Tag Archives: Lead Codices?

Jordan Lead Codices: Units of Forgery

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(Ancient Roman lead ingots. One of the most abundant metals of the 1st century.)

Introduction

As a greater number of pictures of the codices surface — in addition to other numerous points of evidence discussed by others — virtually every specimen revealed can be discounted as a forgery outright as we see various patterns emerge regarding their construction.

Directly to the point: Each plate thus far has shown itself to be a collage of identical master pattern “stamps” of text arranged in such a manner to make each set seem like a full document rather than a collection of component pieces.

The Pieces

Peter Davies and Dan McClellan have expounded upon this, discussing the “ornamental,” repetitive nature of some of the inscriptions and the limited number of graphemes, but in this article I would like to give a bit of visual analysis and propose that the “atomic units” of these texts are  in fact these full “stamps” (rather than individual words) and that their use is predictable to the point that (a) we may use them to fully “reconstruct” parts of the plates that are nearly illegible and (b) use them as a yardstick to gauge a number of facts about their manufacture.

Taking inventory of the characters on one of the clearest images of the plates to date, there is a distinct repetition in two places. Separating the sequences out, we get the following:





(Note that the ticks above the first pattern seem to be part of the same sequence, but for the sake of this article, the focus shall be upon the text, alone.)

Each place that these sequences appear we find that they are *identical* down to each grain and bump in the written strokes of the text. Given that the metallurgical analysis indicated that one of them was cast in clay (or sand cast if clay was used as the binder), it enables the strong possibility that each instance of these sequences was created by a master pattern “stamp” pressed into the casting medium.

Another possibility that can produce this same effect include hammering on the opposite side of a sheet of lead into a mold and given some photographs taken of the back sides of some of the plates, hammering may well have been used for some specimens.

(An example of the hammering pattern on the back of a plate. Note how there is evidence of text on the face of this plate that has been hammered out.)

Writing Much But Saying Little

Now, do these sequences occur on any other plates? Unsurprisingly yes, and how they appear also shows us something more:

We can see that in some of the larger plates that they are staggered in such a way to look like a unique sequence of text. This staggered pattern directly demonstrates that there is no attempt to preserve word order of the text itself. To do so, one would have to wrap each individual line until the sequence of characters was complete and this is how it appears on genuine inscriptions, no matter how messy, as it is the recording of the semantic content that is the focus of the exercise.

Because of this regularity and pattern, it demonstrates that the “stamps” are the casting unit rather than the “text” itself that is in them.

Further evidence of this are cases where “stamps” were stamped more than once on top of each other into the casting medium (in numanistics this kind of duplication is known as a “doubled die,” granted that it is primarily used in the context of die casting):

Reconstruction

Finally, there are many examples of very poorly corroded plates where one can only make out only a few symbols. However, if we can match the characters we *can* see with corresponding characters in known “stamps,” we find that the text matches up perfectly with both visible and partially-legible characters, showing that these plates too were cast using the same impressions in their mold.

Even on the codices that Elkington is claiming are “real” on the Facebook page we see the same stamped patterns, visible through the corrosion.
The Jordan Codices administrator writes:
This is a frontal view of the same codex. Here we can see the Tree of Life, indicative of the figure of Wisdom, but also symbolic of the Royal House of King David. The presence of Eight-pointed stars, left and right tells us that the Messiah is expected – the stars are symbols of the messiah and of the King-High Priest, Melchizedek.
However, on this plate, the two sequences I’ve outlined show up in a way consistent with the other plates. There are also at least two new sequences (in a slightly different hand) interspersed with them  in an apparent attempt to make the same text look different, expanding it as one would use lorem ipsum.

Other Examples

Are there other examples “stamps” that we can identify shared in common amongst the other plates? Yes, several. In the following section I shall outline a few of them and expand upon this list as time permits:

(A motif taken from an Herodian coin. These two images are from two separate codex plates.)


[More coming.]

Conclusion

We can see that the text itself was not understood by the individual who created these plates, and that all of the plates we have seen so far share these identical, mass-produced elements. Given this and previous evidences previously presented by myself and others, if any of these “Jordan Codices” are genuine, they must remain amongst those that have not yet been photographed. (However realistically, hope for such a find is all but dead.)

In a future article, I will outline the disparities in handwriting between the individual “stamps” showing that each unit is not contemporaneous with its brothers and sisters, taken from different eras (another very strong evidence of forgery).

