Caiaphas relative's sarcophagus said to be found in Israel

The Israeli Antiquities Authorities (IAA) announced Wednesday that a burial ossuary dating back to the Second Temple period and belonging to a relative of the Jewish high priest Caiaphas, has been discovered.

The IAA acquired the small sarcophagus three years ago, in connection with an illegal excavation carried out by looters in the biblical Valley of Elah. Jews of that era used the ossuaries for the reinterment of bones, a common practice of the period, IAA officials said in a statement.

Dr. Boaz Zissu of the Department of the Land of Israel and Prof. Yuval Goren of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations of the Tel Aviv University, examined the ossuary, which they believe belongs to the Caiaphas and the Ma' aziah lineage of high priests.

"What is so important about this discovery," Zussi told Xinhua, "is that for the first time we found evidence of the Ma'aziah lineage, that until now was only written on the Bible."

An Aramaic inscription in Jewish script appears on the ossuary, reading "Miriam Daughter of Yeshua Son of Caiaphas, Priests (of) Ma'aziah from Beth Imri," according to the IAA statement.

The scholars said the inscription links the Caiaphas to the Ma' aziahs, two important families during the Second Temple period.

Caiaphas is said to have been involved in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.

"Regarding Beth Imri, we are dealing with the options of identifying it as a toponym or a family name," Zussi said, " Because Caiaphas is related to the Ma'aziahs and they might be related to the family of Imri as well, but we are not sure if it is talking about a place or a family name."

What made the discovery exciting for Zussi was the almost unlikeliness of finding a women's name linked to her lineage, instead of linking it to the husband's as was customary at that time.

"It's really uncommon to see a woman given such preeminence in this period," Zussi said, "and also to see that a female held such lineage and titles and was given credit for them."

Since the artifact came from an illegal excavation, and officials say it is not possible to tell the exact location of the grave, researchers do not have information about the ossuary's background.

"It is a shame we cannot investigate the grave as well," Zussi said, "because it would give us so much more information about the sarcophagus and the Second Temple period."

Source: Xinhua