forth allegedly incriminating documents and photographs of Golan beside the Jehoash Inscription. Under interrogation, Golan promised to reveal the location of the stone in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Police then conducted a new search in a storage space that Golan had rented in [[Ramat Gan]] but had not originally disclosed to them. There the police found scores of artifacts, ancient seals and other inscriptions in various stages of production along with the tools to create the imitations. Under harsh questioning, Golan admitted that he knew about the Jehoash Inscription and promised to hand it over.

On March 14, 2012 Jerusalem Judge Aharon Farkash stated "that there is no evidence that any of the major artifacts were forged, and that the prosecution failed to prove their accusations beyond a reasonable doubt."<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/breaking-news-golan-and-deutsch-acquitted-of-all-forgery-charges/ |title = Breaking News: Golan and Deutsch Acquitted of All Forgery Charges|date = 2012-03-14}}</ref> However, the court also ruled that it was unable to conclude that the Jehoash Inscription was authentic and noted that an associate of the accused forgers had confessed to aiding in its fabrication.<ref>Reuters [https://web.archive.org/web/20130525065440/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-203670403.html Antiquities dealer acquitted of forging inscription on burial box of Jesus's brother] ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' March 15, 2012. [[HighBeam Research]] accessed May 9, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=261846 Mixed ruling on major antiquities forgery case] ''The Jerusalem Post'' March 14, 2012. accessed August 31, 2012</ref>

===Israel Antiquities Authority commission===
[[Limor Livnat]], Israeli Minister of Culture, appointed a scientific commission to study the Jehoash tablet, as well as the [[James Ossuary]].

The commission concluded that various mistakes in the spelling and the mixture of different alphabets indicated that this was a modern forgery. The stone was typical of western [[Cyprus]] and areas further west. Patina over the chiseled letters was different from that of the back of the stone and could easily be wiped off the stone by hand. In a press conference in Jerusalem on June 18, 2003 the Israel Antiquities Authority commission declared the inscription a modern forgery.