Bible Archeology Discoveries

Many experts consider Luke to have been a very accomplished historian, and this artifact may be further proof of the historicity of his writings. 

A first century Judean ossuary was discovered in 1983 housing the inscription, Johanna, daughter of Yehohanan, son of Theophilus the high priest.

Theophilus (Hebrew: תפלוס בר חנן) was the High Priest in the Second Temple in Jerusalem from 37 to 41 CE according to Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews. He was a member of one of the wealthiest and most influential Jewish families in Iudaea Province during the 1st century. The High Priest Theophilus could have been the person to whom the Gospel of Luke is addressed. Supporting this is the fact that in Luke Theophilus is called by the title Most Excellent (kratiste), indicating he held a political office like high priest, the ethnarch under the Romans. The honorific, kratiste, would also provide evidence that the Gospel of Luke was written during his high priesthood, 37 to 41 CE. The period coincides with the reign of Gaius Caligula, his persecution and planned ethnocide of the Jews and Nazarenes, and the desecration of the Temple with his giant, idolatrous statue.

Theophilus was the son of Ananus (Hebrew: חנן) and the brother of Eleazar, Jonathan, Matthias and Ananus, and Joshua Ben Ananus. all of whom served as High Priests. He was also the brother-in-law of Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest before whom Jesus of Nazareth appeared. In addition, his son Matthias served as the next to the last High Priest before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans.

There is archeological evidence confirming the existence of Theophilus., An ossuary was discovered bearing the inscription, "Yehoḥanah (Johanna) daughter of Yehoḥanan (John) son of Thefilus (Theophilus)[a] the High Priest" The details of this ossuary have been published in the Israel Exploration Journal. Therefore, Theophilus had at least one other son, named John, father to Johanna.

The name Johanna appears twice in the New Testament in the Gospel of Luke. First as one of women healed by Jesus who travels with Jesus and the disciples to Jerusalem. Her second appearance also in the Gospel of Luke is on Easter Sunday when she and other women visits the empty tomb. However, Johanna was "the fifth most popular woman's name in Jewish Palestine," and the Johanna of the Gospel of Luke may have been from Galilee instead of from Jerusalem.