Jesus’ tomb and the appetite for sensation

The recent media beat-up about the Talpiot ossuaries and the supposed tomb of Jesus seems to have died down quickly, but perhaps not before it left permanent misapprehensions in the public mind. I just came across an interesting 2005 article by Edward M. Cook from the Society of Biblical Literature Forum which raises some related issues.

Cook is critical of the role of the Biblical Archaeology Review in publicizing artefacts like the “James brother of Jesus” ossuary and other artefacts which were later revealed as forgeries. He’s concerned with the effect that the market for forged and stolen antiquities may have both on historical evidence itself and also on the historical conscience of archaeologists and historians. However, his comments also invite reflection on our media culture’s appetite for the sensational, the immediate and the transgressive, the way it puts pressure on scholars and publishers to abandon the checks and balances of the traditional scholarly process, and the virtual ineradicability of much of the misinformation so carelessly generated.