This could be one more proof of the veracity of the Gospels.. The ring authenticated by israeli researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem would be that of… Pontius Pilate, the roman governor who, according to the Bible, ordered the killing of Jesus Christ.
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The jewel discovered by an archaeologist of israel in 1969 in the west bank, on the site of the Herodium, the hill that houses the tomb of the sulphur king Herod the Great in the first century. The ring seal in question, which was used to seal documents and letters, waited patiently for half a century to know its owner.
archaeologists and epigraphists have finished, after cleaning, by decipher, thanks to a camera at very high resolution, the mysterious inscription. A crater, a container used for wine, is flanked by Greek letters composing the name of “Pilate.”
“Pilate was a name very rare in Palestine in the first century, says professor Dany Schwarz. I am not aware of another Pilate of the same period.” The Times of Israel , Roi Porat, the director of the excavations of the Herodion, confirms: “The link with Pontius Pilate is obvious.”
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The prefect Pontius Pilate had been sent by Rome at the head of the province of Judea between 26 and 36 after Jesus Christ. Having allowed the crucifixion of Christ, according to the Gospels , he has created a sad reputation through the centuries.
a gem of A family?
“We believe that the ring has been manufactured by a local workshop, perhaps in Jerusalem,” explain the archaeologists who have examined the subject. The invoice of the ring is not very refined, nor the presence of a container such as this one. And more like what you were wearing soldiers, individuals of middle class or dignitaries of lower rank.
It could be the finger of a member less important to his family or an employee of the administration responsible for applying the seal to the place of Pontius Pilate. Maybe even to a freed slave. Or, suppose in the last resort Roi Porat, the governor, Pontius Pilate would have been able to wear that in the privacy, day, without official ceremonies.
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The archaeological point of view, the gem is far from being without value: up to now, a single inscription mentioning the name of Pontius Pilate was known. It was found in Caesarea Maritime on a theatre erected by the governor in honour of the emperor Tiberius.
