Subscribe in iTunes
subscribe with RSS 
Lysanius - ruler of Abilene
Luke chapter 3 verse 1 dates the start of John the Baptist's ministry to the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius (that is, 29 AD), while Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee, Philip was ruler of Iturea and Traconitis and Lysanius was ruler over Abilene.
Abilene was to the north of Galilee and Iturea, between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon range of mountains, west of Damascus.
For many years, the only known Lysanius was one who had been executed in 36 BC - sixty years before the date given by Luke. Skeptical scholars mocked Luke's historical inaccuracy.
But now two Greek inscriptions from Abila, northwest of Damascus, have been found, which prove there was a 'Lysanius the ruler' between the years AD 14 and 29:
There is an inscription of a temple in Abila 'for the salvation of the Lords Imperial, by a freedman of Lysanius the ruler.' 'Lords Imperial' was a technical title given jointly to the emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia, widow of Augustus, so this inscription must have been made between AD 14, when Tiberius became emperor, and AD 29, when Livia died. As Jesus's ministry must have begun no later than AD 29, the archaeological evidence supports the historical accuracy of Luke. Once again, we see that the Bible talks accurately about real people and real places.
In AD 53 the Roman emperor Claudius gave Abilene to Herod Agrippa II. Because of this, Josephus (Antiquities 20:138) can accurately speak of 'Abila, which had been the kingdom of Lysanias'.