Pontius Pilate inscription from Caesarea

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Copy of the inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate in Caesarea Maritima
Detail with the inscription, copy in Milan
The site: the Roman theater in Caesarea Maritima

The Pontius Pilate inscription of Caesarea is on a spolia that was found during an archaeological excavation in Caesarea Maritima in 1961 . The inscription is one of the most famous inscriptions found in Israel and is the only epigraphic evidence of Pontius Pilate , prefect of the Roman emperor Tiberius in Judea from 26 to 36 AD and a prominent actor in the story of the Passion .

Location

The inscription was found in 1961 during the third excavation campaign of the Italian Archaeological Mission in the Roman theater of Caesarea Maritima . It is located on a stone that was set in the lower landing of the northernmost staircase in the audience circle, the cavea, with the inscription facing up. In order to adapt it to the somewhat lower level of the stepping stone adjoining to the west, a good part of its left half was worked off at an angle, the letters carved in this area were lost. The stone was used as part of the staircase design during the renovation phase in the 4th century, during which the theater was converted for water features. The inscription find was provisionally published in 1961 by the excavation director Antonio Frova .

Inscription bearer

The inscription bearer is a formerly rectangular block made of limestone . The block, mainly damaged in its lower area, is 66 cm wide and 82 cm high with a depth of 20–21 cm. Only the area that was used to record the inscription was smoothed, the other pages were only roughly picked. The stone has no traces of clasp . Due to its preparation, it can be assigned to a wall association, the embedded inscription served as a building inscription.

In addition to the processing of the letters on the left side, with the help of which it was adapted to the requirements for its use in the theater, the stone has a semicircular design on its right side, about halfway up. It was driven through from the back of the stone in full depth and tapers to the front from 30 to 27 cm in diameter. The last letters of the third line of inscription were damaged during this treatment. For the associated use, the stone must have been used in a position in which the inscription was not visible on the underside of the block. The stone was therefore used in at least two different contexts before it found its place in the theater as a spoiler.

Today the stone is in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem under inventory number 61-529 .

inscription

The inscription also includes the following legible letters:

[…] S · TIBERIÉVM
[…] ṆTIVS · PÌLATVS
[…] ECTUS · IVDAE [.] E
[…] ÉCỊ […]

The letter height decreases from top to bottom and is 5.8 cm in the first line, 5.5 cm in the second and 4.5 cm in the third. For the badly damaged fourth line, there is room for about 4.0 cm high letters. Long vowels are marked separately, in the case of -E- by an apex , in the case of -I- by an iota longa . The transverse bar of the -T- is always above the line, so that the letter height of the first line is 6 cm here. An apex preserved in the fourth line attests to an -E- at this point , which was sometimes not recognized in early readings of the inscription. Finally, the following -C- was also recognized as certain, the following -I- as recognizable, but not accessible without expectations. Small triangles were used to separate words. A maximum of 5–6 letters can be added to the left.

reading

The inscription was first scientifically edited by Attilio Degrassi , who suggested the following reading in 1964:

[Dis Augusti] s Tiberieum / [Po] ntius Pilatus / [praef] ectus Iuda [ea] e / [fecit d] e [dicavit]
"Pontius Pilatus, Prefect of Judea, built (and) consecrated Tiberieum to the blessed gods" .

This reading was followed by Carla Brusa Gerra in the final publication on the excavation, but added Frova [ Caesarians ] s (ibus) (“the inhabitants of Caesarea”) in the place of [Dis Augusti] s as before . While the reading of lines 2 and 3 can be considered certain, numerous suggestions have been made for the additions to lines 1 and 4.

Géza Alföldy objected to these suggestions that the lost part of the stone was too small for these reconstructed additions to the first line to have stood on. He himself proposed a new reading in 1999, which he defended in several essays and which met with great acceptance:

[nauti] s Tiberieum / [Po] ntius Pilatus / [praef] ectus Iudae [a] e / [ref] e [cit]
"For the seamen, Pontius Pilatus, prefect of Iudaea, renewed the Tiberieum".

