The high priest Joseph Caiaphas is known not only from the New Testament Gospels as the high priest who opposed Jesus and his early followers, but also from Josephus the Jewish historian who lived in the first century C.E. In this video Marc Turnage provides an historical sketch of this pivotal character.
Discovery of the Caiaphas Family Tomb
Many archaeological finds in Israel result from the chance uncovering of various ancient remains during the course of construction work. Some of these fortuitous discoveries prove to be of tremendous importance for understanding the history and archaeology of the land of Israel.
Character Profile: …To Bury Caiaphas, Not to Praise Him
At the end of December, 1990, one of the most significant New Testament-related archaeological discoveries ever made came to light in Jerusalem: the tomb of Caiaphas, high priest in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ death. Some of the ossuaries found in the tomb were inscribed with the name “Caiaphas,” the most magnificently decorated of them was inscribed with the name “Joseph bar Caiaphas.”
Ossuary Inscriptions from the Caiaphas Tomb
The ossuary inscriptions found in the Caiaphas tomb point to the fact that the name Caiaphas in its Aramaic version was in daily use in the middle of the first century C.E.