Grave robbers plying their trade in a second temple period grave, in the Valley of 'Elah, in the Judaean foothills, found an ossuary or bone box that has been in the news because of its historical connection with High Priest Yehosef Ben Kipa, aka Caiaphas. He was the first century A.D. Jewish priest responsible for interrogating Jesus and giving him to the Romans to be crucified, according to the Gospel account by Matthew 26.62.

The ossuary in question isn't one belonging to Caiaphas himself, but to someone in his family. We believe this because -- assuming it's genuine -- the ossuary bears the inscription (translated) "Miriam daughter of Yeshua son of Caiaphas, priest of Maaziah from Beth Imri."

Grave robbers destroy evidence that could establish an artifact's provenance. Thus, the extraction of the artifact made the process for authenticating it harder than it might have been. Historical details that might have been gleaned by investigators finding it in situ have also been lost. In 2008, authorities, the Israel Antiquities Authority Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, confiscated the ossuary, but won't say where it was before. They gave it to Dr. Boaz Zissu of the Department of the Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology of Bar Ilan University and Professor Yuval Goren of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations of the Tel Aviv University to investigate. Using high powered microscopes to examine the layers of build-up on the box, the investigators have concluded the ossuary is genuine and from the first century.

Their findings have been published in Israel Exploration Journal (Volume 61). The ossuary is in the IAA offices at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.

An ossuary with the name Yosef Bar Caiaphas was found in 1990, but it has not been proven genuine. The Yeshua Bar Caiaphas ossuary is now not only counted as genuine, but it provides historical data previously unknown about the priest's family: 1. that he is from the (24th) priestly course of Ma'aziah and 2. a hint about the family's place of origin.

Sources:

• Ossuary Belonging to a Daughter of the Caiaphas Family of High Priests Discovered.
• www.timesunion.com/news/article/Israeli-scholars-say-biblical-burial-box-genuine-1445333.php#ixzz1RAPpHjeR "Israeli scholars say biblical burial box genuine"
• Ossuary Yields New Detail of Gospel Story