Nazareth Inscription

If connected to the Christian claim of resurrection, the inscription would be evidence that Roman authorities were aware of and responding to the story of Jesus' empty tomb within decades of the crucifixion, though alternative interpretations exist.

The Nazareth Inscription is a marble slab measuring approximately 60 by 37.5 centimeters, inscribed with a Greek text of an imperial decree or edict imposing severe penalties, including death, for the violation of tombs and the removal of bodies. The inscription was acquired in 1878 by Wilhelm Froehner, a German-born antiquarian and curator working in Paris, reportedly from a collection originating in Nazareth. After Froehner's death, it passed to the Bibliotheque nationale de France, where it was identified and published in 1930 by the Belgian historian Franz Cumont.

The text of the inscription reads, in translation: "Ordinance of Caesar. It is my pleasure that graves and tombs remain undisturbed in perpetuity for those who have made them for the cult of their ancestors, or children, or members of their house. If, however, anyone charges that another has either demolished them, or has in any other way extracted the buried, or has maliciously transferred them to other places in order to wrong them, or has displaced the sealing or other stones, against such a one I order that a trial be instituted, as in respect of the gods, so in regard to the cult of mortals. For it shall be much more obligatory to honor the buried. Let it be absolutely forbidden for anyone to disturb them. In the case of contravention, I desire that the offender be sentenced to capital punishment on the charge of violation of sepulcher."

The text is notable for several reasons. First, the penalty prescribed is death, which is unusually harsh for tomb robbery under Roman law. Standard Roman legal practice treated tomb violation as a civil offense subject to fines, not capital punishment. The escalation to the death penalty suggests an exceptional circumstance.

Second, the provenance from Nazareth, if accurate, creates a potential connection to the earliest Christian claims about the resurrection of Jesus. In Matthew 27:62-66, the chief priests and Pharisees go to Pilate and ask him to secure Jesus' tomb, saying, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.' Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead.'" Pilate responds, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can." They seal the stone and set a guard.

After the resurrection, Matthew 28:11-15 records that the guards reported what had happened to the chief priests, who bribed them to say, "His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep." Matthew adds: "This story has been spread among the Jews to this day."

If the Nazareth Inscription represents an imperial response to the controversy over Jesus' empty tomb, it would be extraordinary evidence for the historicity of the early Christian resurrection claim (or at least for the empty tomb tradition). The reasoning would be: the story of the stolen body was circulating, causing enough disturbance that Roman authorities issued a special edict imposing the death penalty for such acts in the very region where the story originated.

However, several factors complicate this interpretation. The inscription's exact provenance is uncertain. Froehner's records indicate only that the stone came "from Nazareth," but the circumstances of its discovery are not documented. It is possible that the stone was found elsewhere and attributed to Nazareth.

The dating is also debated. The inscription does not name the specific "Caesar" who issued the decree. Suggestions have ranged from Augustus (27 BCE - 14 CE) to Tiberius (14-37 CE) to Claudius (41-54 CE). A 2020 study by Kyle Harper and colleagues at the University of Oklahoma used isotopic analysis of the marble to determine that it likely came from the Greek island of Kos rather than from a Levantine quarry. This finding, if confirmed, would weaken the connection to Nazareth and to the resurrection narrative, as the decree might relate to tomb robberies on Kos rather than to events in Palestine.

Other scholars have proposed that the decree was a general response to widespread tomb robbery in the Roman Empire, not specifically connected to the Jesus tradition. Tomb violation was a significant concern throughout the Roman world, and numerous inscriptions from other regions also threaten penalties for disturbing graves.

Despite these uncertainties, the Nazareth Inscription remains an important artifact for several reasons. If it is connected to the Christian resurrection story, it provides evidence that Roman authorities took the empty tomb claim seriously enough to legislate against it. If it is not connected, it still illustrates the Roman legal concern for burial practices and the sanctity of tombs that forms the cultural background of the Gospel narratives about Jesus' burial and resurrection.

The inscription is now housed in the Cabinet des Medailles at the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris. It has been studied by classicists, Roman historians, and biblical scholars, and it continues to generate scholarly debate.

• Greek inscription of an imperial decree imposing death penalty for tomb robbery and body removal
• Reportedly acquired from Nazareth in 1878; published by Franz Cumont in 1930
• The death penalty for tomb violation is unusually harsh under Roman law, suggesting exceptional circumstances
• Has been linked to the Matthew 27-28 narrative about guards at Jesus' tomb and the 'stolen body' story
• The specific Caesar is not named; candidates include Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius
• A 2020 isotopic study suggested the marble originated from the island of Kos, not the Levant
• Scholarly debate continues over whether the decree relates to the Christian resurrection claim or general tomb robbery

Matthew 27:64-66 describes the chief priests requesting a guard for Jesus' tomb to prevent his disciples from stealing the body, and Pilate authorizing the security measure. The Nazareth Inscription's decree imposing death for removing bodies from tombs could represent the legal formalization of the concern expressed in this passage. Matthew 28:11-15 records that after the resurrection, the guards were bribed to spread the story that the disciples stole the body. The inscription's specific mention of "maliciously transferring" bodies "to other places in order to wrong" the dead echoes exactly the type of accusation described in Matthew's account. Matthew 28:15 states that "this story has been spread among the Jews to this day," indicating that the stolen-body counter-narrative was a persistent controversy. If the Nazareth Inscription represents an imperial response to this controversy, it would confirm that the dispute about the empty tomb was significant enough to reach the attention of Roman authorities and prompt a formal edict.