Peace,
-Steve

UPDATE Aug 31: I’ve added section headings to make it easier to read and have added an example from a plate displayed on the Facebook page as genuine.

Jordan Lead Codices: DELETE! DELETE!

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(Is this David/Paul Elkington?)

So I’ve been commenting on the Jordan Codices Facebook page about the anonymity of the “experts” they were discussing, and then I had the audacity to ask the owner of it who they were…

And suddenly, all of my comments (as well as all of Dan McClellan’s comments well) were deleted and we both found that we’ve been banned from commenting.

If I had to put my money on it (note the *if*), I’d say that Dan and I were talking directly with Elkington, himself given his mantra (both in print, and on the radio) about there are “only four or five people in the world who are familiar with [Paleo Hebrew]” — which is absolute rubbish.

Mr. Elkington, if you’re out there and reading my blog, I would not mind a bit of clarification. Comments are open below to all who are willing to put their real name to their words.

UPDATE 5:07PM: Generally I consider using far too many tabs in Firefox to be a vice of mine, however, this time it proved useful! Here are some screenshots of Dan McClellan’s discussion with the owner (who I assume is Elkington) before and after he was banned, with the following response cleanup.

Click all images to enlarge.

Before:

After:

How it appears NOW:

Peace,

-Steve

Narrowing Down The Lead Codices Script

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I’m not sure why I did not realize this before, but I’ve noticed another possible source for the Lead Codices script presented thusfar (including some of the odder features, such as the omega-shaped shin):

Bar Kochba coinage.

Take a look.

Bar Kochba Revolt. 132-135 CE. AR Sela – Tetradrachm.

Bar Kochba Revolt. 132-135 CE.

This is a second century script and provided that this is a match, this means that the interpretation of the inscription under the menorah as “Elek Ba Tom” (as claimed on the codices Facebook page) would not be correct.

I’d also be curious if any of the iconography could be found on other Bar Kochba coins.

UPDATE Apr 26: According to Philip Davies’ editorial:

“The list of dramatis personae is not complete, either: Robert Feather, a metallurgist who has written on the Qumran Copper Scroll, and seems first to have broken the story, has been in contact with Mr Sa‘eeda and has himself a theory that in some places the Hebrew letters on the sheets appear to stand for Bar Kochba, leader of the second-century Judean revolt against the Romans, and for the Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who according to legend hid from the Romans in a cave for 13 years and also instituted the Kabbalah.”

Curious.

Peace,
-Steve

Lead Codices: “Genuine” Forgeries?

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The latest news on the Lead Codices is that the official “academic team” (who I assume has Elkington somewhere in its midst and apparently still remains anonymous — yeah) has recently claimed the following:

Approximately two months ago, Hassan Saida, the Israeli Bedouin who smuggled the Jordan Codices into Israel, telephoned to inform the team that he and his cohorts had made 500 forgeries of various of the codices and put them into the Jerusalem market. We didn’t think too much of it as he tells lots of tales; however, one of team members was sent these two photographs by someone who purchased them in Israel. To those who have seen the real McCoy, these were obvious forgeries. However, even comparing them to the posted photographs, the difference is all too apparent. Below are some observations made by one of the metal experts assisting the team. We expect more will materialise in due course.

Interesting thing about the above image that came with the release: If it is based off one of the codices, it does not resemble any of the codices released thusfar. At first glance, this one is in a much more obvious Hebrew/Aramaic-flavored script rather than the seemingly “Paleo-Hebrew/Aramaic/Coptic” mix of the others. (Something that their “metal expert” noticed as well. I wish I had a name to put to their words.)

I’m going to chew on this text a bit and see what else there is to find, and I invite others to do the same.

UPDATE 10:00AM: Joel Watts observes:

David Elkington is not letting this die – as now the Bedouin who first smuggled out the ‘Lead Codices’ is telling everyone that he has created 500 forgeries. Of course, the ‘real’ lead codices is what David has… Do you know the mental mind-flips it takes to state that that guy who is telling everyone that he has made 500 forgeries is now lying and that your copy is the only real copy?

UPDATE 10:10AM: I have resurrected the Lead Codices topic page on The Biblioblog Reference Library here and I’m in the midst of updating it.

