James Ossuary Trial Verdict

Just catching up after a long day on the news that the James Ossuary trial, once called "the trial of the century", is in.  It feels like such a long time that I was wondering if it was the last century:

Jerusalem Court Acquits Antiquities Collector of Forgeries After 7-Year Trial By Matthew Kalman

In a case that has roiled scholars around the world in a broad range of disciplines, the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday acquitted an Israeli antiquities collector, Oded Golan, of forging dozens of priceless archaeological artifacts, including an inscription on the burial box, or ossuary, of James, brother of Jesus.

This article appears in the Chronicle of Higher Education and it is written by the man who has followed the trial from the beginning and who probably knows more about it than anyone else.

Comments: Jim West's blog, which, as so often, had the scoop, James Tabor on Taborblog, Robert Cargill's XKV8R, Jim Davila's Paleojudaica, my colleague Eric Meyers on the ASOR blog, the Response of the IAA on the ASOR blog, Christopher Rollston in Rollston Epigraphy, James McGrath on Exploring our Matrix, Tom Verenna, Todd Bolen on Bible Places, Antonio Lombatti in Observatório Bíblico, John Bergsma on The Sacred Page, John Byron in The Biblical World and no doubt several more.