Pilate Stone
The Pilate Stone is the name given to a block (82 cm x 65 cm) of limestone with a carved inscription attributed to Pontius Pilate, a prefect of the Roman-controlled province of Judaea from 26-36. The stone is significant because it is the only universally accepted archaeological find with an inscription mentioning the name "Pontius Pilatus" to date.
The Pilate Stone is currently located at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.[1][2]
Contents |
[edit] Inscription
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Language: | Latin |
| Medium: | limestone |
| Size: | 82 centimeters high, 65 centimeters wide |
| Length: | 4 lines of writing |
| Genre: | Building Dedication |
| Dedicator: | Pontius Pilate |
| Title: | praefect of Judea |
| Approximate Date: | 26–37 CE |
| Place of Discovery: | Caesarea, Israel |
| Date of Discovery: | 1961 |
| Current Location: | Israel Museum |
| Inventory number: | AE 1963 no. 104 |
| Chief Excavator: | Antonio Frova |
| Significance | Historicity of Gospels |
On the partially damaged block is a dedication to the deified Augustus and Livia ("the Divine Augusti") of a Tiberieum (a building in honour of Tiberius Caesar Augustus). It has been deemed authentic because it was discovered in the coastal town of Caesarea, which was the capital of Iudaea Province[4] during the time Pontius Pilate was Roman governor.
The partial inscription reads (conjectural letters in brackets):
- [DIS AUGUSTI]S TIBERIÉUM
- [...PO]NTIUS PILATUS
- [...PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA]E
- [...FECIT D]E[DICAVIT]
The translation from Latin to English for the inscription reads:
- To the Divine Augusti [this] Tiberieum
- ...Pontius Pilate
- ...prefect of Judea
- ...has dedicated [this]
[edit] Discovery
The limestone block was discovered in June 1961 by Italian archaeologists led by Dr. Antonio Frova while excavating an ancient theater (built by decree of Herod the Great c. 30 BC), called Caesarea Maritima in the present-day city of Caesarea-on-the-Sea (also called Maritima).[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Jerry Vardaman, A New Inscription Which Mentions Pilate as 'Prefect' , Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 81, 1962. pp 70-71.
- ^ Craig A. Evans, Jesus and the ossuaries, Volume 44, Baylor University Press, 2003. pp 45-47
- ^ The Pilate Inscription
- ^ A History of the Jewish People, H.H. Ben-Sasson editor, 1976, page 247: "When Judea was converted into a Roman province [in 6 CE, page 246], Jerusalem ceased to be the administrative capital of the country. The Romans moved the governmental residence and military headquarters to Caesarea. The centre of government was thus removed from Jerusalem, and the administration became increasingly based on inhabitants of the Hellenistic cities (Sebaste, Caesarea and others)."
- ^ R. Russell, Fallen Empires, BibleHistory, 2010. p 1-2
