We included the announcement of the discovery of a 3,500 year old bronze bracelet discovered in northern Galilee in a post August 5 (here). We quoted the news release from the Israel Antiquities Authority and included a photo of the bracelet.
Yesterday afternoon a reader posted this comment:
Antiquities dealer Robert Deutsch has called this artifact a fake, suggesting it can be purchased anywhere in the Old City for $10 – $20. The excavator has resisted this accusation, but Deutsch is standing his ground.
Further communication brought to light a photo of a similar looking bracelet, said to be a “Bedouine brass bracelet, ca. 50-80 years old” on sale from an antiquities dealer for $10. See here, if interested. I also received a page from Treasures From An Ancient Land: The Art of Jordan, edited by Piotr Bienkowski, showing photos of similar bracelets dating to the late 19th and early 20th century (p. 164).
The link I posted to the IAA news release was broken last evening. This morning it leads to a different report.
As I browsed the news and various blogs I noted that Robert Deutsch had posted an article at The Bible and Interpretation here. His bottom line is:
The fact is the excavators found a modern 20thcentury Bedouin bracelet and not a Canaanite bracelet.
I will leave it there unless we learn something significant.
Be warned that the conclusions held at the end of one day, archaeological season, year, decade, or century, often are changed the next.
Thanks to our vigilant reader.
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