Evidence Entity

Ossuary inscribed “Joseph bar Caiaphas”

Decorated limestone ossuary from a southern Jerusalem family burial cave bearing the name Joseph bar Caiaphas. Association with the New Testament high priest Caiaphas is historically significant but must be distinguished from the physical inscription itself.

OssuaryOSSUARY_JOSEPH_BAR_CAIPHAS

Dateearly 1st century CEbroad burial/context range; identification is a separate claim

LanguageAramaic

Evidence classificationdocumented fact

Research links1explicit graph relationships

Jewish context

Identifiers

Museum descriptionJoseph bar Caiaphas

Repository / holdings

Israel Museum, Jerusalem exhibition/collection context.

Research graph

Historical / contextual links

Has Passage Evidence RecordMatthew 26:3 — Caiaphas in ossuary and Josephus evidencestrong evidence

Evidence boundary: The inscribed name and archaeological object are direct evidence. Identifying the deceased with the Caiaphas of New Testament narratives is a historical identification claim, not something the ossuary alone can prove with absolute certainty.