Life and Land

By Gordon Franz and Stephanie Hernandez

A self-proclaimed “Jerusalemite”, Amnon Ben-Tor was born, raised, educated and lives in Jerusalem.  With an MA (1961) and a PhD (1968) from Hebrew University, much of Dr. Ben-Tor’s archaeological focus has been on Hazor and Masada.  Besides these two sites, Amnon has directed excavations at Azor, Tel Yarmuth, Tel Yokneam,  Tel Qashish, Tel Qiri and Athienou (Cyprus).  He was educated under Professor Yigael Yadin and has numerous publications to his credit.  He has written extensively on Tel Hazor and has a soon to be released book on Masada.

This interview was conducted at Hazor in July, 2008.

Gordon Franz: It has been said that Hazor is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Land of Israel.  Why is it so important?

Amnon Ben-Tor: It is the most important for various reasons.  One is because it says so in the Bible!  To quote a few passages for you: the book of Joshua states that Hazor is the “head of all those kingdoms” (11:10).  So one, the Bible recognized that Hazor was the number one Canaanite city.  The king of Hazor, in the book of Judges, is also the king of Canaan.  Jabin lives in Hazor, but he is the king of Canaan (4:2, 23, 24).  So again, Hazor is number one.  In the conquest of the Land, the decisive battle was fought at Hazor (Jos 11:1-15).  After Hazor was conquered the land was open for the Israelites to settle, from Mount Hermon all the way down to the Aravah (Jos 11:16-12:24).  The beginning of the end of the Israelite kingdom is also connected with Hazor:  In 732 BC the Assyrians take Hazor along with most of the Galilee all the way down to Megiddo (2 Kgs 15:29).  Ten years later, Samaria falls and that’s the end of the Kingdom of Israel.  So, if you look at it from this perspective, Hazor is number one in the Bible.  But this is not enough.

Number two: If you look at historical records, Hazor is the only site in the country that is mentioned in about twenty documents found in the archive at Mari.  From these documents, we learn that Babylonian ambassadors were living in Hazor and caravans were coming and going.  Hazor is the only one mentioned: not Dan, not Megiddo, not Lachish, not Jerusalem.  No other site, just Hazor.

If you go to the Late Bronze Age, the 14th century BC, there is the Amarna archive.  The king of Hazor is the only one that has the title “king” in all the correspondences.  Not only does he refer to himself as king, but also others.  Some of them are his rivals, but still they refer to him as king.  The king of Tyre writes to Pharaoh, “the king of Hazor has done so and so”.  Number two: the historical records.

Number three: the archaeological record.  Canaanite Hazor is the biggest site in the country, covering some 200 acres with a population between 15,000 and 20,000 people.  So I am talking about something like New York or Paris of today.  It was a huge site.

Further are the finds.  We have exquisite finds.  I know everybody comes and talks about the archives, which will be found in time.  But by now we already have more documents than any other site in the country.  Other than this, we have magnificent finds.  Unlike any other site, archaeology shows us that Canaanite Hazor was number one.  Then, when Canaanite Hazor was destroyed, it was no longer number one in this sense.  Israelite Hazor was much, much smaller, confined only to the acropolis, with a population of between 1,000 and 1,500 people.  Then Jerusalem is number one, and Samaria is number two.  Then we have Dan, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Lachish, and Beer Sheva.  These are important cities.

Hazor is number one even now from another point of view.  This again has to do with the Bible and the value of Biblical historiography.  Does the Bible reflect historical reality?  Is the Bible only theology?  Or is it only fantasy?  Hazor was continuously occupied from around 950 BC to around 732 BC, and we have more strata from this time frame than any other site in the country.  We have a very dense stratigraphy.  So if you talk about the problem of the conquest of the land, of Joshua if you wish: Hazor.  The period of the Judges: Hazor.  The United Monarchy, say Solomon: Hazor.  Ahab: Hazor.  Jeroboam II: Hazor.  Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria: Hazor.  So you can walk with the Bible in one hand, and – at the same time looking at the relics.  I don’t say that you have to accept everything, but the argument or the discussion should be held, could be held, can be held, here at Hazor.

