Shortly after the discovery of the Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone) in 1868, artifacts purportedly discovered in Transjordan and testifying to an ancient Moabite culture made their way to the Jerusalem shop of Moses Wilhelm Shapira. They were initially believed to be authentic. The Germans, having recently failed in their attempt to acquire the Mesha Stele, sought to win the race and purchase the entire collection. They urged Shapira to acquire as many as possible and to name his price. Shapira passed the word of Germany’s interest to his middleman, Selim al-Qari, and soon thereafter hundreds more Moabitica made their way to Shapira. He doubted the genuineness of some of these and warned his would-be purchasers, but they didn’t want to hear it. In the end, Shapira sold 1,700 of the Moabitica to the Germans. In this video, Ross K. Nichols and Jono Vandor begin to provide a bit of the behind-the-scenes story of the Moabitica. They were ultimately declared forgeries, but were they ALL truly fake? This is the Moabitica Scandal! *A special thanks to David and Patty Tyler who have worked tirelessly and provided generously for our joint research into the life and times of Moses Shapira.

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