Unholy business - Nina Burleigh

In 2002, an ancient limestone box, called the James Ossuary, was trumpeted across the world’s front pages as the first material evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ. Today it is exhibit number one in a forgery trial that could lead to the incarceration of some very wealthy men and embarrass major international institutions, including the British Museum and Sotheby’s.

Set in Israel, with its 20,000 archaeological digs crammed with Biblical-era artefacts, and full of colourful characters – scholars, evangelicals, detectives and millionaire collectors – Unholy Business tells the incredible story of what the Israeli authorities have called ‘the fraud of the century’.

This real-life thriller about the high-stakes world of biblical antiquities
takes the reader into the murky world of Holy Land relic dealing, from the back alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City to London and New York’s Fifth Avenue, and reveals Biblical archaeology as it is pulled apart by religious believers on one side and scientists on the other.

Nina Burleigh is a staff writer for People magazine and has 22 years of writing and reporting experience for the Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune and Time. She has spent a considerable amount of time in the Middle East and is the author of The Stranger and the Statesman, A Very Private Woman and Mirage.