The Jewish historian Josephus gives the full name of the Gospels' high priest: Joseph, called Caiaphas. In 1990 a bulldozer broke through the roof of a modest burial cave holding twelve ossuaries, one of them unusually beautiful, carved with rosettes — and scratched with the name Joseph bar Caiaphas. Inside were the bones of a man of about sixty. If the identification holds, these are the remains of the priest who presided over the night hearing of Jesus.
- What it is
- An ornately carved limestone bone-box inscribed in Aramaic “Joseph son of Caiaphas”
- Date of artifact
- 1st century AD
- Discovered
- a burial cave in the Peace Forest, south Jerusalem, uncovered by construction work, 1990 (excavated by Zvi Greenhut for the Antiquities Authority)
- Where it is now
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem
- Related to
- Caiaphas, the high priest at the trial of Jesus
- Scripture
- Matthew 26:57 · John 11:49–50 · John 18:13–14
What this find showsThe Caiaphas family of the Gospels and Josephus was a real Jerusalem priestly family of the period, and this tomb very probably belonged to it.
What it does not proveThe identification is probable rather than certain — the spelling of the name and the tomb's plainness have made some scholars hesitate — and the box tells us nothing about the trial itself.
Contested: Most scholars accept the identification with the high priest; a minority of epigraphers dissents. We flag it because the case, while strong, rests on a name match.
Sources & further reading