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2,000-year-old ossuary authentic, say researchers
confirming the authenticity of a recently obtained ancient ossuary with unique
historical implications that was plundered by antiquities robbers.
2,000-year-old ossuary, a stone chest used for secondary burial of bones,
belonged to a daughter of the Caiaphas family of high priests.
of the ossuary bears an Aramaic inscription from the time of the Second Temple
saying “Miriam Daughter of Yeshua Son of Caiaphas, Priests of Ma’aziah from Beth
Imri.”
The high priest Yehosef Bar Caiaphas is known for his involvement
in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, but the prime importance of the
inscription is the discovery that the Caiaphas family was related to the
Ma’aziah priestly course, one of the 24 divisions of Kohens that took turns
maintaining the schedule of offerings at the Temple in Jerusalem.
This is
the first reference to the Ma’aziah course in an epigraphic find from the Second
Temple period, which was the last of the twenty-four priestly courses that
served in the First Temple.
The list of courses was formulated during
King David’s reign and appears in the Bible in I Chronicles 24:18.
The
ossuary was discovered by antiquities robbers who looted a Jewish tomb of the
Second Temple period.
Three years ago, it was acquired by the Antiquities
Authority Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery.
Since the
ossuary was not found in a controlled, archeological excavation, and due to its
extraordinary historical significance, the authenticity of the artifact was
tested by Dr. Boaz Zissu of the Department of the Land of Israel Studies and
Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University and Prof. Yuval Goren of the
Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv
University.
The examinations determined that the ossuary and its
inscription are genuine and ancient, and came from a burial cave in the area of
the Valley of Elah, in the Shephela.
in the Israel Exploration Journal, Volume 61, confirming its authenticity and
summarizing the importance of the find.
The Antiquities Authority has
expressed distress that this important find, stolen from its original
provenance, was removed from its exact archeological context, so it is not
possible to know the full story of the burial cave.
The ending of the
inscription “from Beth Imri” can be interpreted to mean that Beth Imri is the
name of a priestly family – the sons of Immer as described in Ezra 2:36-37 and
Nehemiah 7:39-42, whose descendants include members of the Ma’aziah
course.
The second possibility is that it refers to the place of origin
of the deceased or of her entire family, which may have been preserved in the
name Beit Ummar, a village in the North Hebron Hills.
In that village and
in nearby Khirbet Kufin, remains of a Jewish settlement were identified from the
Second Temple era and the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
First Temple period archeological site unveiled in Jerusalem
City of David - Gone but not forgotten
Temple Mount Faithful petitions for excavation report
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