Among others, Werner Eck and Alexander Demandt joined him. Alföldy was initially contradicted by Tibor Grüll , who added munus (“festival”) instead of nautis (“sailors”) and de suo edidit (“organized at his own expense”) instead of refecit (“has renewed”), but later withdrew this and likewise Alfoldy followed. Karl Jaroš read incolis ("the inhabitants") differently in the first line . Monika Bernett expressed skepticism about Alföldy's proposal without submitting her own.

interpretation

Regardless of the detailed reading and the resulting interpretation, the special value of the inscription lies in the naming of Pontius Pilate. Due to the poor sources of his biography, it was sometimes doubted that he was a historical person. The inscription not only proves its historicity, but also that the correct name for the office exercised by Pilate was prefect and not, as is common with the governors of Judea from the middle of the 1st century, procurator, a name used by Tacitus . According to Werner Eck, the title also shows that Pontius Pilate was not governor of an independent Roman province of Iudaea, but a subordinate legate of the governor of the province of Syria . The inscription offers no reference to the question of the unknown prenomen of Pontius Pilatus, only the length of the -i- in the Cognomen Pilatus is attested, which offers certain information for the derivation.

Completion and interpretation of the inscription concentrate primarily on the interpretation of the otherwise not traditional Tiberieum. Since the word formation seems to be based on similar terms from the area of ​​the imperial cult , such as Caesareum, Augusteum, Sebasteum, a sacred reference was already established by Degrassi, which led to his addition to the first line. He believed to be able to recognize in the Di Augusti the cult recipients Augustus and Livia of a temple called Tiberieum . Since the addition is too long for the space available and it is unclear why a temple called Tiberieum should be dedicated to the parents of Tiberius , this concrete interpretation was deviated from. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that the Tiberieum is to be understood as part of a sacred building structure, be it a temple or a portico within a larger complex.

Géza Alföldy took a completely different approach. In his detailed description of the city of Caesarea, Flavius ​​Josephus mentions the colossal lighthouses of the port, built by Herod , the most magnificent and largest of which, after Drusus - brother of Tiberius and as this stepson of Augustus - was called Drusion , and marked the western entrance of the double port complex . In Alfoldy's interpretation, the Tiberieum is a counterpart of the eastern driveway that has not been handed down by name, and the block of inscriptions is the associated building inscription. The brothers from the ruling house of Augustus were honored in this way. This approach was supported and reinforced by Alexander Demandt and Werner Eck. The dedication of the inscription and the building to the nautae, the sailors, fits into this reading as does the refecit, since the building was already built by Herod no later than 4 BC. B.C. and a necessary restoration under Pontius Pilate would be conceivable. Bernett's skeptical remarks prompted Alfoldy to make a final reply. The interpretation of Alfoldy found its way into the Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae .

literature

  • Antonio Frova : L'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato a Cesarea. In: Rendiconti dell'Istituto Lombardo, Accademia di Scienze e Lettere. Volume 95, 1961, pp. 419-434.
  • Attilio Degrassi : Sull'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato. In: Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei. Class di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche. Rendiconti. 8th series, 19th year, 1964, pp. 59–65.
  • Carla Brusa Gerra: Le Iscrizioni. In: Antonio Frova (ed.): Scavi di Caesarea Maritima. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 1966, pp. 217-228.
  • Jean-Pierre Lémonon: Pilate et le gouvernement de la Judée. Textes et monuments (= Etudes bibliques ). J. Gibalda, Paris 1981, ISBN 2-85021-003-X , pp. 23-32.
  • Clayton Miles Lehmann, Kenneth G. Holum: The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima (= The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima. Excavation Reports. Volume 5). American Schools of Oriental Research, Boston 2000, ISBN 0-89757-028-6 , pp. 67-70, No. 43, plate XXXVI.
  • Karl Jaroš : In the matter of Pontius Pilatus (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 93). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2876-1 , pp. 38-40.
  • Monika Bernett : The imperial cult in Judea under the Herodians and Romans. Studies on the political and religious history of Judea from 30 BC Chr. – 66 AD (= Scientific investigations on the New Testament. Volume 203). Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, ISBN 3-16-148446-0 , pp. 205-214.
  • Alexander Demandt : Pontius Pilate. CH Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63362-1 , pp. 40-43.
  • Walter Ameling , Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck u. a. (Ed.): Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae. A Multi-lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad . Volume 2: Caesarea and the Middle Coast. 1121-2160. De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-022218-0 , pp. 228-230 No. 1277 (Werner Eck).
  • Géza Alföldy : L'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato: una discussione senza fine? In: Gianpaolo Urso (ed.): Iudaea socia - Iudaea capta (= I Convegni della Fondazione Niccolò Canussio. Volume 11). Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2012, ISBN 978-88-467-3390-0 , pp. 137-150 ( PDF; 11.8 MB ).

