Jonathan Klawans
Jonathan Klawans is Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies at Buston University. Klawans joined BU’s faculty in 1997, upon receiving his PhD from Columbia University. Klawans has also taught at Harvard University and Hebrew College and has been involved in adult education in various forms over the years. Klawans is the author of four scholarly books, dozens of academic articles, and recently co-edited the Jewish Annotated Apocrypha. Klawans is currently working on a book on biblical forgeries.
Presenter at
Spring Bible & Archaeology Fest 2025, April 5-6, 2025
Between Genuine and Fake: Grading Suspicious Objects on an Authenticity Scale
When evaluating unprovenanced or otherwise suspicious objects, scholars and curators too often approach the matter of authenticity in a binary fashion: genuine or forged. Complicating the matter are shifting presumptions. Some presume authenticity unless forgery is proven; others presume fraud unless authenticity can be rigorously demonstrated. Some grant the benefit of the doubt; others insist that argumentation reach “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In truth, most disagreements about authenticity are inconclusive, and some objects are much more suspicious than others. We will review a number of biblical forgery cases—known and less well-known—with an eye toward introducing a scale of authenticity by which suspicious objects can graded (from 1 to 5). Using such a scale, scholars and curators can also express their varying levels of certitude and doubt about a range of suspicious objects. As we proceed, we will review some better and worse arguments for forgery (and authentication). We will also discuss moral questions concerning provenance.
