A 2,000-year-old bronze ring found near Bethlehem bears the name of Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who ordered Jesus Christ to be crucified, archeologists have revealed.

The ring was found 50 years ago during an archeological excavation at the site of a fortress built by King Herod, but was overlooked for decades and has only been analysed properly now.

Archeologists discovered Greek writing which spells out “Pilatus” around the central image of a wine vessel known as a krater.

The writing emerged after the ring was given a careful clean and photographed using a special camera in a laboratory belonging to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Pilate was prefect or governor of the Roman province of Judaea under the Emperor Tiberius when he presided at Christ’s trial and gave the order for his crucifixion.

The ring was originally unearthed in the late 1960s at Herodian, also known as Herodium, a monumental fortress and palace built by King Herod in the desert near Bethlehem.

It was one of hundreds of artifacts that came to light, including glass objects, pottery, coins dating from the First Jewish Revolt and iron arrowheads.

Some experts think the ring belonged to Pontius Pilate himself.

“I don’t know of any other Pilatus from the period and the ring shows he was a person of stature and wealth,” Danny Schwartz, a professor of Jewish history, told Haaretz newspaper.

The ancient fortress of Herodium lies south of Jerusalem credit: Sebastian Scheiner/APA

Roi Porat, the director of a new phase of digging at Herodium, who ordered the detailed analysis of the ring, told the Times of Israel that while he did not want to jump to conclusions, “we have a ring inscribed with the name Pilate and the personal connection just cries out.”

But other scholars are not so sure, arguing that the ring is too plain and simple to have been worn by a Roman governor.

It may instead have been used by members of his staff to seal letters and stamp documents with melted wax.

“Simple all-metal rings were primarily the property of soldiers, Herodian and Roman officials, and middle-income folk of all trades and occupations,” a team of academics wrote in the Israel Exploration Journal, which analysed the find.

“It is therefore unlikely that Pontius Pilatus, the powerful and rich prefect of Judaea, would have worn a thin, all copper-alloy sealing ring.”

The basic design of the ring suggests it was not made by a master craftsmen, they said.

It may instead have belonged to a soldier or official under Pilate’s command, a freed slave working for him or a member of his family.

Archeologists raised another possibility - that Pilate owned lavish, bejeweled gold rings for official ceremonies but used the rudimentary copper ring for daily duties.

“There is no way of proving either theory 100% and everyone can have his own opinion,” said Prof Porat. “It’s a nice story and interesting to wrap your head around.”

One of the New Testament’s most infamous characters, Pontius Pilate ruled Judaea from around AD 26-36.

According to accounts in the New Testament, he was reluctant to condemn Christ to death and washed his hands to symbolise that he abdicated responsibility for the crucifixion.