Pilate stone or Pilate Inscrition Stone is a carved limestone bearing the name of Pontius Pilate the Roman prefect of Judean province during 26–36 CE. It was discovered at the archaeological site of Caesarea Maritima in 1961.
Original inscription stone bearing the name of located at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The partially damaged block is a dedication to the deified Augustus and Livia ("the Divine Augusti"), the stepfather and mother of emperor Tiberius, originally placed within a Tiberieum, probably a temple dedicated to Tiberius. The artifact is a fragment of the dedicatory inscription of a later building, probably a temple, that was constructed, possibly in honour of the emperor Tiberius, dating to 26 to 36 CE.
The artifact is particularly significant because it is an archaeological find of an authentic 1st-century Roman inscription mentioning the name "[Pont]ius Pilatus". It is contemporary to Pilate's lifetime, and accords with what is known of his reported career. In effect, the inscription constitutes the earliest surviving, and only contemporary, record of Pilate, who is otherwise known from the New Testament, the Jewish historian Josephus and writer Philo, and brief references by Roman historians such as Tacitus.
Replica casting on display in Caesarea Maritima it constitutes the earliest surviving record and a contemporaneous evidence for the historical existence of this person; otherwise known from the New Testament, Jewish literature and brief mentions in retrospective Roman histories.
circa 30 CE
The inscription on the partially damaged block is a dedication to the deified Augustus and Livia (the Augustan gods or "Divine Augustis"), the stepfather and mother of emperor Tiberius, originally placed within a Tiberieum, probably a temple dedicated to Tiberius.
The inscription reads as follows
[DIS AUGUSTI]S TIBERIÉUM (To the Divine Augusti [this] Tiberieum)
[...PONTI]US PILATUS (...Pontius Pilate)
[...PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA]E (...prefect of Judea)
[...FECIT D]E[DICAVIT] (...has dedicated [this]).
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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