Michael Press
@michaeldpress.bsky.social
Researcher and editor | writings on cultural heritage, antiquities trade
Instead of this fairytale that Mandel ends with, we might note that Israel, like every other actor in this story, uses the idea of "preserving world history" for political ends -- and this includes Mandel and Commentary.
September 2, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Instead of this fairytale that Mandel ends with, we might note that Israel, like every other actor in this story, uses the idea of "preserving world history" for political ends -- and this includes Mandel and Commentary.
So, Mandel and Commentary care so much about Jewish history that they recycled a stock image of a fake inscription to illustrate this nasty piece of crap.
September 2, 2025 at 11:22 PM
So, Mandel and Commentary care so much about Jewish history that they recycled a stock image of a fake inscription to illustrate this nasty piece of crap.
As far as I can tell, this illustration first appeared in a 2005 Nature article on this and other forgeries causing a scandal in Israel in beyond.
Apparently it has since become a stock image available from Getty Images & used in different articles.
www.nature.com/articles/434...
Apparently it has since become a stock image available from Getty Images & used in different articles.
www.nature.com/articles/434...
September 2, 2025 at 11:21 PM
As far as I can tell, this illustration first appeared in a 2005 Nature article on this and other forgeries causing a scandal in Israel in beyond.
Apparently it has since become a stock image available from Getty Images & used in different articles.
www.nature.com/articles/434...
Apparently it has since become a stock image available from Getty Images & used in different articles.
www.nature.com/articles/434...
There is a silver lining to this nasty piece of work, though: the choice of illustration.
What we have here is something that has nothing to do with the article itself -- it's a detail of the so-called "Jehoash Inscription," a notorious forgery.
What we have here is something that has nothing to do with the article itself -- it's a detail of the so-called "Jehoash Inscription," a notorious forgery.
September 2, 2025 at 11:20 PM
There is a silver lining to this nasty piece of work, though: the choice of illustration.
What we have here is something that has nothing to do with the article itself -- it's a detail of the so-called "Jehoash Inscription," a notorious forgery.
What we have here is something that has nothing to do with the article itself -- it's a detail of the so-called "Jehoash Inscription," a notorious forgery.
Mandel then dismisses the idea that the bill is opposed because it is a way of officially annexing (he uses the common euphemism "sovereignty expansion") the West Bank -- even though, in the very TOI article he starts with, the MK who introduced the bill admits this openly.
September 2, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Mandel then dismisses the idea that the bill is opposed because it is a way of officially annexing (he uses the common euphemism "sovereignty expansion") the West Bank -- even though, in the very TOI article he starts with, the MK who introduced the bill admits this openly.
It's probably very telling that Mandel uses the word "expert" here and not "archaeologist", so that this is not a literal lie, just highly misleading.
September 2, 2025 at 11:19 PM
It's probably very telling that Mandel uses the word "expert" here and not "archaeologist", so that this is not a literal lie, just highly misleading.
Mandel continues by quoting an "Israeli expert" on the nature and scale of the destruction.
The reader will naturally infer that the expert is an archaeologist -- but when you follow the link you see the "expert" is actually a senior figure at a settler organization.
The reader will naturally infer that the expert is an archaeologist -- but when you follow the link you see the "expert" is actually a senior figure at a settler organization.
September 2, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Mandel continues by quoting an "Israeli expert" on the nature and scale of the destruction.
The reader will naturally infer that the expert is an archaeologist -- but when you follow the link you see the "expert" is actually a senior figure at a settler organization.
The reader will naturally infer that the expert is an archaeologist -- but when you follow the link you see the "expert" is actually a senior figure at a settler organization.
He also conveniently omits any mention of Israeli culpability -- even though, just below the passage Mandel quotes, a settler organization admits to the fact that Israelis, too, are looting sites.
September 2, 2025 at 11:16 PM
He also conveniently omits any mention of Israeli culpability -- even though, just below the passage Mandel quotes, a settler organization admits to the fact that Israelis, too, are looting sites.
