Following the well-publicized find of a stone tablet from the period of Judean King Yehoash - 2,800 years ago - and contrary to the determination of Israel's Geological Institute, two Israeli experts now say that the tablet is probably a fake. Well-known Jewish artifacts collector Shlomo Musayoff told Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen that he believes the stone tablet with Phoenician writing describing the King's Temple activities is a fraud. Artifacts researcher and dealer Robert Deutsch agrees, saying that the forgery is "embarrassingly poor."
Musayoff qualified his statement by saying that he cannot be absolutely sure that the find is a fake. Still and all, he believes that the stone tablet was produced by a five-member gang of forgers, including the Arab "owner," a Jew, a historian specializing in the period in question, someone who can imitate the "style" of writing of the period, and the engraver. Musayoff said that geological labs can make contradictory determinations, and that their findings should not be given too much weight. No comment has yet been received from the Geological Institute.
Musayoff qualified his statement by saying that he cannot be absolutely sure that the find is a fake. Still and all, he believes that the stone tablet was produced by a five-member gang of forgers, including the Arab "owner," a Jew, a historian specializing in the period in question, someone who can imitate the "style" of writing of the period, and the engraver. Musayoff said that geological labs can make contradictory determinations, and that their findings should not be given too much weight. No comment has yet been received from the Geological Institute.