Moses Shapira (1830-1884) was a Jerusalem antiquities dealer and purveyor of fake biblical artifacts. 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ... Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...

Moses Wilhelm Shapira was born in 1830 to Polish-Jewish parents in Kamenets-Podolski, which at the time was part of Russian-annexed Poland (in modern-day Ukraine). Shapira's father emigrated to Palestine and in 1856, at the age of 25, Moses Shapira followed suit. His grandfather, who accompanied him, died en route. 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The term Palestine may refer to: Palestine: A geographical region in the Middle East, centered on Jerusalem. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

In Jerusalem, Moses Shapira converted to Anglicanism and in 1861 founded a store devoted to pilgrim trade in Christian Quarter Road. He sold the usual religious tourist paraphernalia and ancient pots he had acquired from Arab farmers. Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... The Anglican Communion is a world-wide organisation of Anglican Churches. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... There are three factors which may assist to varying degrees in determining whether someone is considered Arab or not: Political: whether they live in a country which is a member of the Arab League (or, more vaguely, the Arab world); this definition covers more than 300 million people. ...

Shapira became interested in biblical artifacts after the appearance of the so-called Moabite Stone, the Mesha Stele. He witnessed the schism and interest around it and may have had a hand in negotiations between German, British and French representatives. France eventually got the fragments of the original stone. The stele as photographed circa 1891 The Mesha Stele (popularized in the 19th century as the Moabite Stone) is a black basalt stone, bearing an inscription by the 9th century BC Moabite King Mesha, discovered in 1868. ...

Shapira proceeded to create a flood of fake Moabite artifacts – clay figurines, large human heads, clay vessels and erotic pieces, with inscriptions that had been copied from the Mesha Stele. His associate was a Christian Arab potter Salim al-Kari. In modern eyes, the products seem clumsy – inscriptions do not translate to anything legible, for one – but at the time there was little to compare them with. He even organized an expedition to Moab where he had his Bedouin associates bury more forgeries. Some scholars began to base their theories on these pieces. Moab (מוֹאָב Seed of father/leader, Standard Hebrew Moʾav, Tiberian Hebrew Môʾāḇ) is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan running along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. ... Christian Arabs are found mainly in Lebanon, with significant other populations in Iraq (e. ... Bedouin resting at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawi بدوي, a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the eastern coast of the Arabian desert. ...

Since German archaeologists had not gained possession the Moabite Stone, they rushed to buy the Shapira Collection before their rivals. The Berlin Museum bought 1700 artefacts with the cost of 22,000 thalers in 1873. Other private collectors followed suit. One of them was Horatio Kitchener, British military officer, who bought eight pieces in his own expense. Shapira was able to move to Aga Rashid (modern-day Ticho House), outside Jerusalem city walls with his wife and two daughters. Examples of German and Austrian thalers compared to a US quarter piece The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum PC, KBE, KCB, ADC ( June 24, 1850 - June 5, 1916) was a British Field Marshal and statesman. ... The Ticho House museum is located in one of the first houses in Jerusalem built outside the Old City Walls at the end of the nineteenth century. ...

Still various people, including a French scholar and diplomat Charles Clermont-Ganneau, had their doubts. Clermont-Ganneau suspected Salim al-Kari, pressured him and found people who supplied him with clay. He published his findings in Athenauem newspaper in London and declared them forgeries. Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau (February 19, 1846 - February 15, 1923), French Orientalist, the son of a sculptor of some repute, was born in Paris. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

Shapira defended his collection vigorously until his rivals presented more evidence against them. He made Salim al-Kari the scapegoat and played to role of innocent victim.

In 1883 Shapira presented what is now known as the Shapira Strips, fragments of supposedly ancient parchment he claimed to have found near the Dead Sea. Their inscriptions of ancient Semitic script hinted at a different version of the Ten Commandments and Deuteronomy. Shapira sought to sell them to the British Museum for a million pounds, and allowed them to exhibit two of the 15 strips. The exhibition was attended by thousands. 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea The Dead Sea (Arabic البحر الميت,Hebrew ים המלח) is the lowest point on the Earths surface. ... Semitic is an adjective referring to the peoples who have traditionally spoken Semitic languages or to things pertaining to them. ... The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity. ... Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible. ... As a unit of currency, the term pound originates from the value of a Troy pound weight (Latin libra), of high purity silver, and is the currency unit of a number of countries: Cyprus pound in Cyprus Egyptian pound in Egypt Falkland Islands pound in the Falkland Islands Gibraltar pound...

However, Charles Clermont-Ganneau also attended the exhibition; Shapira had denied him access to the other 13 strips. After close examination, Clermont-Ganneau declared them to be forgeries. Soon afterwards British biblical scholar Christian David Ginsburg came to the same conclusion. Later Clermont-Ganneau showed that the parchment of the Deuteronomy scroll was cut out of a genuine Yemenite scroll that Shapira had also sold to the museum. The Republic of Yemen is a country in the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, and is a part of the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia. ...

Shapira slipped out of London and wandered around Europe for months. He shot himself in Hotel Bloemendaal in Rotterdam on March 9, 1884. Rotterdam Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands (after Amsterdam), located in the province of South Holland. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ...

The Shapira Scrolls disappeared and then reappeared a couple of years later in a Sotheby's auction, where they were sold for 10 guineas. In 1887 they were probably destroyed in a fire at the house of the final owner, Sir Charles Nicholson. Shapira fakes still exist in museums and private collections around the world but are rarely displayed. Sothebys is a noted auction house. ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ...