Recreation of Pilate’s ring
A ring “made of copper alloy metal,” dating back about 2,000 years, bearing a Greek inscription engraved “by Pilatus,” was unearthed in the West Bank. This was in 1968-1969 during excavations carried out at the Herodium, a fortress-palace built by King Herod, located about 5 km southeast of Bethlehem.
A ring of Pontius Pilate?
This ring appears to have belonged to Pontius Pilatus, the Roman prefect of Judea who, according to the Bible, pronounced the sentence for the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Pilate was the fifth prefect of the province of Judea. He likely served under Emperor Tiberius, from 26 to 36 AD. According to the journal Israel Exploration Society and the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the team of scientists who studied the ring believes it could also have been worn by someone else.
It is a seal ring, a common object at that time, used to seal letters and official documents with a wax stamp. “The researchers believe it was used by the governor in his daily activities, or that it belonged to one of his officials or a person at court, who would have used it to sign their name.” Another clue supporting the hypothesis that the object is indeed associated with the Pontius Pilate of the Scriptures is the fact that this type of ring was characteristic of representatives of the equestrian order in ancient Rome, a group of citizens to which the governor belonged.
At the time of its discovery, archaeologists could not detect the presence of an inscription. It was only when they used a technique known as RTI, or reflectance transformation imaging, that the inscription appeared. The design of the ring and its archaeological context indicate that it could have been made between the first century BCE and the middle of the first century CE.
Who could have worn this ring?
The name “Pilatus” is a rare name in the Roman world, and previous archaeological research has shown that part of the Herodium was in use during the time Pontius Pilate was prefect of Judea. For this reason, researchers cannot dismiss the possibility that the ring was used by the prefect.