מספר הערות על כהנים גדולים בסוף ימי הבית השני

l.In the first line of the recently published double document 4Q348, a high priest is mentioned. A. Yardeni who published this document neither deciphered the name of the high priest, nor understood that he was mentioned as part of the dating formula. In this paper I suggest that (a) the high priest in 4Q348 is Joseph, son of Camydus, who served in this function in 46-47 C.E., and (b) that the unusual dating formula reflects the fact that some people in Judea avoided dating documents according to the Roman emperors.
2. An inscription from Masada bearing the name of Ananias the High Priest may indicate that this name was used to assure the purity of the content of the vessel. That being so, I would suggest that the paleo-Hebrew seal of Elienai, dated by N. Avigad to the first century C.E., was the seal of Elionaeus, son of Cantheras, who served as high priest in 44-46 C.E. This seal was used to vouch for the purity of the content of the sealed vessels.