World Famous Comics: Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land
Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land
By: Nina Burleigh Publisher: Collins Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Collins Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 288 Publication Date: November 01, 2008 Release Date: October 21, 2008
In 2002, an ancient limestone box called the James Ossuary was trumpeted on the world's front pages as the first material evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ. Today it is exhibit number one in a forgery trial involving millions of dollars worth of high-end, Biblical era relics, some of which literally re-wrote Near Eastern history and which could lead to the incarceration of some very wealthy men and embarrass major international institutions, including the British Museum and Sotheby's.
Set in Israel, with its 30,000 archaeological digs crammed with biblical-era artifacts, and full of colorful characters—scholars, evangelicals, detectives, and millionaire collectors—Unholy Business tells the incredibly story of what the Israeli authorities have called "the fraud of the century." It takes readers into the murky world of Holy Land relic dealing, from the back alleys of Jerusalem's Old City to New York's Fifth Avenue, and reveals biblical archaeology as it is pulled apart by religious believers on one side and scientists on the other.
Faith and Fakes I really want to give UNHOLY BUSINESS three and a half stars. Since Amazon won't let me do that and since I really did enjoy the book, I decided to round up to four. I found the book interesting and informative (and even enjoyable), but the writing is a little sloppy.
In UNHOLY BUSINESS, Nina Burleigh investigates the antiquities trade in Israel/Palestine. She explains the quasi-legal nature of the trade and introduces the reader to the various people involved: scholars, religious devotees, looters, dealers, buyers, and the Israeli authorities. While she paints a picture of the whole, her narrative focuses on one particular fraud case. For American readers, the "James Ossuary" is the most notable artifact involved in the case (though many others are under suspicion).
I found the book fast paced and extremely interesting (although I'm interested in the topic). Burleigh treats all the parties involved in a fair manner (perhaps excepting Herschel Shanks). She navigates the potentially volatile religious and political difficulties involved in the case well. She does a good job of not picking any sides in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict or in the differences between Jews, Christians, and Muslims (as well as the various sects within those communities).
Unfortunately, the prose seems a little rushed. The book contains a few sloppy typos and minor factual errors. Burleigh tends to repeat the same descriptions (sometimes word-for-word) of people and unfamiliar objects. She also has the somewhat annoying habit of introducing a person with his or her marital status. I suppose this tactic makes the people seem more "real," but by the end of the book it comes across as mechanical, like something they taught her in journalism class that she just can't stop doing.
But like I said, overall, I enjoyed the book.
"The Fraud of the Century?" UNHOLY BUSINESS: A True Tale of Faith, Greed & Forgery in the Holy Land by Nina Burleigh
There are two different types of people in the world, those who want to know, and those who want to believe.
--Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche
Quite possibly the James Ossuary had a bigger audience that first day at the Toronto Museum than Jesus himself on his triumphal return to Jerusalem for that long ago pass over. Ossuaries, stone boxes, were used to contain the bones of the Hebrew dead from about 30 C.E. to 70 C.E. Corpses were allowed a year in a cave or sepulcher to allow soft tissues to decay, then the bones placed in an ossuary for economy of storage space. This ossuary was touted as being that of Jesus' brother, James. The inscription on the side of the box reads, in Aramaic, "Ya'akov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua" ("James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"). If genuine, it would have been the only material relic from the time of Jesus that mentions him. (References to Jesus by Flavius Josephus, for instance, are known to be forgeries, written by Christian redactors around 400 A.D.) Carved of limestone, the James Ossuary arrived at the Canadian Museum on October 31 2002. It was packed "like a discount toaster oven" (131). Wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in a cardboard box, it was badly broken. It was also insured with Lloyds of London for a million dollars, leading Canadian authorities to suspect insurance fraud on the part of shipper, antiquities dealer Oded Golan. Emergency repairs were made, and the stone box went on display. The ossuary was on display from November 15, 2002 to January 5, 2003. "On the first day, ten thousand people filed past, some in silent prayer" (132). Yet even before the display began, experts knowledgeable in the field were denouncing the ossuary as a fraud. Epigrapher Rochelle Altman published a devastating critique, stating the first half of the inscription was in a different hand than of the last half and that "of" in "brother of" (Jesus) was in a form not used until the 9th century CE (132). Altman was not alone in her critique. Israeli Antiquities Authorities called it "the fraud of the century." It was one among many fakes passed off as archaeological finds with biblical ties. Since at least the mid eighteenth century, higher criticism has been applied to Bible texts. This involves comparison with known documents from biblical times, word frequency analysis and related techniques. The growth of scientific analysis often evoked dismaying results for true believers. Perhaps because of this, higher criticism has been paralleled by a curious determination among some people of faith to validate Bible stories through scientific investigation; paradoxical because they are people of faith, not of reason. Nina Burleigh traces the story of the James Ossuary and two other purported relics, the so called Jehoash tablet and an ivory pomegranate "from the Temple of Solomon" starting with their origin, eventual celebration and then dismissal as frauds. The manufacture of fake patinas proved to be remarkably creative. Archeologist/chemist Yuval Goren noted that, "The fake inscription of both the ossuary inscription and the Jehoash Tablet were similar. (It) appears to be an artificial mixture of feruginous clay powdered chalk, carbonized matter and particles of metal (gold?). It appears that this mixture was first dissolved in hot water before the inscribed surface was heated in an oven in order to solidify the inscription coating...." Goren characterized the mixture, whimsically enough, as, "James Bond" (185). Masada, the ancient desert fortress where legend has it the ancient Jewish garrison committed suicide rather than surrender to the Roman legions, is of importance to Israeli politics and national identity. It's