Ancient Bones May Be of Priest Who Handed Jesus to Romans

The bones of a 1st Century man named Caiaphas have been discovered in an ancient burial cave in Jerusalem, and archeological evidence indicates they may be the remains of the high priest who handed Jesus over to the Romans.

The age of the bones, the elaborateness of the ossuary in which they were found and the inscriptions with the name Caiaphas found on the side of the casket-like box point to the man described in the Gospels.

The finding reported in an upcoming issue of Biblical Archeology Review is particularly striking since it represents the first archeological evidence of the remains of any major figure in the New Testament, Ronny Reich of the Israeli Antiquities Authority said in an interview Thursday.

Archeologists happened upon the bones in November, 1990, during the building of a water park in Peace Forest near Jerusalem.

The burial cave’s roof had collapsed, and archeologists discovered 12 ossuaries--or boxes usually made of limestone in which the bones of the dead were stored--said Zvi Greenhut, Jerusalem’s city archeologist.

On the outside of a particularly ornate ossuary--decorated in what Greenhut said was a rare, intricate pattern of rosettes--the inscription “Joseph, son of Caiaphas” was in two places. Inside were a 60-year-old man’s bones.

A person named Joseph, nicknamed Caiaphas, was the high priest in Jerusalem from the years 18 to 36 AD.

Reich said that the New Testament provides the nickname only in Greek form, but the 1st Century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus gives his full name as “Joseph who was called Caiaphas of the high priesthood.”

Further evidence that indicates the ossuary dates to the 1st Century came with a bronze coin minted in the years AD 42 and 43 during the reign of Herod Agrippa I found in another ossuary.

So, are the bones of the 60-year-old man those of Caiaphas, the high priest who is said in the Gospel of Matthew to have found Jesus guilty of blasphemy before handing him over to the Roman governor Pilate for execution?

“I have no answer for this question,” Greenhut said.

Steven Feldman, associate editor of Biblical Archeology Review, said the find should be particularly exciting to some believing Christians because to them it may bolster the Bible’s accuracy, but it’s also exciting to archeologists and Bible students for bringing alive an important piece of history.

“This is some way of dialogue with people 2,000 years ago,” Reich said.