Gordon: You had the privilege of working closely with Professor Yigael Yadin.  Please tell us something about Yadin the person.  What was he like?  What made him tick?

Amnon: Yadin was a great man.  You don’t get to meet many great men, maybe one in your lifetime.  There are only three peaks anyone can reach: in the military, in politics and in culture.  In the military, Yadin was the Chief of Staff.  The politicians asked him, as a military authority in his twenties, if he thought we could withstand the invasion of Arab armies, certain to happen once a state was declared, and he said “yes.”  He took upon himself, at that young age a tremendous responsibility!  This is something.  He became Chief of Staff after the war.  So that’s one peak.
Second, in the 50’s and 60’s, if you ask anyone which figure they think about in terms of Israeli culture, it would be Yadin.  Yadin was Masada.  Yadin was Hazor.  Yadin was the “Dead Sea Scrolls.”
Number three is politics, where he became Deputy Prime Minister, although I advised him not to get involved in politics.  Tell me, how many people do you know who became Chief of Staff, Deputy Prime Minister, and such an important person in the history of the country?  This was Yadin.

So he was a great person.  He was the best lecturer.  He could fill halls with thousands of people.  He was very quick.  Whenever something came up, he was the one who could point out where the weak spot was and the good arguments.  He was a great man.

Gordon: What influence did Yadin have in getting you involved in archaeology in general and Hazor in particular?

Amnon: First of all, he was my teacher, and he was the best of my teachers.  Second, he gave me my first job which I had in archaeology.  He wrote the book, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Times which was one of the first books on the subject in this part of the world.  It appeared in 1963.  He gave me the job to collect the bibliography, the pictures, this and that.  I worked for him by the hour and this was the first job in archaeology that I had.

Third, field work:  In 1958 I was working here at Hazor.  My first real excavation was here under Ruth Amiran, but Yadin was the head of the excavations.  Then, he invited me to join him in the excavation of Masada, where I spent the best three years of my life, ever.  So this was Masada.  Then I went with him in 1968 to excavate Hazor again.
Yadin was a very important figure in archaeology.  When he died [June 28, 1984], he named three people to be in charge of his scientific legacy because there were so much of his publications that he didn’t have time to finish because of his involvement in the Agranat Commission after the Yom Kippur War, his involvement in politics and eventually the government.  So a lot was left undone.  He named Joseph Aviram – the head of the Israel Exploration Society, Professor Nahman Avigad of the Hebrew University and me to publish his scientific material.  I was to do Hazor.  So again, I came back to Hazor through Yadin’s legacy.  I worked on the publication of the volumes of Hazor III and IV, and also Hazor V.  It was during that time that I decided to come back to Hazor.  So you see Yadin is the pivot of everything that I am doing.

Gordon:  When Yadin died in 1984 he had plans to return to Hazor and continue his excavations.  Why did he want to return?

Amnon: He had a very, very specific goal in mind.  In 1958, a corner of a huge building was discovered in Area A.  Yadin was convinced that this was the corner of the palace of Jabin, the king of Hazor, who was known from the Mari archive as Ibni-Addu.  He was sure that in this building the archive of Hazor would be found.  This was his main goal.  He wanted to come back and look for the archive.  There were other things, but his main goal was this.  But he died, and he did not have time to come back.  I came back instead.

Gordon: You returned to Hazor in 1990.  Why did you return and what were your objectives for the renewed excavations?  What questions did you want to answer?