alleged site was shown to be false, visiting an exceptionally vicious organized letter writing attack on youthful Barnard College Ph. D. candidate, American citizen Nadia Abu Al-Haj wh ose doctoral thesis presented evidence that the Masada story was false (148). Billionaire Shlmo Moussaieff, jeweler and collector of antiquities, had funded archeological digs, though his funding was contingent on the digs providing biblical results. "Among Holy Land diggers, there is a long and proud tradition of religious `Indiana Joneses' who leave the pastoral safety of their parsonages in rural Texas or Tennessee and, with wallets bulging from targeted colletions, head over to the Holy Land to do their own digging" (73). They discover such wonders as the Ark of the Covenant or the DNA of the red heifer used in ancienty Jewish sacrifices) with surprising regularity. Joe Zias, Israeli forensic pathologist and exposer of hoaxes. "Obsessed with ferreting out and exposing the myriad shady characters digging in the Holy Land whom he calls `Ark-eologists'" (75). Zias proved to be, "Eager to expose the 'moneymaking juggernaut'" of those who searched for antiquities (77). One such character called out by Zias is the late Ron Wyatt. Trained as a nurse, he was a self-anointed antiquities expert. The founder of Wyatt Archeological Research, he discovered not only the Ark of the Covenant, but the blood of Jesus (!). "Jesus' blood" exhibited only 24 chromosomes, 23 from mom and one from his heavenly father. His findings were originally put on display in a museum/gas station in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. (Reviewer's note: While in Gatlinburg, those who enjoy Ron Wyatt's museum, now housed in a more propitious building, may also wish to tour the original Grimsby and Streaper Casket Company. There one is guaranteed to experience the screams of the dead and smell rotting flesh as one feels their way through dark and convoluted corridors. ) Wyatt-type projects and other similar ones are supported through the donations of the faithful. Holy Land antiquities have been the wellspring of massive fraud since the time of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad and before. All too often, the victims have often been those who could least afford it, the parishioners of Televangelists and online preachers, ministers who solicit funds to finance and perpetuate their abuses. Burleigh handles numerous complex characters deftly in her narrative including: Amir Ganor, Israeli Antiquities Authority agent; Robert Deutsch, Romanian-born antiquities dealer. Hershel Shanks the publisher "lawyer, crank, P.T. Barnum and Indiana Jones all rolled into one" (p.33). Said to be responsible for much of the current Biblical hype in general, he referred to debunking scholars as "Lying scholars" (133). Author Nina Burleigh was raised in a religion-free home in Michigan, yet also "... learned that there are some very decent people who live every waking minute in a state of unshakable faith in an otherworldly power (19)." Whether one love or hates "Unholy Business" often seems to depend on their belief system. But like what she says or not, there's no denying she says it well, telling a complex story with numerous multi-faceted characters in an understandable and interesting way. She proves to be that rara avis among journalists who possesses the intellectual chops, objectivity and independence to pursue a story to its logical conclusion. Nina Burleigh has traveled to the Middle East many times during her writing career. She has written for the Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune, and Time. Previous books include: The Stranger and the Statesman, A Very Private Woman and Mirage. She resides in New York City and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. (This Review appears in a somewhat modified form in the June, 2009, Chickasaw Plum.)
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Informative and interesting topic for the novice Nina Burleigh is a reporter and presents the story surrounding the James Ossuary in a readable manner without bogging it down in non-layperson verbage as is typically found in scholarly journal articles. As one who is unfamiliar with this field, I found the book an interesting read. The chapter of particular interest to me explained how the Israeli judicial system works and made it clear that this case would not have made it to trial in U.S. With no jury trials, a lack of due process in that there may be no continuity in trial cases (attorneys may decide to appear in court only once a week so the trial drags out), no adherence to the chain of evidence, sloppy forensics etc. it appears that the "forgers" would never have been tried in the U.S. The fictional movie, The Body, with Antonio Banderas and Derek Jacobi, is another work dealing with the climate in Israel regarding archaeological discoveries but with the religious factions highlighted as major players.
Lots of potential, but little substance I'm not surprised that this book was written. In my course on the Hebrew Bible, I make it a point to inform my students that sixty percent of the items in museum collections around the world related to the Hebrew Bible are probably forgeries, and that is a conservative estimate. In that respect, it performs a very important service (for me as a textualist in attempting to convince my students of the importance of the text: don't believe everything someone says they dug up); in short I was hoping for a book I could point my students towards that was intelligently written. So perhaps it is the scholar in me that wants more from this particular work. Burleigh herself admits that she is no scholar of religion, and that ineptitude shines through in her prose as it relates to specifically religious matters (her description of the Temple, it's history, and its function) don't even live up to the normal standards of shorter formats like magazine journalism. And Burleigh herself wears her religious ignorance like a badge of honor, as she professes plainly that it is not simply formal scholarly training in religion, but even rudimentary religious education. The book would have been greatly aided by a knowledgeable co-author to provide the requisite biblical and religious insight necessary to help readers coming from the same background as the author, and even those from religious backgrounds but lacking scholarly training, like most students in an undergraduate biblical studies course. The issues that Burleigh tackles are complex, they are divisive (even within the academic community), and they plentiful, but this book has none of the nuance necessary to convey any of the above. On the positive side, Burleigh attempts to be sympathetic to all of her subjects, and the writing is at least accessible to the average reader, so perhaps it can serve as a gateway to more serious inquiry on the part of those who have their curiosity piqued.
Interesting book This was an interesting book, but not a great read. I would only recommend it to people that were really interested in religious controversies.
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