Luke 23:20-24 Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
Jerusalem, City of David: This is the oldest part of the city. A recent find of a step stoned street is believed to be built by Pontius Pilate. The street has its beginnings near the Pool of Siloam and goes north to what is known as Temple Mount. Pilate is believed to rule from 26 to 37 AD.
The road is measured to be 600 meters (655 yards) long and 8 meters (9 yards) wide. Previously, it was thought the street was constructed by Herod the Great who ruled from 37 to 4 BC.
But now, there have been over 100 coins discovered under the road. These coins point to the dates of 31 to 40 AD during the reign of Pontius Pilate.
“Dating using coins is very exact. Some coins show the year in which they were minted. If a coin found beneath a street is dated 30 C.E. then the street had to be built that same year or any time after 30 C.E.” -Dr. Donald T. Ariel, Archaeologist and coin expert, Israel Antiquities Authority
“It’s not just that we found Pilate’s coins. We also have to look at what we didn’t find and would have expected to find had the road been built after Agrippa I became king of Judea. From a statistical point of view it’s hard to imagine that the road was built after 41 because we don’t have any coins from that period.” Nashon Szanton, Archaeologist, Israel Antiquities Authority, Ph.D. Student at Tel Aviv University. Szanton is also the lead author for the research of the project.
Coins from Agrippa I were found above the pavement. Agrippa I ruled from 41 to 44 AD. These coins were found with burned material. History tells us Jerusalem and the Temple were leveled and torched in 70 AD by the Romans.
For more details on the dig, see the link provided below. Charts and pictures are provided.
https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03344355.2019.1650491
The narratives in the gospel accounts were real events and the people who participated were real people. Pontius Pilate was a real person. It appears he commissioned a real street with real steps in the City of David. And once again, the Bible confirms modern day science and archaeology.
