Is Oded Golan a Forger?

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Israeli antiquities collector Oden Golan is the target of an intensive investigation by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) regarding a series of high-end artifacts that are suspected of being forgeries. Golan has been intimately connected with at least five or six extremely important, but now questionable, antiquities.

Golan is best known as the owner of the bone box, or ossuary, inscribed “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” that has now been condemned as a modern forgery by the unanimous decision of a 15-member IAA committee.

The so-called Jehoash inscription, which purports to record repairs to the Temple by the ninth-century B.C.E. Judahite king Jehoash, as described in 2 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 24, has also been condemned as a modern forgery not only by the IAA committee, but by leading paleographers and linguists, as previously reported in BAR.^a The Jehoash inscription was found by the police in the possession of Oded Golan. Although he denies that he is the owner of the 15-line, 9-by-11-inch black plaque, the police found his statements to be evasive and incomplete.

That Golan is the source of these two artifacts has led the authorities to question the authenticity of other extraordinary items that have been acquired through Golan, who is not a licensed antiquities dealer. Golan maintains that he is only an antiquities collector, not a dealer.

Foremost among these other artifacts is the “Three Shekel” ostracon (a pottery sherd used as a kind of notepaper) that purports to record a three-shekel donation to the Solomonic (First) Temple. Another similar ostracon is known as the “Widow’s Plea” ostracon.^b Both were sold by Golan (through Tel Aviv antiquities dealer Robert Deutsch) to Shlomo Moussaieff, one of the world’s leading collectors of antiquities related to the Bible and the ancient Near East.

Initially, the IAA suspected that Moussaieff might be in collusion with Golan. The IAA alienated and angered Moussaieff by its investigative tactics, demanding a list not only of the antiquities kept in his apartment in Herzliya, Israel, but also an accounting of the holdings in his far larger London collection. Moussaieff claims the IAA has no right to investigate items he holds in England. Worse still, without consulting Moussaieff, the IAA investigated his Israeli bank account, suspecting him of laundering money involved in the purchase of illegal antiquities.

Recently, however, the IAA has changed its tune, and is now intent on repairing its relations with Moussaieff and focusing on Golan as the forger. The IAA expects to soon seek a criminal indictment against Golan. If successful, Golan may go to jail. And, the IAA hopes, Moussaieff will be able to help.

IAA director Shuka Dorfman recently sent his chief investigator, Amir Ganor, to London to apologize to Moussaieff for investigating his bank account. Ganor also obtained Moussaieff’s agreement to allow the IAA to examine the “Three Shekel” and “Widow’s Plea” ostraca to see if they are forgeries. For this purpose Moussaieff has agreed to allow the IAA to take them to Israel for a maximum of three months, against the IAA’s promise to return them to London after they have been examined.

Moussaieff also agreed to allow the IAA to examine another important artifact from his London collection, an inscribed clay decanter that may have been used in the Temple. Around the body of the decanter is a Hebrew inscription that reads:

t[bd • ûsn • ÷yy • whyntml

(The dots are word dividers appearing in the original.)

lmtnyhw yyn nsk rb’t

“Belonging to Mattanyahu, wine for cultic libation, one quarter”

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On paleographic grounds, the inscription is dated to sometime before 600 B.C.E. The decanter, about 7.5 inches tall, is very well preserved and its inscription is easily read. The only decoration is three concentric circles around the neck of the vessel. The decanter apparently holds a quarter of a certain measure; just which measure, scholars do not know. Mattanyahu, a common name meaning “gift of Yahweh,” may have been a Temple priest.

Apparently, the IAA thinks the decanter, too, may be a modern forgery. It was reportedly sold to Moussaieff by Golan. It was published in Forty New Ancient West Semitic Inscriptions, by Robert Deutsch, an antiquities dealer who has been closely involved with Golan and Moussaieff (he is editing a festschrift for Moussaieff) and by Deutsch’s Ph.D. adviser, Professor Michael Heltzer of Haifa University.

Another item casting suspicion on Golan is a seal inscribed “Belonging to Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah.” If genuine, the Menashe (the monarch’s Hebrew name) seal would be an extraordinary object, the rarest 036of the rare. Hezekiah was an important eighth-century B.C.E. king of Judah, and his son Manasseh ruled from 697–642 B.C.E. The seal is especially treasured because it purports to be in its original gold setting. According to Golan, a Palestinian brought it to him on behalf of an unknown owner. Unable to handle a purchase of that magnitude (the original asking price was $2 million), Golan took it to Moussaieff, who, after much deliberation and consultation, decided that it was likely to be a forgery and declined to buy it. The formation of the letters on the seal was not elegant enough for a king, Moussaieff felt (a judgment shared by others). Besides, the first letter of the monarch’s name looked too much like a Moabite mem rather than a Hebrew mem. But, still, this was not enough to definitely declare it a fake.

Moussaieff later changed his mind about buying the seal and asked Golan to bring it back. When Golan contacted his connection, however, he was told that the seal was no longer available. Apparently, someone else had purchased it and perhaps smuggled it out of the country. No one, including Golan, knows where it is today. BAR managed to obtain pictures of the seal and its setting, which are published here for the first time.

Moussaieff was initially so offended by the way the IAA was treating him that he spoke of not returning to Israel. More importantly, he decided against allowing his collection to go to Israel after his death. Moussaieff will soon celebrate his 80th birthday, when he will be presented with a festschrift, a collection of essays in his honor by individuals such as Robert Deutsch and by a host of scholars—many of whom have published items from Moussaieff’s collection. Several venues are vying for the eventual disposition of the Moussaeiff collection. Well aware of this situation, the IAA is now seeking to mend fences with Moussaieff.

Moussaieff has contributed to Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv his grandfather’s manuscript collection on Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). It is generally recognized that the university awarded Moussaieff an honorary doctorate in 2000 in gratitude.

Archaeologists, on the other hand, especially the IAA, have often treated Moussaieff with disdain. In 1997, the Israel Museum was eager to mount an exhibit from Moussaieff’s collection. Former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek was enthusiastic about the idea. Moussaieff was also agreeable, so long as the items he brought into Israel for the exhibit could be taken back to England after the exhibit closed. For this, however, he needed 037the permission of the IAA. The then-director of the IAA referred the matter to the Archaeological Council, an advisory body, which denied permission. The exhibit never came off. The public has never seen, for example, the bulla (seal impression) of King Hezekiah, one of the treasures of Moussaieff’s collection.

Whether the IAA and Israeli archaeologists will be able to repair their relationship with Moussaieff remains an open question.

But the IAA’s attitude toward Moussaieff is far different from its attitude toward Oded Golan. Sources now tell us that partially completed forged seals have been found in Golan’s workshop. The IAA also claims it has recovered from Golan drawings of ancient inscriptions intended to be copied onto ancient pottery sherds. The letters appear to have been copied electronically from the letters of the Arad ostraca, from which an electronic template was made by the forger.

Golan laughs at this. “Ridiculous,” he says.

Where does the truth lie?

Israeli antiquities collector Oden Golan is the target of an intensive investigation by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) regarding a series of high-end artifacts that are suspected of being forgeries. Golan has been intimately connected with at least five or six extremely important, but now questionable, antiquities. Golan is best known as the owner of the bone box, or ossuary, inscribed “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” that has now been condemned as a modern forgery by the unanimous decision of a 15-member IAA committee. The so-called Jehoash inscription, which purports to record repairs to the Temple by […]