Remarks

  1. ↑ Antonio Frova: Membership to di Ponzio Pilato a Cesarea. In: Rendiconti dell'Istituto Lombardo, Accademia di Scienze e Lettere. Volume 95, 1961, pp. 419-434.
  2. ↑ Technical description and inventory number in Walter Ameling , Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck et al. (Ed.): Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae. A Multi-lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad. Volume 2: Caesarea and the Middle Coast. 1121-2160. De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 228, see also Géza Alföldy : L'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato: una discussione senza fine? In: Gianpaolo Urso (ed.): Iudaea socia - Iudaea capta (= I Convegni della Fondazione Niccolò Canussio. Volume 11). Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2012, pp. 137–150, here: p. 138.
  3. ↑ AE 1963, 00104 (= AE 1964, 39; AE 1964, 187; AE 1971, 477; AE 1981, 850; AE 1991, 1578; AE 1997, 166; AE 1999, 1681; AE 2002, 1556; AE 2005, 1583; AE 2008, 1542).
  4. ^ Also Clayton Miles Lehmann, Kenneth G. Holum: The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima (= The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima. Excavation Reports. Volume 5). American Schools of Oriental Research, Boston 2000, p. 68, read:… S TIBERIÉVM /. [PO] ṆTIVS PÌLATVS / [PRAEF] ECTUS IVDA [EA] E /…
  5. ↑ Walter Ameling, Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck a. a. (Ed.): Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae. A Multi-lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad. Volume 2: Caesarea and the Middle Coast. 1121-2160. De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 229.
  6. ^ Clayton Miles Lehmann, Kenneth G. Holum: The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima (= The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima. Excavation Reports. Volume 5). American Schools of Oriental Research, Boston 2000, p. 68; Hans Volkmann : The Pilatus inscription from Caesarea Maritima. In: Gymnasium . Volume 75, 1968, pp. 124-135, here: pp. 129 f. considers the addition of 7 letters possible.
  7. ↑ Attilio Degrassi: Sull'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato. In: Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei. Class di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche. Rendiconti. 8. Ser., 19th Jg., 1964, pp. 59-65 (= AE 1964, 39).
  8. ↑ Carla Brusa Gerra: Le Iscrizioni. In: Antonio Frova (ed.): Scavi di Caesarea Maritima. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 1966, pp. 217-228.
  9. ^ Géza Alföldy: L'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato: una discussione senza fine? In: Gianpaolo Urso (ed.): Iudaea socia - Iudaea capta (= I Convegni della Fondazione Niccolò Canussio. Volume 11). Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2012, p. 150, offers a compilation of all supplementary suggestions.
  10. ↑ Géza Alföldy: Pontius Pilatus and the Tiberieum of Caesarea Maritima. In: Scripta Classica Israelica. Volume 18, 1999, pp. 85-108; most recently Géza Alföldy: L'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato: una discussione senza fine? In: Gianpaolo Urso (ed.): Iudaea socia - Iudaea capta (= I Convegni della Fondazione Niccolò Canussio. Volume 11). Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2012, pp. 137–150, here: pp. 143–145 for reading nautis .
  11. ↑ Werner Eck: The inscriptions of Judaea in the 1st and early 2nd century AD as evidence of Roman rule. In: Michael Labahn, Jürgen Zangenberg (eds.): Between the Reichen: New Testament and Roman rule (= texts and works on the New Testament age. Volume 36). Francke, Tübingen 2002, pp. 29–50, here: pp. 32–34; Werner Eck: Rome and Judaea: five lectures on Roman rule in Palestine (= Tria corda. Volume 2). Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-16-149460-4 , p. 16 f. with note 30.
