“Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land”
Myren Gård, Wednesday 14 September, 18.00

Author and journalist Nina Burleigh will discuss her investigation into the James Ossuary, the so-called first archaeological evidence of Jesus, determined by Israeli authorities to be a forgery. The prosecutor in Jerusalem called the forgery “the fraud of the century” because of its relevance to Christian believers, but the accused was ultimately acquitted. Burleigh’s critically acclaimed book, which has been called “shrewd and piquant” delves into the back alleys of the Jerusalem relic trade and the dusty digging pits around Israel, and finds secular scientists pitted against true believers who see in science what their faith prescribes, and also Israeli religio-nationalists whose practice of archaeology is deeply influenced by Biblically-inspired modern land claims in the so-called Holy Land.

Music
Lisa Håland, Thor Magne Vesterhus (flute)
Terje Howard Mathisen (piano)