From: emery@tc.fluke.COM (John Emery)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: The Bones of Ca'iaphas
Date: 17 Aug 92 23:12:29 GMT
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA

In article <1992Aug14.213410.13111@leland.Stanford.EDU> charlie@leland.Stanford.EDU (Charlie Channel, Jr.) writes:
>Did anyone catch the story on NPR today about the discovery of the
>bones of Ca'iaphas? (See John 18:13,14)  Facsinating archeological
>facts have come to light.  
>
>C

I was tipped off on this article that appeared in the Aug 14 Seattle Times:

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND 'EXCITING' EVIDENCE

Archaeologists have discovered the bones of a first-century man with the
same name as the high priest who handed Jesus over to the Romans, providing
the first archaeological evidence of a major figure in the New Testament.

The age of 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, according to a report in
the September-October issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

"This is, of course, exciting," Ronny Reich of the Israeli Antiquity Authority
said in an interview yesterday.  "This is some way of dialogue with people
2,000 years ago."

The finding is particularly striking since there is no other archaeological
evidence of the remains of any of the major figures mentioned in the New
Testament, Reich said.

Although Reich and Zvi Greenhut, city archaeologist of Jerusalem, say they
cannot make positive identification of Caiaphas, an associate editor of the
magazine said the evidence is strong.

"The absolute evidence is never there, but it's about as strong a link as
you can find in the field," Steven Feldman said.

Archaeologists came upon the bones in November 1990 during construction
of a water park in Peace Forest on the outskirts of Jerusalem.  The roof
of the burial cave had callapsed, and archaeologists discovered 12 
ossuaries, or bone boxes, Greenhut said.

In the late Second Temple period (first century B.C. to first century A.D.),
bodies were often laid out in a niche of burial caves.  After the flesh had
decomposed, the bones were collected in an ossuary, apparently reflecting
a belief in resurrecton, for which purpose the bones were stored, Greenhut
wrote.

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

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

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

Further evidence indicating the ossuary dates to the first century was a
bronze coin minted in the years 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?

The inscriptions and the age and the elaborateness of the ossuary all point
to the bones' being those of Caiaphas, but the bones were not identified as
those of Caiaphas the high priest, Greenhut said.

Only a few biblical figures from the second century B.C. to the second
century A.D. have been positively identified in archaeological finds.

After the archaeological study, Greenhut said, the bones were given to
the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which reburied them on the Mount of
Olives.

--------------

Very interesting!

-- 
John Emery		"You say we've risen to a new age of light.
emery@tc.fluke.COM       You're telling me what used to be wrong
			 is now right."
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc