I must have missed something, did someone on the server
          have a related question to the information you've provided?
          In any event, I am sure you must think they have missed it's
          publication.
 
          There appears to be more to this story then what you've
          presented, were there follow-up messages on this issue?
          What was the need?
 
 
The Hebrew Daily "Yediot Ahronot" reported today that after a reading by
the renowned epigraphist, Prof. Y. Naveh of the Hebrew U.that there was
no question of the Hasmonean reading of the inscription.  Indeed, he
claimed that the only legible letter was a Hebrew "het" which is the
first letter of Hasmonean but otherwise the inscription is virtually
illegible.  The article goes on to emphasize the embarassment of the
Israel Antiquites Authority, claiming that its "experts" had given the
erroneous reading.  The author of the article goes on to make the point
that the publication of such unauthenticated "news" was too hurried.
        As a close hand observer of the ossuaries in question and the
whole procedure, I can agree with the conclusions of the article but
would like to state that (and please quote me on this) : NAVEH IS
OBVIOUSLY CORRECT BUT NO IAA EXPERTS EVER GAVE ANY SUCH READING. THOSE
WHOM I SAW CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSIONS THAT NAVEH CAME TO BUT, BECAUSE
OF THEIR POSITIONS WAITED FOR THE IAA SPOKESPERSON TO MAKE A DENIAL.  Too
bad, it was newsworthy.  Eliot Braun, IAA