Amnon: I had three objectives: first – to deal with the issues that were controversial.  For example, the date of the six-chambered gate found at Hazor in the 50’s.  Hazor is where the “dogma” of the archaeology of the United Monarchy was formulated.  The six-chambered gate and the casemate wall were dated by Yadin’s expedition to the time of Solomon.  The Biblical passage (I Kings 9:15) attributes the construction of Hazor and Gezer to King Solomon, all of this drew a lot of fire on the one hand and a lot of support on the other.  The focus of the debate was over the date of the gate.  So one objective was to return and excavate and deal with these issues.
Second was to deal with issues that where left unresolved by the previous excavations.  For example, what is the date of the construction of the Lower City?  When did it become a real city in the Middle Bronze Age?  It was a controversial issue.  Another issue was the question of who destroyed Hazor and when.  Yadin thought he knew.  He had the date and he had the culprit, so to speak.  But it was, and still is, a controversial issue.  He did not have enough data, so the idea was to find the evidence.  We also hope to find the archive.  Yadin did not find it.  Maybe we can find it.  So maybe the palace, or what Yadin thought was the palace, is where the archive will be found.  So let’s excavate this particular palace.  So this was the second reason.
The third reason I returned to Hazor is that Hazor is the most important Biblical site.  Unfortunately not too many people come to visit the site for a number of reasons.  It is far away, it has no water, it has no shop, and it has no restaurant.  So people don’t come and tour guides don’t take people to Hazor.  They would rather take them to nearby Tel Dan where there is water and a restaurant.  We have other problems.  We have no real interest for Christians who are interested in the New Testament.  The only large groups of Christian visitors are the Koreans who are interested in the Old Testament.  They realize that Hazor is the place to be.  So I think it is important to make Hazor attractive to people.  If we can restore the place so that it “speaks” to the common person, not only to the archaeologists, I think we are doing something very important.  So we restore, we invest millions of shekels for reconstruction to put Hazor on the map.  I think it has helped.  We are already a World Heritage site on UNESCO’s list.  Unfortunately not too many school children come, but the number of tourists is rising.  There is a lot of work to be done with the teachers, with the ministry of education.  I have tried to work with three of them already, but so far, no success.  Let’s see what is going to happen in the future.

Gordon: What are the most important discoveries you have made at Hazor?

Amnon: This is more or less like asking which of your children you love the most!  It’s very difficult, you know.  The results are cumulative.  It is not one thing, but it’s this and this and the other.  So if we are talking about the Iron Age it is the excavation that we did next to the casemate wall in order to determine the date of the entire system, which we managed to place in the 10th century BC.  I think it is very, very important.  Almost everything we are finding contributes to the general picture.
When you come to the Bronze Age it is the palace, no question about it.  The documents that we find are important as well.  The latest one that we found is the first time that Mari is mentioned in a document found at Hazor.  So far we only had Hazor mentioned on tablets found in Mari.  Now we have them both ways.  So it is this and that and the other.  All of this contributes to the picture.
Not the least, I found my wife at Hazor.  She was a student.  We get first year students here for three weeks, to train them in field archaeology.  She was one of them and here is where I found her some 40 years ago.  So that was another important find …

Gordon: Are you still happily married?

Amnon: Yes, I am.  And we are talking now about 40 years.

Gordon: How does one go about volunteering for the excavations at Hazor?

Amnon: Sometimes you get the most interesting people coming to Hazor.  Including this season, we have had people from more than 27 different countries participate in the excavation.  Some of them you would never think about.  We had someone from Tasmania, the island south of Australia.  All kinds of strange / exotic countries with very, very interesting people.  Number one, we have a website.
http://micro5.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/hazor.html
Number two: the January / February issue of Biblical Archaeology Review lists the sites that are excavating that summer.  We are listed there.  Number three and I think number three is the best:  It is when a friend brings a friend, brings a friend, and brings a friend.  We have people who come every year and they bring their own friends.  We have some people that are with us for fifteen seasons.  We have a woman from Sweden who has been with us for nineteen seasons.  We have a volunteer from Spain who came to Hazor 18 years ago, stayed in the country, married a local girl and is now a member of the Hazor excavations staff!  So it is by word of mouth, it is by the website.  We have groups and we have individuals.  We had the ABR group that was with us three times.  We have groups from different universities; we have our own Hebrew University students.  We have individuals from here, there and everywhere.

