📜 A leather manuscript seized from an antiquity smuggler, imitating Phoenician/PaleoHebrew script, turned out to be a modern fake. Radiocarbon dating placed the leather between 1989–1997. Mixed-era letters + modern marker = confirmed forgery. 🔬
Leather Palestinian Manuscript Confirmed as Modern Forgery via Radiocarbon Dating
Key facts
- Manuscript obtained by Palestinian tourism police after arrest of antiquity smuggler
- Written on leather with inscription imitating ancient Phoenician or PaleoHebrew writing
- Letters did not match genuine Phoenician or PaleoHebrew scripts
- Writing appeared made with modern marker on aged leather rather than ancient tools
- Attempted to imitate 10th century BCE Phoenician letters but incorporated 6th century BCE elements
- Contained numerous grammatical errors and historically implausible mixture of motifs
- Radiocarbon dating via accelerator mass spectrometry showed leather age between 1989-1997 at one sigma level
- Concluded to be modern forgery likely created for commercial purposes in antiquities market
Sources
mvau.lt
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