1,900-Year-Old Inscription Reveals Previously Unknown Roman Ruler Of Judea

MessageToEagle.com – A 1,900-year-old and very unique inscription covering a large rock, has been discovered off Tel Dor coast by Israeli divers working with University of Haifa archaeologists.

The inscription names Gargilius Antiques and the Jewish province of Judea during Roman rule. The rock measures 70 by 65 centimeters and weighs over 600 kilograms; it was covered in sea creatures when it was discovered, according to Haaretz.

The text on the rock apparently reads,

“The City of Dor honors Marcus Paccius, son of Publius, Silvanus Quintus Coredius Gallus Gargilius Antiquus, governor of the province of Judea, as well as […] of the province of Syria, and patron of the city of Dor.”

The archaeologists determined that Antiques ruled over Judea just prior to the legendary Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman Empire, fought from 132 to 136 AD. The uprising was eventually crushed, resulting in the exile of Jews, and Emperor Hadrian’s renaming Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and Judea Syria Palestina.

The inscribed rock is believed to be the base of a statue; it was found in January 2016 during a maritime excavation at the Tel Dor archaeological site.

 “Not only were we able for the first time to identify with certainty the name of the ruler who oversaw Judea in the critical years the Bar Kochba revolt; this is also just the second time that the mention of Judea has been discovered in inscriptions traced back to Roman era,” said Prof. Assaf Yasur-Landau of Haifa University, who was in charge of deciphering the inscription.

“Antiques’s name was first found in an inscription some 70 years ago, but mention of the territory he ruled over was not preserved.”

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