The Pilate Stone

The block was found in 1961 at Caesarea Maritima, the seat of the Roman governors of Judea, where it had been reused in the staircase of the theatre. The beginning of each line is lost. What survives names a building called a Tiberieum, in honour of the emperor Tiberius, then “[Pon]tius Pilatus”, then “[praef]ectus Iudae[a]e”, prefect of Judea; the letters in square brackets are not on the stone and are supplied by editors. Of a fourth line a single letter remains. The Israel Museum, which displays the stone, describes it as the only object from his time that bears Pilate’s name.

The stone is contemporary with Pontius Pilate and was set up in his name, so it is contemporary evidence for two things: that he governed Judea under Tiberius, and that his title was prefect. Tacitus, writing about eighty years later, calls him procurator. The inscription says nothing about Jesus or about anything Pilate did in Jerusalem. What kind of building the Tiberieum was, and how the lost beginning of the first line should be restored, are debated: the Heidelberg record prints Géza Alföldy’s restoration, “[Nauti]s Tiberieum … [ref]e[cit]”, and describes the building as a lighthouse, while the Israel Museum suggests a temple in honour of Tiberius.