Greensburg —
Caiaphas, you may recall, was the Sadducean high priest during the life and ministry of Jesus.
As the official head of the Jewish state, Caiaphas presided over the council, or Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the “Supreme Court” of the Jewish state. Next to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, Caiaphas was the most powerful man in all of Judea and was responsible to Rome for the conduct of the nation. Caiaphas had been appointed to his office by Rome about A.D. 18.
Caiaphas was especially concerned about the growing popularity of Jesus, knowing that the people sought a “political messiah.” Matters came to a head when Jesus reportedly raised a man named Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for four days. Caiaphas was fearful that the unrest created by Jesus and his followers would cause Rome to intervene with armed forces. Caiaphas advised that Jesus be arrested and put to death.
In 1990, construction workers using a bulldozer accidentally uncovered a burial cave in the Peace Forest immediately north of Jerusalem, containing 12 limestone ossuaries or bone boxes. Two of the ossuaries were inscribed with the name “Caiaphas.” One beautifully ornate ossuary, measuring 37 centimeters high by 75 centimeters long was inscribed “Joseph, son of Caiaphas,” in Aramaic. Inside, archaeologists found the bones of a 60-year-old male, two babies, an adolescent child, a teenage boy and an adult woman.
Ossilegium, as the practice of using ossuaries has been called, was practiced in Israel, mainly in Jerusalem, from just before the turn of the century until the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E.
After the bones had been examined by physical anthropologists and physicians at the Hadasah Medical Center, they were reburied at night in a secret location on the Mount of Olives. Today, the Caiaphas ossuary can be viewed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Ben Morris, MA, RPA, is an archaeological and historical columnist for the Daily News. He can be reached at 812-932-0298 or at bjmorris1935@gmail.com.
Columns
Related Photos
-
The flexed skeletons seen here were among several Archaeologist Ben Morris and his crew excavated several years ago during a data recovery or salvage excavation. This was prior to the destruction of a site in a coal field in Ohio. A small clay elbow pipe found in association with one of the skeletons can be seen at the Decatur County Historical Society Museum in Greensburg. Ben Morris
Archaeologists discover Caiaphas’ ossuary
- Columns
-
-
Camp Lejuene vets may be entitled to medical assistance
Last year, on Aug. 6, President Obama signed into law the “Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012.”
-
The mound builders of the Woodland Period
About 1000 B.C. marks the beginning of a new period for man in North America.
-
Fit for a king, priced for the common man
In the early 1900’s the art glass market was ruled by the Tiffany family.
-
The Old Copper Indians
The Old Copper Indians, were a unique division of Boreal Archaic, so named because its Indian carriers used raw copper for making specific kinds of knives, spear ponts, socketed axes, gouges, pikes and awls.
-
Home remedies, recipes and the best time to plant your garden
Unique in it’s contents and inexplicably accurate, the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” stands as the oldest continuously published periodical in North America.
-
June flowers on the way?
It looks like the April showers are carrying into May.
-
Historic bar and World War II slave labor
You may remember Tom Keating, who for several years wrote an Indianapolis Star column.
-
Hoosier soil on veterans’ graves
Butch Kennedy and his son Shane did something rather marvelous. When the two were going to Europe some years ago they dug up some Indiana earth from around his land at Smith’s Crossing and took it with them to Europe.
-
The post-war trials of WWI vets
It is appropriate to remember that the United States entered World War I 96 years ago this month, that the Civil War began 152 years ago this month, and that the Desert Storm Cease Fire was this month in 1991.
-
A positive minute: What a time
As I write these words this morning I am also listening to Boston police communications.
- More Columns Headlines
-
Camp Lejuene vets may be entitled to medical assistance
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
