Posted on 11/29/2018 7:28:32 PM PST by bkopto
The Israeli daily Ha’aretz is reporting that a bronze ring found 50 years ago at the Herodion excavation near Bethlehem has been discovered to bear the name of Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Jerusalem and the man who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus, according to the New Testament.
Ha’aretz reports that the name was discovered on the ring with the use of a special camera at the Israel Antiquities Authority labs. The letters on the ring spelled out in Greek writing “Pilatus.” The words surrounded a picture of a wine vessel.
Hebrew University Professor Danny Schwartz told Ha’aretz that Pilatus was a rare name in Israel. “I don’t know of any other Pilatus from the period and the ring shows he was a person of stature and wealth,” Schwartz said, according to the article.
The ring is a sealing ring, common in ancient times, and used to seal letters and stamp official documents using molten wax. “Researchers believe it was used by the governor in day to day work, or belonged to one of his officials or someone in his court, who would use it to sign in his name,” Ha’aretz reports.
Adding weight to the possibility that this ring belonged to the Pontius Pilate of the New Testament is the fact that this type of ring was a “hallmark” of the cavalry in the Roman era, to which Pilate belonged, Ha’aretz reports.
Pilate was the fifth prefect of the province of Judea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26 C.E. to 36 C.E., though there is some dispute about the exact dates.
The ring was originally found by Hebrew University Professor Gideon Forster shortly after the Six-Day War in 1968-69, Ha’aretz reports.
GGG Ping!
Looks like a cup of Ovaltine...
Frappuchino
Looks like large intestines to me.
They better take a real look close to make sure it doesn’t say: “Made in China”.
Well, according to the article, it may be Pilate’s, or it may have belonged to someone else who had that name (which was rare), or to one of Pilate’s employees/servants.
But fascinating, nonetheless.
imagine if he kept his ring on instead of washing his hands. Hmmm.
But, but for years and years the atheists said Pilate did not exist! Nothing is mentioned of him in other histories and if he was mentioned, it was a later interpolation!
Then came a dedication plaque, and now the ring. He lived when the Bible said he did.
I was being silly, but I do find it fascinating.
Inscription on the back says it was given to him by Bigus Di—us.
Thank you for posting this.
“O-T-A-V...”
Drink more Ovaltine.
Pretty amazing find!
I’m holding on to a ring that’s even older. It’s stamped with the date “212 BC”. The idiot who sold it to me had no idea how valuable it was.
Pilate is a fascinating historical figure. For a man who so (in)famous, we know remarkably little about his life. The tradition of the early Church is not unanimous in its treatment of him. To most western Christians he is a rather villainous figure. But at least some of the non-Chalcedonians venerate him as a saint.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate#Minor_Pilate_literature
Right. Chocolate Malt flavor.
Philo gives a rather negative picture of him.
Not quite the Holy Grail but WOW! What a find!
lol
Philo, Embassy to Caligula XXXVIII. (299)”... Pilate was one of the emperor’s lieutenants, having been appointed governor of Judaea. . .
“But this last sentence exasperated him [Pilate] in the greatest possible degree, as he feared least they might in reality go on an embassy to the emperor, and might impeach him with respect to other particulars of his government,
“in respect of his corruption, and his acts of insolence, and his rapine, and his habit of insulting people, and his cruelty, and his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned, and his never ending, and gratuitous, and most grievous inhumanity.”
etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.