Vasilis Tzaferis

Vassilios Tzaferis (; ; 1 April 1936 – 1 January 2015) was a Greek–Israeli biblical archaeologist and Orthodox monk, best known for his discovery of the remains of a crucified man at Givat HaMivtar. He was the director of surveys and excavations at the Israel Antiquities Authority (1999–2001) and the curator of the Patriarchal Museum in Jerusalem (1984–2004).

Early life and ecclesiastic career Tzaferis was born on 1 April 1936 on the Greek island of Samos. He began studying theology at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1950. He took monastic vows and was ordained a deacon in 1956 and a priest in 1958.

Tzaferis excavated at various sites in Jerusalem, as well as at Ashkelon, Beth She'an, Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum, Kursi, and Tel Dan. He made his best known discovery in 1968 at Givat HaMivtar: the remains of a crucified man named Yehohanan bar Hagkol, the only certain physical evidence of Roman crucifixion known until the discovery of the Fenstanton victim. He also published research on Byzantine monasticism.

Tzaferis died on 1 January 2015.