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Ossuary of Caiaphas
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The ornate
ossuary contained the bones of a sixty year old man (Caiaphas)
and his family.
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On the side
(as above) and the back of the ossuary is inscribed Caiaphas'
name ("Yosef bar [son of] Caifa"). |
In a tomb located to the
south of Jerusalem were discovered several ossuraies, one of which contained
the bones of the former high priest Caiaphas (see Matt 26:3, 57; Luke
3:2; John 11:49; 18:13-14, 24, 28; Acts 4:6; Josephus, Ant. 23.25,
39). It was a Jewish custom to store the bones of the deceased
in ossuaries; the bones were collected about a year after burial.
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