In the process, of course, he continues the longstanding, absurd Israeli obsession (from long before 2023) of comparing Palestinians -- and not just Hamas, but Palestinians in general -- to ISIS
September 2, 2025 at 11:15 PM
In the process, of course, he continues the longstanding, absurd Israeli obsession (from long before 2023) of comparing Palestinians -- and not just Hamas, but Palestinians in general -- to ISIS
He dismisses any discussion of *why* the looting might be happening -- something vital to understand if you want to actually counteract it -- to keep laser-focused on blaming Palestinians.
September 2, 2025 at 11:15 PM
He dismisses any discussion of *why* the looting might be happening -- something vital to understand if you want to actually counteract it -- to keep laser-focused on blaming Palestinians.
Mandel ignores all of this, to focus on the issue apparently of greatest concern to him: blaming Palestinians for the problem.
September 2, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Mandel ignores all of this, to focus on the issue apparently of greatest concern to him: blaming Palestinians for the problem.
Of all the hysterical warnings over the last few years that "they're destroying our history", this -- from the senior editor of Commentary -- might be both the nastiest and the most dishonest 🧵
September 2, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Of all the hysterical warnings over the last few years that "they're destroying our history", this -- from the senior editor of Commentary -- might be both the nastiest and the most dishonest 🧵
All the scrolls & fragments in rotation at Museum of the Bible (& I believe those displayed at the Reagan Library) were found in caves around Khirbet Qumran in the West Bank when it was under Jordanian occupation, & have since been moved illegally by Israel to West Jerusalem
September 2, 2025 at 7:48 PM
All the scrolls & fragments in rotation at Museum of the Bible (& I believe those displayed at the Reagan Library) were found in caves around Khirbet Qumran in the West Bank when it was under Jordanian occupation, & have since been moved illegally by Israel to West Jerusalem
Nearly two years into Israel's annihilation of Gaza and Museum of the Bible's partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) is still going strong.
September 2, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Nearly two years into Israel's annihilation of Gaza and Museum of the Bible's partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) is still going strong.
And (as has been known for decades but has been ignored by most scholars) among the French collectors who interacted with the Koubourssys was Wilhelm Froehner himself--the man who acquired the Nazareth Inscription!
(Froehner, Mélanges d’épigraphie et d’archéologie XI-XXV, 1875)
(Froehner, Mélanges d’épigraphie et d’archéologie XI-XXV, 1875)
August 27, 2025 at 8:53 PM
And (as has been known for decades but has been ignored by most scholars) among the French collectors who interacted with the Koubourssys was Wilhelm Froehner himself--the man who acquired the Nazareth Inscription!
(Froehner, Mélanges d’épigraphie et d’archéologie XI-XXV, 1875)
(Froehner, Mélanges d’épigraphie et d’archéologie XI-XXV, 1875)
In particular, I was able to highlight the activities of 2 members of the Koubourssy family of Nazareth, who acquired antiquities for French collectors between the 1860s and 1890s, and whose activities ranged from S Syria to Kerak in Transjordan to Akka to Asqalan.
August 27, 2025 at 8:52 PM
In particular, I was able to highlight the activities of 2 members of the Koubourssy family of Nazareth, who acquired antiquities for French collectors between the 1860s and 1890s, and whose activities ranged from S Syria to Kerak in Transjordan to Akka to Asqalan.
As for the claim abut Nazareth as an antiquities hub: my research on the 19c antiquities trade has shown that in fact Nazareth *was* a regional hub for the trade:
Objects were collected east of the Jordan, and were sold not just to tourists but to merchants from Lebanon.
Objects were collected east of the Jordan, and were sold not just to tourists but to merchants from Lebanon.
August 27, 2025 at 8:52 PM
As for the claim abut Nazareth as an antiquities hub: my research on the 19c antiquities trade has shown that in fact Nazareth *was* a regional hub for the trade:
Objects were collected east of the Jordan, and were sold not just to tourists but to merchants from Lebanon.
Objects were collected east of the Jordan, and were sold not just to tourists but to merchants from Lebanon.
I argue, however, that both these conclusions are wrong.
