Pontius Pilate's name found on ring

[shunyadragon]

You also have to consider it is 2000 years old and pretty banged up.

Actually based on the description the ring was crudely made very unlike a ring for the rank of Pontius Pilate.

[One Bad Pig]

You also have to consider it is 2000 years old and pretty banged up.

It wasn't a high-quality piece to begin with.

[Sparko]

You also have to consider it is 2000 years old and pretty banged up.

[shunyadragon]

I dunno, that inscription looks pretty sloppy for a governor or prefect to wear. Is other jewelry of ranking officials from that time similar in appearance?

No

[alaskazimm]

The NYT article goes on to note that, for the reason you bring up, it was unlikely to be worn by Pilate himself, but by one of his underlings.

My first thought was it looks more like what someone in his family or household would wear rather than what a Roman prefect would.

Ah, thank you. That makes sense.

[rogue06]

I dunno, that inscription looks pretty sloppy for a governor or prefect to wear. Is other jewelry of ranking officials from that time similar in appearance?

My first thought was it looks more like what someone in his family or household would wear rather than what a Roman prefect would.

[One Bad Pig]

I dunno, that inscription looks pretty sloppy for a governor or prefect to wear. Is other jewelry of ranking officials from that time similar in appearance?

The NYT article goes on to note that, for the reason you bring up, it was unlikely to be worn by Pilate himself, but by one of his underlings.

[alaskazimm]

I dunno, that inscription looks pretty sloppy for a governor or prefect to wear. Is other jewelry of ranking officials from that time similar in appearance?

[Cow Poke]

[rogue06]

Until the discovery of what is called the "Pilate Stone," an 82 x 65 cm (32¼" x 25½") chunk of limestone bearing an inscription mentioning Pilate and referring to him as "prefect" at the site of Caesarea Maritima, many unbelievers claimed that there was no evidence that he was a historical person -- in spite of being mentioned by Tacitus, Philo of Alexandria as well as Josephus (both in his The Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities). Now we have this bronze ring as well.

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Since the NY Times couldn't bother with including a picture

[One Bad Pig]

Source: NYT

The name of Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who ordered the killing of Jesus, according to the Gospel, is mentioned in thousands of sermons every year and is familiar to countless people, but little is known about his life and work.

To the very short list of clues about Pilate as a historical figure, archaeologists have added one more: a 2,000-year-old copper alloy ring bearing his name.

The ring was discovered in the late 1960s, one of thousands of artifacts found in the excavation of Herodium, an ancient fortress and palace south of Bethlehem, in the West Bank. But it was not until recently that researchers, analyzing those objects with advanced photography, were able to decipher the ring’s inscription.

It reads “of Pilates,” in Greek letters set around a picture of a wine vessel known as a krater, and is said by archaeologists to be only the second artifact from his time ever found with his name. Kraters are a common image in artifacts of that time and place.

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