Wednesday, June 29, 2011
A Unique Archaeological Find was ExposedFollowing the Robbery of an Ancient Burial Cave:
A 2,000 Year Old Ossuary Belonging to a Daughter of the Caiaphas Family of High Priestswas Discovered
This week researchers from Bar Ilan University and Tel Aviv University published resultsof a study that was done for the Israel Antiquities Authority,which summarizes the importance of the find and confirms its authenticity
The ancient ossuary bears an Aramaic inscription from the time of the Second Temple:
„Miriam Daughter of Yeshua Son of Caiaphas, Priests [of] Ma'aziah from Beth ‟Imri‟. Theresearchers: “The prime importance of the inscription lies in the reference to the ancestry
of the deceased
–
Miriam daughter of Yeshua
–
to the Caiaphas family, indicating the
connection to the family of the Ma'aziah course of priests of Beth ‟Imri”
.
The high priestYehosef Bar Caiaphas, is especially famous for his involvement in the trial and crucifixionof Jesus.
Three years ago the Israel Antiquities Authority Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robberyacquired a decorated ossuary bearing an engraved inscription. The ossuary was discovered byantiquities robbers who plundered an ancient Jewish tomb of the Second Temple period. Duringthe course of the investigation it was determined that the ossuary came from a burial cave in thearea of the Valley of
‟
Elah, in the Judean Shephelah.To check the authenticity of the artifact and the significance of the engraved inscription, theIsrael Antiquities Authority turned to Dr. Boaz Zissu of the Department of the Land of IsraelStudies and Archaeology of Bar Ilan University and Professor Yuval Goren of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations of the Tel Aviv University.This week, the two scientists published the results of their research, which summarize theimportance of the find and confirm its genuineness. The study appears in the
Israel Exploration Journal
(Volume 61) published this week by the Israel Exploration Society.
Ossuaries are small stone chests that Jews used for secondary burial of bones; they were quitecommon in tombs in Israel from the late first century BCE until the beginning of the second
century CE. The front of the ossuary that was found is decorated with a stylized floral motif above which is a long Aramaic inscription engraved in Jewish script:
„Miriam Daughter of Yeshua Son of Caiaphas, Priests [of] Ma'aziah from Beth ‟Imri‟
(or, an alternative reading:
„Miriam Daughter of Yeshua Son of Caiaphas, Priest of Ma'aziah from Beth ‟Imri‟
)
In the conclusion of their study Dr. Boaz Zissu and Professor Yuval Goren write, “the prime
importance of the inscription lies in the reference to the ancestry of the deceased
–
Miriamdaughter of Yeshua
–
to the Caiaphas family, indicating the connection to the family of theMa'aziah
course of priests of Beth ‟Imri”. Caiaphas is the name of Yeshua‟s father, and Miriam„s
grandfather. From the wording of the inscription we learn that he belonged to a famous family of priests that was active in the first century CE. One family member, the high priest Yehosef BarCaiaphas, is especially famous for his involvement in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.Ma'aziah /Ma'aziahu is the last of the twenty four priestly courses that served in the Temple in
Jerusalem. The list of courses, which was formulated during King David‟s reign, appears in the
Bible in I Chronicles (I Chronicles 24:18).
The signatories to the pledge in the days of Nehemiah
include among others, “Maʽaziah, Bilgai, Shem'aiah; these are the priests” (Nehemiah 10: 9).
This is the first reference to the Maʽaziah course in an epigraphic find from the Second Temple
period. For the first time we learn from an inscription that the Caiaphas family was related to theMa'aziah course.The names of other courses, such as Abijah, Eliashib, Bilgah, Delaiah, Hakkoz, Shecaniah,Hezir, Jehoiarib, Jakim (Jakin) and Jeshebeab, are known from historical and epigraphic textsfrom the Second Temple period, including inscriptions discovered in tombs.
The ending “from
Beth ‟Imri” can be interpreted two ways:The first possibility is that Beth ‟Imri is the name of a priestly family –
the sons
of ‟Immer (Ezra
2: 36-37; Nehemiah 7:39-
42) whose descendents include members of the Maʽaziah course.
The second possibility is the place of origin of the deceased or of her entire family.
The name of
the ancient settlement was probably preserved in the name Beit ‟Ummar, a village in the northern
Hebron Hills. In that village and in nearby Khirbet Kufin, remains of a Jewish settlement wereidentified from the Second Temple period and the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.In view of the inscription on the ossuary it is worth examining the linguistic relationship betweenthe names Caiaphas
–
a prominent family that seems to have lived in Beth ‟Imri/ Beit ‟Ummar –
and Khirbet Kufin, which perhaps preserves the name of the Caiaphas family.
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