The Jesus Archive
About this place

The religious centre of Judaism, dominated in Jesus’s day by the Temple that Herod the Great had rebuilt. The Gospels place Jesus’s final days, trial, crucifixion and burial here, and the earliest community of his followers, led by Peter and later by James, gathered here.

The Romans destroyed the Temple in AD 70 and, after the Bar Kokhba revolt, Hadrian refounded the city as Aelia Capitolina. Finds such as the Caiaphas ossuary come from its tombs, and the Israel Museum keeps many of the objects in this archive.

Where to start

The New TestamentThe Gospel of Johnc. AD 90–110 · Anonymous; attributed to the beloved disciple
Papyrus 46: the opening of Galatians, University of Michigan Library
The New TestamentPaul’s Letter to the Galatiansc. AD 48–55 · Paul
The Caiaphas Ossuary, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Stones and ScrollsThe Caiaphas ossuary1st century AD; found 1990 · Unknown (Jerusalem family tomb)

Written or found here

3
  1. AD 401st century AD; found 1990

    The Caiaphas ossuary

    Unknown (Jerusalem family tomb)

    An ornate limestone bone box from a first-century Jerusalem family tomb, inscribed “Joseph son of Caiaphas”. Many scholars hold that it belonged to the family of the high priest Caiaphas who, in the Gospels, questioned Jesus.

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  2. AD 621st century AD (claimed); surfaced 2002

    The James ossuary (disputed)

    Unknown

    A limestone bone box inscribed “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”, announced in 2002 without an excavation record. Experts still debate whether the whole inscription is ancient; its owner’s 2012 acquittal left that question to the evidence.

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  3. AD 80before AD 62 if by James; otherwise c. AD 70–100

    The Letter of James

    Traditionally James, brother of Jesus; disputed

    A letter of moral teaching from “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”, traditionally the brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church. Many of its sayings echo the Sermon on the Mount.

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Every mention

58 writings
  1. 720 BCMicah: the ruler from BethlehemThe Prophets2×
  2. 700 BCIsaiah: the chapters read as prophecyThe Prophets8×
  3. 600 BC2 Samuel: the promise to DavidThe Prophets2×
  4. 600 BCJeremiah: Rachel’s weeping and the new covenantThe Prophets2×
  5. 500 BCJoel: the Spirit poured outThe Prophets1×
  6. 500 BCZechariah: the humble king and the stricken shepherdThe Prophets17×
  7. 125 BCThe Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaᵃ)Stones and Scrolls2×
  8. 80 BCThe Pool of Siloam (Jerusalem)Stones and Scrolls5×
  9. AD 30The Magdala Stone (Galilee)Stones and Scrolls2×
  10. AD 30The Pool of Bethesda (Jerusalem)Stones and Scrolls6×
  11. AD 31The Pilate inscription (Caesarea Maritima)Stones and Scrolls2×
  12. AD 40The Caiaphas ossuaryStones and Scrolls8×
  13. AD 50The heel bone of Yehohanan (Giv’at HaMivtar)Stones and Scrolls5×
  14. AD 52Paul’s Letter to the GalatiansThe New Testament6×
  15. AD 54Paul’s First Letter to the CorinthiansThe New Testament1×
  16. AD 55Paul’s Second Letter to the CorinthiansThe New Testament1×
  17. AD 55Q: The Sayings Source (a Scholarly Reconstruction)The Other Gospels3×
  18. AD 57Paul’s Letter to the RomansThe New Testament5×
  19. AD 62The James ossuary (disputed)Stones and Scrolls6×
  20. AD 70The Gospel of MarkThe New Testament12×
  21. AD 80The Letter to the HebrewsThe New Testament2×
  22. AD 80The Letter of JamesThe New Testament2×
  23. AD 85The Gospel of MatthewThe New Testament13×
  24. AD 85The Gospel of LukeThe New Testament33×
  25. AD 85The Acts of the ApostlesThe New Testament62×
  26. AD 90The Letter of JudeThe New Testament1×
  27. AD 93Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 18: the Testimonium Flavianum and John the BaptistWitnesses Outside the Church8×
  28. AD 93Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 20: the death of James, brother of JesusWitnesses Outside the Church4×
  29. AD 95The Gospel of JohnThe New Testament14×
  30. AD 95The Revelation to JohnThe New Testament3×
  31. AD 96The First Epistle of Clement to the CorinthiansThe Early Church2×
  32. AD 100The Letter to TitusThe New Testament1×
  33. AD 150The Infancy Gospel of ThomasThe Other Gospels3×
  34. AD 150The Gospel of Peter (Akhmim Fragment)The Other Gospels3×
  35. AD 150The Secret Book of James (Apocryphon of James)The Other Gospels1×
  36. AD 153Justin Martyr, First ApologyThe Early Church4×
  37. AD 170The Infancy Gospel of James (Protevangelium of James)The Other Gospels4×
  38. AD 170Tatian’s DiatessaronThe Other Gospels12×
  39. AD 180Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book IThe Early Church1×
  40. AD 200The Secret Gospel of Mark (the Mar Saba Letter)The Other Gospels2×
  41. AD 225The Gospel of PhilipThe Other Gospels4×
  42. AD 248Origen, Against Celsus, Book IThe Early Church4×
  43. AD 250The Gnôsis of the Light (Untitled Text of the Bruce Codex)The Other Gospels1×
  44. AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book IThe Early Church3×
  45. AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book IIIThe Early Church19×
  46. AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book IVThe Early Church6×
  47. AD 320Eusebius, Church History, Book VThe Early Church2×
  48. AD 400The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate) and the Pilate LettersThe Other Gospels12×
  49. AD 550Hone’s Apocryphal New Testament: the Arabic Infancy Gospel and the Abgar LettersThe Other Gospels11×
  50. 1907G. R. S. Mead, The Gnostic Crucifixion (1907)The Other Gospels12×
  51. 2026Registry of Gospels and Their Canonical StatusThe Other Gospels1×
  52. 2026Guide to the research and the world before JesusThe Dossier4×
  53. 2026Jesus’s life: a chronological catalogue of the canonical narrativesThe Dossier17×
  54. 2026The prophecies associated with Jesus: a critical catalogueThe Dossier8×
  55. 2026The documentary record of Jesus and the movements that interpreted himThe Dossier2×
  56. 2026From medieval devotion to the presentThe Dossier1×
  57. 2026What the evidence can and cannot establishThe Dossier1×
  58. 2026Sources and further readingThe Dossier4×