Monday, May 23, 2005

MORE ON THE ANCIENT JEWISH BONES FOR SALE:
Thieves caught selling ancient human bones
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS (Jerusalem Post)

First the antiquities thieves sold stolen ancient burial boxes.

Now, they are trying to sell the human bones inside them as well.

Israel's Antiquities Authority announced Sunday that they had thwarted an attempt by two Jerusalem Arab men to sell four Second-Temple ossuaries - and the human bones inside them - to Israel's disaster victims' identification organization for reburial.

The 2,000 year old burial boxes, with Aramaic lettering on them, were dug up from an ancient Jewish cemetery located on the edge of east Jerusalem village of Issawiya, the head of the Antiquities Authority's anti-theft division Amir Ganor said.

The two Jerusalem Arab men, who are brothers, then allegedly contacted Zaka, the disaster victims' identification organization, offering to sell the ossuaries - and the bones in them - for $4000, he said.

[...]

More precious ancient artifacts ripped from their context so that much important information about them is now lost.

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