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View of the Ossuary [bone box] of "Joseph "son" of Caiaphas." 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).
It has a slightly curved cover that is etched with designs. The front of the soft limestone ossuary is beautifully carved with rosette and leaf designs. Note the red paint still visible in some places.
On one of the short sides, and on the back, the name Caiaphas has been etched into the stone with a nail—see the next image. It is evident that the ossuary was prepared in a workshop, but then when the bones were placed inside the name was inelegantly scratched on to it.
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).
