c. AD 26–36; found 1961Pontius Pilate (dedication)
A limestone block from Caesarea Maritima with a Latin dedication naming “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea”. It is the only contemporary inscription naming the governor under whom Jesus was crucified.
The Pilate inscription is a limestone block carrying a Latin dedicatory inscription that names Pontius Pilate. It was found in 1961 at Caesarea Maritima, the Roman capital of Judea on the Mediterranean coast. Italian excavators of the Roman theatre, directed by Antonio Frova, found it reused in a later stairway.
The surviving text reads [PON]TIVS PILATVS [PRAEF]ECTVS IVDA[EA]E, “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea”. The block records a building that Pilate dedicated, and it must date from his governorship, conventionally AD 26-36. It is now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
The Gospels and Tacitus name Pilate as the governor under whom Jesus was executed, and Josephus and Philo describe his rule. The stone is the only contemporary physical monument that names him, and it confirms his existence, his office and his presence in Judea. Its title, praefectus, fits what is known of the equestrian prefects who governed Judea from 6 to AD 41. The Gospels use the general Greek word hegemon, “governor”.
The inscription says nothing about Jesus or his trial. It confirms an official and his title, but it does not authenticate the conversations attributed to Pilate in texts written decades later. Its value is as an independent anchor: the governor the Gospels place at the centre of the passion narrative is a securely attested historical figure.
The inscription
[PON]TIVS PILATVS [PRAEF]ECTVS IVDA[EA]E: “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judaea”
An account of the object written for this site from the archive’s source record and the research dossier.
The object
A limestone block, reused in a later stairway at Caesarea Maritima1, carrying a Latin dedicatory inscription2 naming Pontius Pilate.
The inscription
The surviving text reads (square brackets mark letters restored by editors):
[PON]TIVS PILATVS [PRAEF]ECTVS IVDA[EA]E: “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea”
Discovery
The stone was found in 1961 during excavations of the Roman theatre at Caesarea, directed by Antonio Frova on behalf of the Italian Archaeological Mission.
The title
The Gospels call Pilate hegemon (governor); the stone calls him praefectus. That difference fits what is otherwise known of the equestrian prefects who governed Judea from 6 to AD 413, before the province was given procurators of higher rank.
What it establishes
Pilate’s existence, his office, and his presence in Judea in the first century. It is the only contemporary physical monument that names him, and it independently anchors an official central to the passion narratives.
Open questions
The stone names Pilate, not Jesus, and an inscription cannot confirm the words the Gospels give him at the trial. What it does confirm is the man himself: the governor at the centre of the passion narrative was a real prefect of Judea, named on stone in his own lifetime.
Where it is now
Israel Museum, Jerusalem (accession 1962-118).
SourceIsrael Museum, Jerusalem (accession 1962-118); Italian excavation at Caesarea directed by Antonio Frova — https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/199042LicenceOriginal summary written for this archive. Photographs are credited with their own licences.Cited asA16