  12. ↑ Alexander Demandt: Pontius Pilatus. Beck, Munich 2012, pp. 40–43.
  13. ↑ Tibor Grüll: Pilats Tiberiéum: A New Approach. In: Acta Antiqua. Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Volume 41, 2001, pp. 267-278 ( AE 2002, 1556).
  14. ^ Tibor Grüll: Pontius Pilatus, egy karrier története (story of a career). Szent Pál Akadémia Kiadó, Budapest 2002, pp. 98-108.
  15. ↑ Karl Jaroš: In the matter of Pontius Pilatus (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 93). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2002, pp. 38–40.
  16. ↑ Monika Bernett: The imperial cult in Judea under the Herodians and Romans. Studies on the political and religious history of Judea from 30 BC Chr. – 66 AD. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, pp. 205–214.
  17. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 15:44 .
  18. ↑ Werner Eck: The naming of Roman officials and political-military-administrative functions with Flavius ​​Iosephus - problems of correct identification. In: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy . Volume 166, 2008, pp. 218-226; Walter Ameling, Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck et al. (Eds.): Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae. A Multi-lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad. Volume 2: Caesarea and the Middle Coast. 1121-2160. De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, p. 229.
  19. ↑ Alexander Demandt: Pontius Pilatus. CH Beck, Munich 2012, pp. 46-48.
  20. ↑ Attilio Degrassi: Sull'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato. In: Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei. Class di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche. Rendiconti. Ser. 8, 19 vol., 1964, p. 62 f.
  21. ↑ Jean-Pierre Lémonon: Pilate et le gouvernement de la Judée. Textes et monuments. Gibalda, Paris 1981, pp. 27-31; Clayton Miles Lehmann, Kenneth G. Holum: The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima (= The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima. Excavation Reports. Volume 5). American Schools of Oriental Research, Boston 2000, pp. 31. 69; Monika Bernett also cautiously approving: The imperial cult in Judea under the Herodians and Romans. Studies on the political and religious history of Judea from 30 BC Chr. – 66 AD Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, pp. 211, 214.
  22. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus, History of the Jewish War 1,412 ; Jewish Antiquities 15,336.
  23. ↑ Most recently Géza Alföldy: Pontius Pilatus and the Tiberieum of Caesarea Maritima. In: Scripta Classica Israelica. Volume 18, 1999, pp. 85-108.
  24. ↑ Alexander Demandt: Pontius Pilatus. Beck, Munich 2012, p. 41 f.
  25. ↑ Werner Eck: Rome and Judaea: five lectures on Roman rule in Palestine. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, pp. 16-18.
  26. ↑ Monika Bernett: The imperial cult in Judea under the Herodians and Romans. Studies on the political and religious history of Judea from 30 BC Chr. – 66 AD. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, pp. 211–214.
  27. ^ Géza Alföldy: L'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato: una discussione senza fine? In: Gianpaolo Urso (ed.): Iudaea socia - Iudaea capta (= I Convegni della Fondazione Niccolò Canussio. Volume 11). Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2012, pp. 137-150.
  28. ↑ Walter Ameling, Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck a. a. (Ed.): Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae. A Multi-lingual Corpus of the Inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad. Volume 2: Caesarea and the Middle Coast. 1121-2160. De Gruyter, Berlin 2011, pp. 228-230 No. 1277.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles in this version on February 23, 2017 .