What Is Truth?

The archaeological artifacts associated with and ancient texts that make reference to Pontius Pilate are:

1. A broken block of carved limestone was discovered on the Israeli coast at Caesarea Maritima in 1961. It is now on display in The Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Caesarea Maritima was the capital of the Roman province of Judea during the time Pilate was Prefect/Governor from (26 - 36 AD). The partially preserved inscription reads (brackets indicate the proposed reconstruction):

[DIS AUGUSTI]S TIBERIÉUM To Augustus Tiberius

[...PONTI]US PILATUS ...Pontius Pilate

[...PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA]E ...Prefect of Judea

[...FECIT D]E[DICAVIT] ...has dedicated this

2. A copper alloy sealing ring that was discovered in the 1960's during the excavation at Herodium, Herod the Great's ancient fortress and palace south of Bethlehem, bore an inscription that has only recently been deciphered thanks to advanced photographic techniques. Inscribed in Greek (the lingua franca of the eastern Mediterranean), it translates as "of Pilate" (indicating possession, i.e. "belonging to Pilate"), and surrounds a depiction of a wine vessel called a "krater" (large hi-res image here). The plainness of the ring leads some archaeologists to argue against Pilate himself having worn it, but it's possible he may have used it to seal/mark official documents and correspondence and Pilate's servants could have used it to seal/mark items/documents on Pilate's behalf. The Roman name of Pilate was not common to the region at that time (or any time as far as I know).

3. In addition to the 63 references to Pilate in the New Testament (Matthew (11 times), Mark (12 times), Luke (13 times), John (23 times), Acts (3 times), and 1 Timothy (1 time)), Pilate is also mentioned in Flavius Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews Book XVIII, Philo of Alexandria's Embassy to Gaius, and a brief mention in the Annals of Tacitus in reference to the fire of Rome during Nero's reign:

"But neither human help, nor imperial munificence, nor all the modes of placating Heaven, could stifle scandal or dispel the belief that the fire had taken place by order. Therefore, to scotch the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styled Christians. Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus, and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not merely in Judaea, the home of the disease, but in the capital itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world collect and find a vogue." Book XV, 44, 26b-29.

DJ EJ (View Comment):

The archaeological artifacts associated with and ancient texts that make reference to Pontius Pilate are....

Absolutely fascinating. Thanks for this.

And Happy Easter.

DJ EJ (View Comment):

The archaeological artifacts associated with and ancient texts that make reference to Pontius Pilate are….

Peter Robinson (View Comment):

Absolutely fascinating. Thanks for this.

And Happy Easter.

You can't handle the Tooth! Too funny! Great ad-lib line.

Hiding eggs? Did you ever have the experience that a maybe a few months later - there is a strange odor, and you're able to recover the eggs that had been successfully hidden?

I always took Pontius Pilate to be like a small state governor... A big deal in his little pond - well removed from anything important - but a nobody in the real power circles.

DJ EJ (View Comment):

The archaeological artifacts associated with and ancient texts that make reference to Pontius Pilate are….

Peter Robinson (View Comment):

Absolutely fascinating. Thanks for this.

And Happy Easter.

OccupantCDN (View Comment):

You can’t handle the Tooth! Too funny! Great ad-lib line.

Hiding eggs? Did you ever have the experience that a maybe a few months later – there is a strange odor, and you’re able to recover the eggs that had been successfully hidden?

I always took Pontius Pilate to be like a small state governor… A big deal in his little pond – well removed from anything important – but a nobody in the real power circles.

But powerful enough to get people executed.

Great minds think alike ... thanks for giving legs to my analogy ... Not A Few Good Men.