Tomb of the High Priest Caiaphas Discovered
In 1990, workers constructing a Water Park in the Jerusalem Peace Park found a Second Temple burial cave literally in the shadow of the Temple Mount. It was not an uncommon find; over 800 Second Temple tombs have been found around Jerusalem. What made it unique was the family name scratched on the back of one of the ossuaries.
An ossuary is a second burial bone box, rectangular in shape, around 1 1/4 feet wide and 2 1/2 feet long. The body was laid in the cave at time of death, and allowed to decompose. A year later the bones would be collected, and put in the ossuary. This then would be placed in a niche (loculi or kokh) of the burial cave for more permanent storage.
This practice was limited to a short 100 year period proceeding the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in 70 CE. This relic is positively out of the New Testament era. It is without doubt an object linked to the very days when Yahshua walked the streets of Jerusalem.
What makes this archaeological find the "big gun" of Christian Apologetics? It's the family name Caiaphas someone in antiquity scratched on the back side of the ossuary for identification. Contained in this identification name was also the answer to a 2000 year old mystery which confounded scholars expert in the writings of Josephus. The reality of what was found has even the most liberal archaeologists agreeing that the bones of a man in his sixties contained in this ossuary are none other then the Biblical High Priest mentioned many times by name, and who ordered the first scourging of Yahshua the Messiah.
Zvi Greenhut was working for the Antiquity Authority when word came on that cold November day of an accidental discovery at the Peace Park. He observed that the roof of a burial cave had collapsed. A quick look revealed four ossuaries scattered around the central chamber. It had been pillaged in antiquity. As he looked in the four niches of the cave, he could see the ancient tomb robbers had only pillaged six of the twelve ossuaries in the tomb. Niche four was undisturbed, and contained two ossuaries which were still in the same place where the ancient owners had placed them. The large number of ossuaries suggest the Tomb was in use for a long period of time by several families. The most ornate of all the ossuaries was found in niche four. An ossuary fit for a High Priest. A name was discovered scratched on the backside transliterated "Yehosef bar Qafa,"or Joseph son of Caiaphas. With the publication of this information, came the solution to a 2000 year old puzzle. Josephus was a Jewish historian working for the Romans when the Jewish Second Temple was destroyed. His writings have survived. Scholars had debated a peculiar phrase used by Josephus in reference to the Caiaphas of the Scripture. Only he identified him as "Joseph who was called Caiaphas" (Antiquities Of The Jews 18 2:2). Now, after 2000 years, a Priestly ossuary turns up in the shadow of the Temple Mount with the inscription "Yehosef bar Qafa." An ossuary containing a famous family's bones among which are those of a man in his sixties. The age scholars place the death of the Biblical Caiaphas. I suppose there are some who when even hit by a ten ton brick would deny it really happened, but for the rest of us the proof is undeniable. Archaeologists have uncovered the bones of one of the most infamous characters in all recorded history. A genuine relic taking us to the very days when Yahshua walked the streets of Jerusalem.