Gordon:  You recently retired from active teaching at Hebrew University.  What do you hope to accomplish in your retirement?

Amnon: It’s a cliché.  I’ve heard many people say it but I’ve never believed it but it is true.  I don’t have time to do anything!  I don’t know how I found time to teach.  There is so much to do.  Hazor takes up most of my time.
I just finished writing a book on Masada which will appear very soon, both in Hebrew and in English.  This takes up a lot of my time.  It’s finished, it’s done.  Now we are putting in the pictures, the captions, all this technical work.  By the end of the year I hope it will appear, but we’ll see.  You never know how long it will take in the press.
We are now busy writing the final report on the results of the Hazor excavations 1990-2008: two teams are working simultaneously on two volumes: one on the Iron Age, the other on the Bronze Age.  There are so many things I want to do.  I want to write a popular book about Hazor.  There’s no end.  There is no time to do anything.  I want to study more about Jerusalem.  I want to improve two languages, Spanish and French.  No time, no time.

Gordon: Amnon, thank you for your time, I appreciate it.  I wish you all the best in the seasons to come.  I hope you find the archive sooner, rather than later.  And I hope I will be there with you when you find it.  All the best.

For further information concerning the Hazor Excavations, please visit their website:

http://micro5.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/hazor.html

By Gordon Franz and Stephanie Hernandez

Born, raised and educated in Jerusalem, archaeologist Sharon Zuckerman has been excavating at Tel Hazor since 1990.  Along with being the Area M supervisor, Dr. Zuckerman teaches archaeology at Hebrew University.  Her doctoral dissertation was on “The Kingdom of Hazor in the Late Bronze Age – Chronological and Regional Aspects of the Material Culture of Hazor and its Settlements.”

This interview was conducted at Kibbutz Mahaniam in July 2008.

Gordon Franz: The last three years the Hazor Excavation has concentrated on Area M.  First, how did this area become known as Area M?  Second, what were Yigael Yadin’s objectives in opening up this area?

Sharon Zuckerman: The origin of the name for Area M comes from the first excavation on the northern side of the tel in 1968 by Yadin’s team.  Legend says it’s called Area M because the area supervisor was named Malka Hershkovich.  So this is why the area is called Area M.  I still do not know if this is the real reason.  The objectives of Yadin were to trace the line of the casemate wall going from the six-chambered gate all the way to the northern slope of the tel and see if the wall encircled the entire tel or only part of it.  He found in Area M that the casemate wall only encircled half of the tel.  What he did find is that the 9th century solid wall, shows that the city was enlarged.  The new wall, a solid wall, that intersects the offset wall, was built to encompass the whole surface of the tel.  So the city of the 9th century, which Yadin concluded was at least twice as large as the 10th century.

Gordon: You began to excavate just east of Yadin’s area in 1990.  Why did you open up this area and what were your objectives?

Sharon: The first reason to open the area was to check Yadin’s conclusions.  We wanted to open an area a little to the east of his area M and to try to see if his conclusions regarding the 10th century, the 9th century and even the 8th century, are still valid.  Another goal, which might be even more important, is the fact that exactly at this point there was a flat area half way up the slope of the tel and we assumed that this was due to some type of man-made architectural feature that was built there.  This is exactly the point where we would expect to find a connection point in between the lower and upper cities during the Late and Middle Bronze Age.  We expected to see a very large staircase or some type of gate or something like that.  This is why we opened the section on the northern slopes at exactly this point.

Gordon: What did you find in Area M that was significant?

