An ossuary – which is a funeral box – that was discovered in Israel bearing the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" was determined by Israeli scholars to be a fake earlier this year. When found it was thought the box once held the remains of James, Jesus’ actual brother who is mentioned the New Testament. It would have been one of the earliest written mentions of Jesus. Fascinating stuff.
Now comes word from the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature that the ossuary might be authentic after all.
If authentic, the ossuary would offer a rare physical link to the life of Jesus, but Israel's Antiquities Authority declared the inscription a fraud in June."I don't know for sure whether this is a forged inscription, and I'm sort of cast as a defender of the inscription. I'm not," said moderator Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archeology Review, which published the initial findings. "What I do know is, Israeli authorities have badly managed the affair."
You can follow all the debate on the Biblical Archeology Society web site. This little box could be one of the most important archeological finds of all time.