The Ossuary of Caiaphas is one of twelve ossuaries that was discovered in a burial cave in the south of Jerusalem in November 1990. It has been suggested that it belonged to Joseph, son of Caiaphas, known as the High Priest of Israel Caiaphas in the New Testament. This is the first time the name has been found written in Semitic letters (Hebrew or Aramaic) since until the discovery the name was known only in its Greek version as Kifa.
What Are Jewish Ossuaries?
An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary (“os” is “bone” in Latin). The greatly reduced space taken up by an ossuary means that it is possible to store the remains of many more people in a single tomb than in coffins.
During the Second Temple period, Jewish burial customs were varied, differing based on class and belief. For the wealthy, one option available included primary burials in burial caves, followed by secondary burials in ossuaries. These bone boxes were placed in smaller niches of the burial caves, on the benches used for the desiccation of the corpse, or even on the floor.
Geographically, ossuaries are almost exclusively associated with tombs in and around Jerusalem. One of the most famous burial grounds is Akeldama (the Field of Blood).
The Ossuary of Caiaphas
The Caiaphas ossuary is a highly decorated ossuary inscribed “Joseph, son of Caiaphas” which held the bones of a 60-year-old male. The limestone ossuary measures c. 37 cm (15 in) high by 75 cm (30 in) long and is housed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
The tomb in which the ossuary was discovered is located in the Peace Forest, near the North Talpiot neighborhood, by construction workers in November 1990. The tomb’s roof was opened by a bulldozer by accident and revealed a rock-hewn burial cave. This was reported to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The burial cave is typical of the Second Temple period (516 BCE and 70 CE) in Jerusalem and is one of many in the area.
The four cave niches contained twelve ossuaries, of which six had been disturbed by grave robbers. One very ornate ossuary contained the bones of two infants, two teenage boys, an adult woman, and a man of about 60. Besides the detailed etching, there were traces of bright orange paint. It was inscribed “Yehosef bar Qayafa” on the long side, and “Yehosef bar Qafa” on the narrow side. It has been suggested that it belonged to Joseph, son of Caiaphas, known as Caiaphas, the High Priest of Israel, which was the major antagonist of Jesus in the New Testament.
The bones were eventually reburied on the Mount of Olives.
According to the New Testament, it was Caiaphas who sent Jesus to the High Commissioner Pontius Pilate to execute him. Caiaphas’ motives for betraying Jesus are unclear: some historians claim he had no choice. Others claim that he saw Jesus as a threat to his reign, and may have believed that if Jesus was not imprisoned or even executed for rebellion it would hurt the Romans’ patience with the Jews.
Matthew, Luke, and John each identify Caiaphas as the high priest that presided over the arrest and trial of Jesus. The historian Josephus also identifies “Joseph Caiaphas” as the Jewish high priest from 18 to 36 AD (Jewish Antiquities 18:35). Josephus also refers to him as “Joseph who was known as Caiaphas of the high priesthood”. Caiaphas had no power to inflict the sentence of death, and thus Jesus was sent to Pilate, the Roman governor, that he may accordingly pronounce the sentence against Jesus. In a later era, Caiaphas’s antagonism to the gospel is still apparent even after the resurrection (Acts 4:6).
Authenticity
According to several biblical scholars (here is one example), if authentic and attributable to the high priest Caiaphas, the ossuary is an important confirmation of the story told by the New Testament and facilitates a better understanding of the historical Jesus. More generally, the contents of the burial cave increase our knowledge of ossuary inscriptions and burial customs of the Second Temple period in the region.
Since the original discovery, the identification of the ossuary with Caiaphas has been challenged by some scholars due to various reasons, including the spelling of the inscription, the lack of any mention of Caiaphas’s status as High Priest, the plainness of the tomb (although the ossuary itself is as ornate as might be expected from someone of his rank and family), and other reasons.
