is in Greek. What does it mean? That's another question altogether. In reality, we have nothing - just an old ring that reads "PILATO" in Greek as a mirror image, as a ring designed to stamp something would be.
Was it Pontius Pilate's ring? Why would he have a ring made of a copper alloy. Why not silver or gold? Did he personally stamp goods with such a ring? Doubtful. If the ring has anything to do with Pontious Pilate, it was probably one used by some underling of his in some commercial way. For example, I have a Mickey Mouse ring made of pot metal that I got in 1955 at Disneyland. That ring does not prove that Mickey Mouse is a real mouse, nor that it ever existed as such.
Like most archaeological finds of this sort, what we have is an object. The story behind that object is, and will remain, unknown.
Same with a Byzantine-period church. Will they find an inscription that relates to Peter or Andrew? Well, since those weren't actually their names, probably not. And even if there was an inscription, it couldn't have been made before the middle of the fourth century, since that's when the Byzantine period starts. So, all we have is some eight century Bishop claiming that "it is said that" the church was built on the site of the home of Peter and Andrew. "It is said" is not evidence, some 700+ years later. Who said it? Nobody who actually knows, Bishop.
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