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A copper alloy ring bearing the inscription “of Pilatus” may have belonged to Pontius Pilate. The ring was discovered in excavations of the Herodium in 1968–69, and a new study of it was requested by the current excavation director Roi Porat. The results of the investigation were published in the Israel Exploration Journal, and popular articles have been written in Haaretz (premium) and The Times of Israel. The latter article concludes:

As to whose ring it actually was, the authors offer a few suggestions, including other Early Roman period men called “Pilatus.” Likewise, the name may have referred to those under the historical Pilate’s command, a member of his family “or some of his freed slaves,” they write. “It is conceivable,” write the authors, “that this finger ring from a Jewish royal site might have belonged to a local individual, either a Jew, a Roman, or another pagan patron with the name Pilatus.” It did not, they conclude, belong to the Roman prefect himself. Porat offers another possibility, however. What if, maybe, Pilate had a gold ring for ceremonial duties and a simple copper ring for everyday wear? “There is no way of proving either theory 100% and everyone can have his own opinion,” said Porat. Regardless, “it’s a nice story and interesting to wrap your head around.”

The Israel Exploration Journal article is not online (as far as I can tell), but its abstract reads:

A simple copper-alloy ring dated to the first century BCE–mid-first century CE was discovered in the hilltop palace at Herodium. It depicts a krater circled by a Greek inscription, reading: ‘of Pilatus’. The article deals with the typology of ancient representations of kraters in Second Temple Jewish art and with the possibility that this ring might have belonged to Pontius Pilatus, the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea or to a person in his administration, either a Jew or a pagan.

HT: Alexander Schick

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(Post by A.D. Riddle)

In 2011, Routledge published Wall Maps for the Ancient World, a series of seven maps which were created by the Ancient World Mapping Center (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).

According to the center’s blog, the maps have gone out of print and now the rights have reverted back to the Ancient World Mapping Center. Yesterday, they announced they are making digital versions of the maps available to download. Most of the maps will be of interest to Bible students and readers of this blog. The announcement noted additionally that the digital version of map 6 “World of the New Testament” incorporates some minor corrections.

You can read more about the maps and download them here.

[UPDATE: Yesterday, we experienced troubles trying to download the maps. We contacted AWMC and they are working to resolve the issues. In the meantime, AWMC has removed their blog post about release of the maps. You can continue to read the same information on this other page, but to download the maps, you might want to use this temporary link we have created.]

[UPDATE 2: AMWC has reposted their original announcement, but now it includes instructions to email [email protected] and they will send a link to download one or more files.]

The seven maps are:

1.  Egypt and the Near East, 3000 to 1200 BCE. Scale: 1:1,750,000.
2.  Egypt and the Near East, 1200 to 500 BCE. Scale: 1:1,750,000.
3.  Greece and the Aegean in the Fifth Century BCE. Scale: 1:750,000.
4.  Greece and Persia in the Time of Alexander the Great. Scale: 1:4,000,000.
5.  Italy in the Mid-First Century CE. Scale: 1:775,000.
6.  The World of the New Testament and the Journeys of Paul. Scale: 1:1,750,000. Inset “New Testament Palestine” (Scale 1:350,000).
7.  The Roman Empire around 200 CE. Scale: 1:3,000,000.

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