Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Fake metal codices latest

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: Steve Caruso has identified a letter sequence in one of the codices (full picture here) which overlaps with a letter sequence on a coin of John Hyrcanus I. I do not have sufficient expertise on the scripts he is dealing with to comment ex tempore on his arguments for mixed scripts. The letter sequence itself is short and is suggestive, but not compelling.

Also, more bogosity from the Jordan Codices Facebook page has been noted by Dan McClellan (More Dishonesty from Jordan Codices) and Tom Verenna (Alert the Press! Real Academics Don’t use Facebook or Blog!). I had a good chuckle over the pistachio nuts too. And note the misapprehension of the Jordan Codices commenter (shared, as it happens, by David Elkington) that "Paleo-Hebrew" is a language rather than a script.

The supposed "team of leading scholars" working on the codices are sounding increasingly like those "top men" working on the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders. But if they do exist and if they have seen this Facebook page (as the Jordan Codices commenter claims), they must be cringing.

Background here and here and follow the many links back.