Pilate Stone

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The Pilate Stone.

The Pilate Stone is the name of a block of limestone with a carved inscription attributed to Pontius Pilate, a prefect of the Roman-controlled province of Judaea (Iudaea) from 26-36. Pilate is infamous as being the man who condemned an itinerant Jewish preacher named Jesus to a painful scourging and death by crucifixion c. 33.

The partial inscription reads (conjectural letters in brackets):

[DIS AUGUSTI]S TIBERIEUM

[PO]NTIUS PILATUS

[PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA]E

[FECIT D]E[DICAVIT]

The 2'.7" x 2'.1" (82 cm) x (65 cm) limestone block, which was found in 1961 in an excavation of an ancient amphitheater (built by decree of Herod the Great c. 30 BC), called Caesarea Maritima in the present city of Caesarea-on-the-Sea (also called Maritima). On the partially damaged block is a dedication to Tiberius Caesar Augustus. It has been deemed as an authentic archaeological find due to the area in which it was discovered: the costal town of Caesarea, which was the seat of power of Judaea during the tyrannical reign of Pontius Pilate. Pilate also maintained a residence at Antonia Fortress in Jerusalem, but, outside of his annual trek to oversee the Passover celebration, he seldom visited Jerusalem. During Passover, Jerusalem's population swelled and the possibility of outbreaks of violence increased. Pilate's presence was to quell a rebellion before it started. Keeping the peace was of vital importance not only to Pontius Pilate, but to Yhosef Bar Kayafa (Joseph Caiaphas), the high priest of Jerusalem's Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. Caiaphas had been appointed high priest by Pilate's predecessor, Valerius Gratus c. 18, and Pilate retained him. [1] The two men likely despised each other, but a rebellion would have done neither man any good. Thus, they shared a tenuous peace.