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View of one of the Aramaic inscriptions on the Ossuary [bone box] of "Joseph 'son' of Caiaphas."
The Aramaic inscription on this side reads "Joseph the 'son' of Caiaphas."
Most scholars believe that the Caiaphas mentioned here is the same one that is mentioned six times in the New Testament as well as in Josephus. Ronny Reich argues that the person was named "Joseph" and had a nickname "Caiaphas." Caiaphas was High Priest from 18 to 36 CE and was the one before whom Jesus was tried and is famously quoted in John 12:50
For an accessible discussion of the name Caiaphas, plus others appearing on ossuaries, see Reich, Ronny. “Caiaphas name Inscribed on Bone Boxes.” Biblical Archaeology Review 18, no. 5 (September/October 1992): 38–44.
This ossuary was found, along with 11 others, in a Second Temple tomb located two miles south of Jerusalem on a hill that today is called "the hill of Evil Counsel" (John 11:49–50).
Bones of six(!) individuals were found inside of the ossuary: 2 infants, 1 child, 1 teenaged boy, 1 adult woman, and a man—approximately sixty years old (evidently the Caiaphas of the New Testament and elsewhere).