Sharon: Well, first of all we have full and interesting stratigraphy of the Iron Age, ending in the last destruction of Hazor in 732 BC by Tiglath-Pileser III.  This is one of the few places where we have the destruction layer on or within buildings of the 8th century.  We have several phases of domestic buildings of the 8th century down to the beginning of the period.  Underneath we have a public area of the 9th century, which hints that Hazor was a very important administrative center at this time.  Below that is the Late Bronze Age, which is a very interesting complex which we assume was a part of the upper acropolis during the Late Bronze Age.  There was no 10th century and apparently no 11th century levels.  This is interesting.  No settlement period or remains in this area.

Gordon: Area M was the basis for your doctoral dissertation at Hebrew University.  What were your conclusions?

Sharon: My conclusions were that this same complex that we are talking about might be interpreted as a palace, similar in plan and other architectural features to other palaces that we know at this time at other Canaanite sites, for example, Ugarit and Megiddo.  I assume that the destruction of this area is probably earlier than Yadin assumed, sometime during the beginning of the 13th century rather than towards its end.  So in a sense, these were the two major conclusions.

Gordon: These are important conclusions.  When and where will this material be published so the scholarly community can interact with it?

Sharon: Soon, as soon as possible!  But these conclusions will probably be incorporated into the report of Hazor which is currently in the process of being published.  I did publish several articles in English, in The Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology (2007), Levant and The Journal of Near Eastern Studies (forthcoming).

Gordon: When Dr. Ben-Tor gives lectures on Hazor, inevitably the question is asked, “Have you found the archive yet?”  Why do you think the archive is in Area M?

Sharon: If my assumption is correct and we are digging the residential palace of Late Bronze Hazor, then this is the most logical and natural place to find the archive from the Amarna Period, which is the period that we are dating it to.  So usually we find archives in the ancient periods in palatial buildings, in palaces, or sometimes in temples.  This is also a possibility.  Also, sometimes in residential houses of influential people, like traders, people like that.  But we have excavated a large building on the acropolis.  We know that there were cuneiform tablets that attest to the existence of an archive.  But no archive was found there and no archive will be found there because we have excavated the entire building.  So it must be somewhere and I believe this somewhere is in the palatial building on the northern slope of the tel (2006:28-37).

Gordon: How many more seasons do you think it will take to get down to the Late Bronze Age?

Sharon: I would assume between three and five years, three to five seasons from today (July 2008).

Gordon: Sharon, it has been my privilege to work with you the past three seasons in Area M at Hazor.  It has been a pleasure working with you because you are an excellent area supervisor.  You lead by example: you are in the bucket chains, you are pushing wheelbarrows, and you are teaching the volunteers proper archaeological techniques and are ever so patient in pottery reading for those who do not grasp the fine distinction between a krater, storage jar, a bowl or a juglet.  Thank you for your patience and for leading by example.  I wish you all the best in the future seasons and am looking forward to working with you until the Late Bronze Age!

Sharon: Thank you, thank you very much.

Bibliography

Zuckerman, Sharon
2006    Where is the Hazor Archive Buried?  Biblical Archaeology Review 32/2: 28-37.

2007    Anatomy of a Destruction: Crisis Architecture, Termination Rituals and the Fall of Canaanite Hazor.  Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 20/1: 3-32.

2008    Fit for a (not-quite-so-great) King: A Faience Lion-Headed Cup from Hazor.  Levant 40/1: 115-125.

For further information concerning the Hazor Excavations, please visit their website:

http://micro5.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/hazor.html

By Stephanie Hernandez and Gordon Franz

Introduction

Born and raised in the Upper Galilee, conservator Orna Cohen has had an accomplished career.  Currently restoring the Late Bronze Age palace at Tel Hazor, Cohen has used her expertise on the ancient Galilee boat and has given her expert opinion to the Israel Antiquities Authority regarding the James Ossuary.  Educated at Hebrew university and the London University – Institute of Archaeology, Cohen is also responsible for cleaning artifacts found at the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

This interview was conducted at the “ceremonial palace” at Hazor.  For a more technical account of the excavation of the palace, see Ben-Tor and Rubiato 1999:22-39.

