Some personalities and institutions <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nSeveral of the following characters and institutions involved in the trial and condemnation to death of Jesus, apart from the Sanhedrin, were mentioned almost exclusively in the Gospels and in a few contemporary documents. However, archaeology has provided us with important details about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-Nicodemo<\/em> (Naqdimon Ben Gurion) and Joseph of Arimathea <\/em>(Ramataim). Both were notables of Jerusalem. They are mentioned in both Jewish writings and the Gospels. It is known that their descendants were slaughtered during the sack and capture of Jerusalem in 70 AD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n-Caiphas<\/em>He was high priest and head of the Sanhedrin from 18 to 36 AD. He was the son-in-law of Annas (high priest from 6 to 15 A.D.). From the list of the high priests of Israel and from Flavius Josephus we know that up to six high priests after Annas were his sons. They all belonged to the Sadducean stream. In 1990, the tomb of Yosef Bar Qajfa (Caiaphas was the nickname) and his family was found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n-Barabas and the thieves.<\/em> All are called, in the Greek of the Gospels, lest\u00e9s,<\/em> They were, in fact, troublemakers (we read that Barabbas was a murderer and a violent man who had participated in a riot), most probably fanatics. It is paradoxical that the name of Barabbas, as recorded even in the oldest codices of the Gospels, was Jesus, named Bar-Abba<\/em> (such as Joseph called Caiaphas, Simon called Peter, etc.). There is thus an ironic, or tragic, juxtaposition between the Messiah, Jesus, the Son of the Father, and a temporary messianic troublemaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n-Pontius Pilate<\/em>. In the Greek of the Gospels, it is called hegh\u00e9mon<\/em>in Latin praefectus<\/em>. In fact, he was prefect of Judea for about a decade under Tiberius. In 1961, Italian archaeologists, led by Antonio Frova, discovered at Caesarea Maritima a limestone tombstone with an inscription referring to Pontius Pilate as Praefectus Judaeae<\/em>. Apparently, the stone block, known since then as the \"Pilate Inscription,\" was originally located on the exterior of a building that Pontius Pilate had constructed for the emperor Tiberius. Until the date of its discovery, although both Josephus Flavius and Philo of Alexandria had referred to Pontius Pilate, his very existence, or at least his actual office in Judea, whether prefect or procurator, was doubtful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n-Simon the Cyrenian. <\/em>He is the one who is forced to carry the cross of Jesus during the ascent to Calvary. In 1941, in the Kidron Valley, in Jerusalem, an ossuary was found with the name of Alexander, son of Simon, as it is written in the Gospels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n-The Sanhedrin<\/em> (Hebrew: \u05e1\u05b7\u05e0\u05b0\u05d4\u05b6\u05d3\u05b0\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05df, sanhedr\u00een, i.e., \"assembly\" or \"council,\" the Great Assembly) of Jerusalem. It was the legislative and judicial body during the Hasmonean-Roman phase of the Second Temple period. Opinions were debated before voting and the expression of the majority became a binding judgment. It traditionally consisted of 71 members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n