A team of archeologists from the University of Barcelona have found what appears to be one of the earliest known depictions of Jesus Christ. The image is believed to have been made by early Coptic Christians.
The archeologists found the image in a buried tomb in Egypt. The small underground structure where the depiction was found contained a number of smaller tombs, and the researchers have dated the site to sometime between the 6th and 7th centuries. The team that made the discovery was led by University of Barcelona archeologist Josep Padró.
Padró said that the depiction showed an image of a young man with curly hair. The main in the image also wore a tunic often seen in other depictions of Jesus. The man in the image was also making a hand gesture that was likened to a blessing being given. While it may be difficult to confirm whether the image is indeed depicting Jesus Christ, Padró believes that his team may have found one of the earliest known depictions of the central figure in the Christian religion.
The site where the image was found lies in Oxyrhynchus, a very old Egyptian city where early Coptic Christians were known to have settled in.
"The archaeological site of Oxyrhynchus is known for the thousands of papyri found there, but any scribe was found to date," said Padró.
Padró has been working on a number of sites during the past 20 years of his career. Before finding the tomb where the image was discovered, Padró and his team had to go through more than 40 tons of debris. Aside from the image itself, the team also found numerous inscriptions around the depiction. While experts are still trying to decipher the inscriptions, the depiction will be closed off in the meantime.
The small underground was around 26 feet (8 meters) in length and around 13 feet (4 meters) in depth. After the debris was cleared away, the excavation team found the structure to be in relatively good condition. Aside from the image and the inscriptions, the team also found a number of tools that may have been used by a scribe who was laid to rest in the underground structure. The tools included two pens and an ink pot made of metal, which still contained ancient ink. The tools were buried in the tomb along with the scribe who may have owned them so the scribe could continue writing in the afterlife.
