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L.Y. Rahmani/Catalogue of Jewish Ossuaries

Differential weathering. Esther Eshel, a member of the Israel Antiquities Authority committee that studied the James ossuary, believes the James inscription is a forgery in part because it is deeply carved while the ossuary’s other side bears decorations that are very faded. But author André Lemaire counters that we find the same difference in weathering on other, undoubtedly authentic, ossuaries, including the one shown here. The inscription in the lower photo reads, Hagadam, “the one-handed.”