Stephanie Hernandez: Why is it important for archaeologists to restore the structures that they have excavated?

Orna Cohen: It’s very simple.  As with a modern or new building, you have to take care of it.  Just think of a building that’s been covered for thousands of years.  After you have excavated it, there are a lot of unstable structures that you have to stabilize.  There are elements like broken stones and things that you have to fix.  Also, not just stability, but you also have to show it to the public, to visitors.  You have to share it with others and restore it in such a way that visitors can understand the structures that were uncovered during excavation.

Stephanie: What is a conservator?  How does one learn to be a conservator?  What kind of education do you need?

Orna: It is the best job in the world!  It is the most interesting thing.  The archaeologists are excavating and dealing with all the stuff, with pottery, but the interesting thing, the sugar / cherry on the cake that I have to deal with, are the small finds.  I have to prepare them for exhibition, or publication.  If it is the structure on the site, it is the most fascinating and challenging part of the excavation.  I feel very lucky to have an opportunity to do this thing.  Basically I started as an archaeologist.  I studied archaeology, then I studied chemistry and then there are special courses on conservation.  But still you need a lot of experience to be a good conservator, to understand the value, the meaning, and the rules.  It means a longer period of experience and education.  I went to Hebrew University in Jerusalem, but when I decided to specialize in conservation I had to go and study in England at the London University – Institute of Archaeology and then some courses in Norway and Italy.

Stephanie: You have almost single-handedly, along with Ina from Sweden, restored the “ceremonial palace” near the top of the acropolis of Hazor.  Please tell us about the excavation of this structure, the objects found in the excavations and the burn layer of the violent conflagration that brought the palace to its end.

Orna: I was lucky to start working on this project when they started digging the main hall of the palace.  So they called me when they found a few broken statues and it was the most exciting excavation I have ever visited and took part in.  It was amazing.  They excavated a layer of about one meter of thick ash all burned.  The people used to come out like a coal miner at the end of the day.  They were dark, but with big smiles on their faces because they were so happy to take part in this experience.  Every minute someone would find something, a seal, a big statue, fragments of pottery, of course cuneiform tablets.  It is the most rich excavation.  So it was very exciting.  Of course later I had to treat all the objects for publication so I twice had the pleasure of dealing with these objects.  But the excavation itself was amazing.  Everyone was very excited.  It was a sure thing you’d find many figurines.  On the corner of the treasure room were two beautiful bronze statues that were buried so they were intact.  The other statues, the large stone ones, were mutilated.  Whoever burned down the palace cut off the heads and hands of the statues.  Early on, it was a really special experience, very exciting.

Stephanie: How intense was the fire?  How do you know this?

Orna: The temperature reached at least 1300 degrees centigrade (2350 degrees Fahrenheit), which is huge.  But just imagine, it melted pottery and some of the mud brick, so they ran like water. You can see this material running on the walls.  For this kind of fire you need a lot of organic materials.  We know there was a lot of wood in this palace, all cedars of Lebanon, according to the charcoal that was tested.  But it is a huge room.  We have not found remains of any pillars that supported the roof.  You need a lot of large beams of cedar to roof it.  Also, there was wood combined in the walls, and of course, the very rare and unique find of the wooden floor.  These are all charcoal remains that we are talking about.  All these helped to accumulate this one meter thick layer of ash which is very rare.  The most you see on an excavation is one or two centimeters.  One meter is very unusual.  There was no need to bring in wood from the outside for this fire.  There was enough organic material.  Beside that, all the large pottery jars in the area also contained organic material, probably oils, which are expected in such a place.  Altogether, with the strong wind that we have here in the afternoon can bring the fire to this degree.  That’s what cracked all the stone panels at the bottom of the walls.  The orthostates were all cracked and crushed because of the fire.  Also, it caused me a lot of work to puzzle and glue them together!

Stephanie: Who burned the place?

