'Jordan Codices' just another fake from the souk

There are few subjects on which the media is more carelessly gullible than ancient archaeology. Reporters trained to check claims and counter-claims as a matter of dull, daily course, fall time after time for publicity-seeking pretenders, or fund-starved chancers claiming to have discovered the authentic face of Julius Caesar or lost bits of the Bible story.

And so, to no surprise at all, it came to pass with the lead tablets the size of credit cards proclaimed as biblical secrets by the BBC and almost everybody else last week.

Yes, of course I know how facts can spoil a good story but please.

How hard could it have been to find the people who knew that these objects were just one tiny part of the massive fake-mountains of the middle east?

That means people who know about Greek inscriptions (we still have them) and not enthusiasts for Christian entertainment.

Peter Thonemann in the TLS this week explains briefly and patiently why.