King Solomon’s Tablet of Stone

In July 2001, a remarkable stone tablet appeared in Israel. Known as the Jehoash insciption, it was an archaeological marvel which appeared to answer one of the great questions of the ancient world.
It bore an inscription which revealed that 3000 years ago, in the heart of Jerusalem, just as described in the Bible, there had been a magnificent temple -the legendary Temple of Solomon. It was the first archaeological evidence that the Temple had ever existed.
The stone tablet was tested by some of Israel’s leading scientists, and their declared verdict was that the stone was authentic. But no one knew were the tablet was from, and without proper provenance, archaeologists were suspicious. The Israeli authorities decided to establish an official enquiry to decide if the iscription was genuine.
The country’s top experts now re-examined the tablet, and amidst worldwide publicity, they announced their considered opinion: the Jehoash Inscription was after all an elaborate fake. As the authorities attempted to establish how the fake had been produced, and by whom, they discovered the full extend of the forgers’ activities -and the implications of the affair were to resound around the world.