The Pilate Stone
The Roman governor who tried Jesus is named, titled and placed in Judaea by a stone cut during his own term of office.
Named outside the BibleInscriptionAD 26–36
A limestone block, reused centuries later as a step, carrying a dedication that names Pontius Pilate and his title. It is the only inscription found bearing his name — and it confirms the office the Gospels give him, prefect, rather than the later term procurator that Roman writers used loosely.
[…]S TIBERIÉUM / [PON]TIUS PILATUS / [PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA]E — "…Tiberieum … Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judaea…"
- Found
- The Roman theatre at Caesarea Maritima, Israel, 1961 — Antonio Frova's Italian expedition
- Now held at
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem (a replica stands at the site)
- Language
- Latin
How far it goes
The restoration of the damaged letters is standard and the reading of Pilate's name is not in dispute.
How historians use it
Cited in Roman provincial history as evidence for the equestrian title of Judaea's governors before AD 44 — a point of Roman administration, not of theology.
In Scripture
Connects to
Sources
- Pilate stone — overview and bibliography
- Frova, "L'iscrizione di Ponzio Pilato a Cesarea" (1961)
These summaries are written in English for now. Translations follow.