First, the only evidence for tying the inscription to Kos is a provenience study of the marble -- but this would demonstrate only where the marble was quarried. It tells us nothing about where it was set up.
First, the only evidence for tying the inscription to Kos is a provenience study of the marble -- but this would demonstrate only where the marble was quarried. It tells us nothing about where it was set up.
August 27, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I argue, however, that both these conclusions are wrong.
First, the only evidence for tying the inscription to Kos is a provenience study of the marble -- but this would demonstrate only where the marble was quarried. It tells us nothing about where it was set up.
First, the only evidence for tying the inscription to Kos is a provenience study of the marble -- but this would demonstrate only where the marble was quarried. It tells us nothing about where it was set up.
Second, as lead author of a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, Harper argued that the inscription had nothing to do with Christians or Nazareth at all -- instead, the authors conclude, it was actually set up on the island of Kos.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...
doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...
August 27, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Second, as lead author of a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, Harper argued that the inscription had nothing to do with Christians or Nazareth at all -- instead, the authors conclude, it was actually set up on the island of Kos.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...
doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...
Specifically, it is seen as a response to the story in the Gospel of Matthew (27-28) about claims that Christians had removed Jesus's body from his tomb.
(Matt 28:11-15, RSV
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...)
(Matt 28:11-15, RSV
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...)
August 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Specifically, it is seen as a response to the story in the Gospel of Matthew (27-28) about claims that Christians had removed Jesus's body from his tomb.
(Matt 28:11-15, RSV
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...)
(Matt 28:11-15, RSV
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...)
Catalogues manuscrits, inventaires et registres des collections d'antiques. Inventaires et registres produits par le département des Monnaies, médailles et antiques concernant les antiquités. Collection Froehner. Volume 8. Folio 13r
gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...
gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...
August 27, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Catalogues manuscrits, inventaires et registres des collections d'antiques. Inventaires et registres produits par le département des Monnaies, médailles et antiques concernant les antiquités. Collection Froehner. Volume 8. Folio 13r
gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...
gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...
The only direct evidence concerning its provenance is a line in one of Froehner's notebooks, stating that it was "sent from Nazareth in 1878".
August 27, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The only direct evidence concerning its provenance is a line in one of Froehner's notebooks, stating that it was "sent from Nazareth in 1878".
In Revue Biblique, I have an article on the provenance of the "Nazareth Inscription", an Early Roman-period text that has been often linked over the last century with the earliest Christians. What can we actually say about it? 🧵
August 27, 2025 at 8:46 PM
In Revue Biblique, I have an article on the provenance of the "Nazareth Inscription", an Early Roman-period text that has been often linked over the last century with the earliest Christians. What can we actually say about it? 🧵
Meanwhile, the study the news article is based on -- in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) -- makes no mention of "il(legal)", "occupied", "Palestine/Palestinian", or "East Jerusalem" (or "West Bank")
August 26, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Meanwhile, the study the news article is based on -- in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) -- makes no mention of "il(legal)", "occupied", "Palestine/Palestinian", or "East Jerusalem" (or "West Bank")
Euphemisms galore:
Even the left-leaning Haaretz sees occupied East Jerusalem as merely "contested" & an illegal Israeli dig there as merely "controversial".
Also, Elad does more than "promote Jewish settlement in Silwan", it's worked for decades to evict Palestinians.
Even the left-leaning Haaretz sees occupied East Jerusalem as merely "contested" & an illegal Israeli dig there as merely "controversial".
Also, Elad does more than "promote Jewish settlement in Silwan", it's worked for decades to evict Palestinians.
August 26, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Euphemisms galore:
Even the left-leaning Haaretz sees occupied East Jerusalem as merely "contested" & an illegal Israeli dig there as merely "controversial".
Also, Elad does more than "promote Jewish settlement in Silwan", it's worked for decades to evict Palestinians.
Even the left-leaning Haaretz sees occupied East Jerusalem as merely "contested" & an illegal Israeli dig there as merely "controversial".
Also, Elad does more than "promote Jewish settlement in Silwan", it's worked for decades to evict Palestinians.