Caiaphas
Jewish high priest
20 BCE to 50 CE
Joseph, son of Caiaphas, commonly known simply as Caiaphas in the New Testament, is the Roman-appointed Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus.
Caiaphas is also said to have been involved in the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus.
According to the Gospel accounts, Caiaphas was the major antagonist of Jesus.
An ossuary of the high priest, Joseph Caiaphas, was found in Jerusalem in 1990.
However, the authenticity of that discovery has been challenged by some scholars on various grounds.
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The procurators' and prefects' primary functions are military, but as representatives of the empire they are responsible for the collection of imperial taxes, and also have limited judicial functions.
Other civil administration lies in the hands of local government: the municipal councils or ethnic governments such as—in the district of Judaea and Jerusalem—the Sanhedrin and its president the High Priest, but in Pontius Pilate's day the power of appointment of the High Priest will until 41 reside in the Roman legate of Syria or the prefect of Judaea.
Caiaphas, for example, was appointed High Priest of Herod's Temple by Prefect Valerius Gratus and deposed by Syrian Legate Lucius Vitellius.
The Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, who governs Judaea from 26 to 36, is nominally in charge of Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea, but does not govern his area directly; instead, he relies on local leaders.
The prefect and his small army live in the predominantly Gentile city Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast, about two days' march from Jerusalem.
They come to Jerusalem only to ensure peace during the pilgrimage festivals—Passover, Weeks (Shabuoth), and Booths (Sukkoth)‚ when large crowds and patriotic themes sometimes combine to spark unrest or uprisings.
Pilate's term as prefect of Judaea ends after an incident recounted by Josephus.
A large group of Samaritans had been persuaded by an unnamed man to go to Mount Gerizim in order to see sacred artifacts allegedly buried by Moses.
But at a village named Tirathana, before the crowd could ascend the mountain, Pilate sent in "a detachment of cavalry and heavy-armed infantry, who in an encounter with the firstcomers in the village slew some in a pitched battle and put the others to flight. Many prisoners were taken, of whom Pilate put to death the principal leaders and those who were most influential."
The Samaritans complain to Vitellius, who sends Pilate to Rome to explain his actions regarding this incident to Tiberius, who dies before Pilate reaches Rome.
The Jewish high priest governs Jerusalem on a day-to-day basis.
Assisted by a council, he has the difficult task of mediating between the remote Roman prefect and the local populace, which is hostile toward pagans and wants to be free of foreign interference.
His political responsibility is to maintain order and to see that tribute is paid.
Caiaphas holds the office from about CE 18 to 36, longer than anyone else during the Roman period, indicating that he is a successful and reliable diplomat. (Since he and Pilate are in power together for ten years, they must have collaborated successfully.)