Orna: We can not tell exactly.  But the only historical evidence is from the Bible that tells about how Joshua conquered Hazor and since the king of Hazor organized all the cities against the Israelites, they gave the order to burn it down to ashes (Jos 11:11).  Here we see it, is it this story or not, we don’t know.

Gordon Franz: Permit me to change the subject.  You have made some excellent replicas of objects that have been found at Hazor for various museums.  How easy, or hard is it to make a replica?  What is the process?

Orna: It depends on what the object is.  Today there are excellent materials for making replicas.  If you know how to do it right, it is a lot of work, but you can get beautiful replicas that almost look the same.  As a professional who does it for museums, I always make sure I made a difference and mark down that it’s a replica, so we won’t find it on the market later in Jerusalem (which already happened once!).  I did some kind of bronze keys from the Second Temple period and I saw them later on the market.  They were sold to the Tower of David.  So I have to be very careful.  I label them as replicas.  It’s something I make and it is difficult to see but I mark them as replicas.  If it’s the same material I always put “R” or replica somewhere on it.

Gordon: Could someone make a fake archaeological artifact and sell it on the antiquities market?

Orna: It’s been done for many years.  We have heard stories about that.  It is possible, but to do it you have to know what you want, but today it is all possible.  There are the materials and there is information that you can find everywhere.  It’s possible and it happens.  Some of it is good, so people should not buy antiquities on the free market.  There is no need to deal with antiquities.  I think today if you want to show antiquities you can show beautiful professional replicas in museums.  If you want to make your own collection, make a collection of replicas because collecting antiquities means you are sending someone to rob them, to steal them, to destroy knowledge from archaeological sites.  So we are against all these fakes and I wish people would stop buying them and start going to replicas.  I only do replicas for museums, not for the open market.

Gordon: How easy is it to fake patina?

Orna: It is possible, but it is not easy to fake patina.  You need the knowledge, but it has been done.  There is research going on about it for historical buildings.  For instance when you are renewing part of a building you want to repeat the patina, so there is research about these things.  I had the pleasure of looking at and checking the James Ossuary and I gave my comments on it.  I think the ossuary is authentic and a real one, but the inscription on it, I am convinced there are two hands that wrote the inscription.  To my opinion, part of the inscription is faked, part is original.  Of course, there are things that go on in trial now.  They are still trying to figure out what is faked and by whom it was made.  To my opinion, the name Joshua [on the ossuary] is real.  The inscription reads: “Ya’acov bar Yosef achi Yehoshua.”  [Translation: Jacob, or James, the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus].  So the first part, I think is added.  My professional opinion is almost against all the others that think the last name [on the inscription]; “brother of Jesus” (Joshua) is a fake.  So my opinion was against the others [at the trial].  I checked and it’s according to the patina in the letters.  There was a fake patina of just dirt that was put in these letters on purpose so I cleaned part of it and underneath there was the original, yellowish patina that based on my experience, was the original one.  It was not on the first part of the inscription but it was on the last part of the inscription.  That is what I gave as my opinion.

Gordon: How prevalent are fakes on the antiquities market today and can a discerning eye spot one?

Orna: I do not deal with the market much.  I do not go into these stores of course.  But from time to time, I have been asked [about possible fakes].  Working in the Bible Lands Museum I saw many fakes that these expert people bought.  There are fakes and you can fool the experts for a while.  But eventually people figure it out with the new ways of testing and inspecting of things like that.  I think all the fakes are coming out as fakes.  So it is better not to buy from the market in my opinion.

Stephanie: Thank you for your time.

Orna: Thank you.

Bibliography

Ben-Tor, Amnon; and Rubiato, Maria Teresa
1999    Excavating Hazor.  Did the Israelites Destroy the Canaanite City?  Biblical Archaeology Review 25/3: 22-39.

For further information concerning the Hazor Excavations, please visit their website:

http://micro5.mscc.huji.ac.il/~hatsor/hazor.html