UPDATE: 11:40AM: Jim Davila weighs in:

It looks to me as though someone is realizing that the gig is up and is trying to prolong the news cycle on these items. Could it be that the next step will be for David Elkington to announce that oops he accidentally gave Peter Thonemann one of the fake codices but the rest in his possession are genuine? Meanwhile, we have an admission that the source of the codices “tells lots of tales” and that he has the resources to produce fake metal codices.

UPDATE 11:50 AM: A second image of the “fake fakes” has been posted. This one has a script (or rather several scripts, as there are at least three sets of handwriting) much closer to the codices released thusfar, has some identical iconography, such as the coin image in the bottom left.


However, the text in these “fakes” is much clearer. I’m going to see if it can be matched up to some of the “original” lead codices and use them as a basis for getting a better look at this text.

UPDATE 9:06PM: Well, there is now very little doubt that the “real” codices and the “forgeries” were cast from the same mold. Where Tom Verenna was the first to point this out in detail, take a look at the following gif:

What you’re seeing is a picture of one of the “genuine codices” sliding back and forth over the Herodian coin motif found on the bottom left corner of the “fake codex” image. The only thing I’ve done was keystone it to compensate for camera angle (which wasn’t perfect).
As you can see, they are identical. And when I say identical I mean that it looks like a case of “they’ve-been-cast-from-the-same-mold identical” (or in this case, from the same impression).
I am sure that Elkington and his crew will cry out, “That’s because it was taken from the original!”

I cannot help but agree: It is my opinion that they were both made using the same set of tools from the same workshop working from the same impression molds. 🙂 All that needs to be done now is to test the metal of these “fake codices” and compare that analysis with those of the “real codices.”

I look forward to the results.

Peace,
-Steve

PS: The entire release is archived below, sourced from their Facebook page:

Approximately two months ago, Hassan Saida, the Israeli Bedouin who smuggled the Jordan Codices into Israel, telephoned to inform the team that he and his cohorts had made 500 forgeries of various of the codices and put them into the Jerusalem market. We didn’t think too much of it as he tells lots of tales; however, one of team members was sent these two photographs by someone who purchased them in Israel. To those who have seen the real McCoy, these were obvious forgeries. However, even comparing them to the posted photographs, the difference is all too apparent. Below are some observations made by one of the metal experts assisting the team. We expect more will materialise in due course.
1. The holes are too clean.
2. The beige ‘corrosion layer’ looks like it has been sprayed on and then cleaned off.
3. The holes have raised edges and looks like they have been punched hard all together against a die with a slightly larger diameter. Not like the originals.
4. The drawing on the tree is too fine and crisp – the detailing seems wrong – it is almost like they have been cast onto a harder material than the originals. It is also possible that these have been pressed and then distorted – the best indication would be a view of the reverse of each sheet and seeing if there is variation in the thickness of the metal from casting.
5. The edges look like they have been cut round the pattern very closely – particularly the dots – not the same as the previous ones which were not cut cleanly around a pattern.
6. The format looks wrong – too long and thin.
7. The seals – look like they have been struck at the ends – like coins. I didn’t see any of that before.
8. The background colour looks like it has been blowtorched – it is less rusty looking than most of the originals
9. They do not have the same build up of accretions of scale and calcium.
10. There is little or no evidence of wear or pressure based slow distortion – although there are a few damaging marks. Some of the wear may have been introduced on the mould. Unlike the originals, which looked like they were cleanly cast and then deteriorated over a long time.
11. The seals have been put on after the corrosion layer has been sprayed on and cleaned off. There should be layers of corrosion sealing them in to the surface.
12. The wires look hammer beaten – not a bad representation.
13. There are a few areas where the ‘blue’ of the lead shows through.
I can’t see the backs but your sealed books were sealed a very long time ago and opened up to clean and shiny lead – I bet these don’t.
I wonder if there are any rotational tool marks or bypass shear ‘seams’ along the edges where they have been cut.
The handwriting is very different and looks a bit too random. I haven’t attempted to look at the symbols – although they are more ragtag. I would say that a different person did the drawings from the script – they just look different.
The 8 pointed stars have 12 or 16 points. Some of the other symbols are slightly different and may have a completely different meaning or interpretation.
I would also reckon on the metal still being malleable. Not hard, flakey and cracking. I expect they also smell and taste different. These may have been dipped in acid and coloured with mineral pigments.
OK, I might be taken in if I hadn’t seen all your photos. But they don’t look right to me. A good mishmash of some of the symbols and text on the photos you and others have published on the Internet.