Werner Eck News Today

A Copper Ring That Archaeologists Found in King Herod's Fortress, Posited to Have Belonged to Pontius Pilate, May Have Had a Completely Unexpected Owner, According to a New Reading and Interpretation

By Menachem Wecker A 1,500 to 2,100-year-old Hebrew text from Jerusalem refers to “Shalom, mother of the synagogue.” And two burial niche inscriptions from Beit She’arim in the Galilee, both dated 250 to 350 C.E., refer in Greek to “Sara daughter of Nehemiah, mother of the priestess, the lady Maria.” “These inscriptions tend to provide

The texts inform about Jewish women philanthropists, Roman roads and the impact of the Bar Kokhba War, says professor Michael Satlow, who directs the project.