Radiocarbon dating as a tool for identifying forged historical documents in Palestine: An Iron Age leather manuscript as a case study
- Publication Type
- Case report
- Authors
- Fulltext
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Antiquities in the Middle East region face various threats, including illicit trade, theft, and forgery. This research
examines a leather manuscript obtained by the Palestinian Tourist Police following the arrest of an antiquities
smuggler. The manuscript contains Phoenician inscriptions along with symbols such as the Menorah, Shofar, and a
plant branch. Radiocarbon dating using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) techniques determined the
manuscript’s date to be post-1950 CE. Therefore, the results indicate that the manuscript is a modern forgery, likely
created for commercial purposes. Additionally, the text contains several grammatical errors, further supporting the
conclusion that it is not an authentic historical artifact
Journal
- Title
- Loay
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Publisher Country
- United States of America
- Indexing
- Scopus
- Impact Factor
- 1.3
- Publication Type
- Both (Printed and Online)
- Volume
- --
- Year
- 2025
- Pages
- 1-6