Israel acknowledged on Friday that an inscription in clay found in the country’s south bearing the name of Darius the Great, ruler of the ancient Persian Empire, was not authentic.
The shard of pottery in question was discovered by a passerby last December and caused a sensation as the first mention of sixth century B.C. empire builder to appear in Israel.
After the news broke earlier this week, an expert in ancient Aramaic inscriptions approached the Israel Antiquities Authority to explain that she herself had actually etched those words onto the ancient fragment.
The unnamed expert, part of a foreign expedition last summer to the Tel Lachish archaeological site, told officials that she had scratched the words into pottery as a demonstration while explaining to students how artifacts were historically inscribed.
