But the painting is from much later, dating from between the sixth and seventh century A.D. To get to the underground chamber, Padró’s team removed over 45 tons of stones. Oldest Painting of Jesus. Oxyrhynchus is known for the worship of the Egyptian god of the afterlife Osiris: indeed the underground structure was located in the middle of a processional route that joins the Nile with the Osireion, the temple dedicated to Osiris. “He raises his hand as if making a blessing,” said Egyptologist Josep Padró, who has spent over 20 years excavating sites in the area. “We could be dealing with a very early image of Jesus Christ,” Padró added. Archaeologists from the University of Barcelona (Spain) and the Catalan Egyptology Society believe they located an early painting depicting Jesus. “In order to carry out future campaigns, it is necessary to excavate an attached structure. As Haaretz points out, paintings at the time were not necessarily known to bear a strikingly similar image to their subject. “As Jonah was in the fish for three days and three nights, but emerged alive, Jesus would likewise emerge from the tomb/death,” wrote Tabor. Another finely decorated ossuary contained an intriguing four-word Greek inscription. Spanish archaeologists have discovered what may be one of the earliest depictions of Jesus in an ancient Egyptian tomb. This “graffito,” representing a person looking at a donkey-headed … The painting could date back to the sixth century and scholars argue the piece of art reveals Jesus Christ’s facial outline, revealing him as a young man with short hair. A team of Spanish archaeologists have discovered an image of what they believe is the earliest known depiction of Jesus Christ. But now, an extremely rare depiction of Jesus from the early Christian era has been found in the ruins of Shivta, a large Byzantine farming village in the heart of Israel’s Negev desert. The heavily eroded painting is now thought to be the oldest representation of Jesus Christ found so far in Israel, and one of the very few images from that time that shows details of his face. Painted on the walls of a mysterious underground stone structure in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, about 100 miles south of Cairo, the image shows a young man with curly hair and dressed in a short tunic. By Nick Pryer for The Mail on Sunday Created: 13:44 EST, 2 April 2011 Found in Egypt in 1910 it was purchased, along with … Typical of Jerusalem in the period from 20 B.C. There are several ways to read the inscription, but according to Tabor, almost all of them have to do with resurrection, some linking directly to Jesus. A group of Spanish archaeologists claim they may have recovered one of the earliest images of Jesus Christ, painted on the inside of a 6th Century, underground structure near burial tombs in Upper Egypt alongside Coptic inscriptions and plant motifs. They are unsure what the function of the structure was originally, but believe it might have possibly been another temple dedicated to Osiris. The most likely readings are: “The Divine Jehovah raises up from (the dead)” or “The Divine Jehovah raises up to the Holy Place” or “God, Jehovah, Raise up! The face of Jesus as seen in an ancient painting discovered in a church in Shivta. He investigated the “patio tomb” with documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici. Spanish archaeologists have discovered what may be one of the earliest depictions of Jesus in an ancient Egyptian tomb. Using 8-inch, custom-made diamond tooth drills, the team drilled two holes into the basement floor above the burial. A robotic arm was custom made so that it could be introduced into the tomb through the holes. It would also represent the first archeological evidence related to faith in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead — “presumably by his contemporary 1st-century followers,” said Tabor. Rise up!” “We are dealing here with a family or clan that is bold enough to write out the holy name of God in a tomb, with a declaration about ‘raising up’ or resurrection — something totally unparalleled in any of the 900 tombs from the period known in Jerusalem,” wrote Tabor. Welcome to Jesus Daily®, where you can learn how to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, read daily devotionals, learn about God, grow in your Faith, read Bible verses, and share the Gospel with friends! An ancient image found by Spanish archeologists in an Egyptian tomb may be one of the earliest depiction of Jesus Christ ever found. The following wall painting is known as The Healing of the Paralytic. Located beneath a modern condominium complex less than two miles south of the Old City of Jerusalem, this first-century burial, now named “patio tomb,” is only 200 feet away from a second tomb, dubbed the “Jesus Family Tomb.” Lying beneath a garden area in the same condominium complex, the burial was discovered in 1980. Source: University of Barcelona / Seeker.com. Is this a depiction (albeit, a mocking one) of Jesus – perhaps even the oldest surviving image of Jesus? “What we apparently have is a family connected to the Jesus movement who reaches beyond the standard burial norms of the Jewish culture of the period to express itself individually in these unique ways,” he said. When shown in its proper coloring, you can plainly observe that Jesus is portrayed as having a … Alexamenos graffito, 1st century. These questions are matters for debate about the Alexamenos graffito.The image is carved in plaster on a wall in Rome and is dated to somewhere between the 1st and 3rd centuries. Photo by Dror Maayan. Do you want award-winning journalism with a Christian worldview, delivered to your inbox? In an extremely rare early painting found in an ancient Israeli church, Jesus looks completely different from the long-haired, bearded Western image of him. The Oldest Etruscan Painting. To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Precious little early Christian art has survived in the Holy Land, though this is where the religion itself was born. No art has been found picturing Jesus with a wand before the 2nd century. That and other images are painted onto the walls of a crypt inside an underground structure, whose use has otherwise baffled the finders. They date the image to somewhere between the 6th and 7th century. The incredible story of 70 ancient books hidden in a cave for nearly 2,000 years. The Painting shows the person raising his hand as if making a blessing, according to the Egyptologist Josep Padro. Apart from the Greek epitaph and fish image, “the style of the tomb, the ornamentation of the ossuaries, and everything else about it is nothing out of the ordinary,” he said. Created circa 235 AD, this is the oldest painting of Jesus. Found in an underground structure in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, the painting of a young man with a hand raised in blessing is one of many Coptic images and is said by its discoverers to be a … A team of Catalan archaeologists have discovered what they believe could be one of the oldest depictions of Jesus made by the earliest Coptic Christians in Egypt. Is this the first ever portrait of Jesus? Egypt's Minister of Antiquities, Mohamed Ibrahim, broke the news last week, saying the image likely dates to the 6th or 7th century, and may have been created by Coptic Christians, The Daily Mail reports. 45,500-Year-Old Sulawesi Warty Pig Painting Found in Indonesian Cave ... 3.75 m deep and holds what could be one of the earliest paintings of Jesus Christ. Researchers have suggested that the area surrounding the underground structure served as the home of a writer and a family of priests. This painting of Jesus is older than the image of the black Jesus Christ in the Church of Rome which is from the 6th century. Jonah images only appear in the third and fourth centuries A.D., but never earlier, given the prohibition within Judaism of making images of people or animals. Even earlier images of Jesus Christ have been found from the 2nd and 3rd Centuries in the Roman Catacombs. 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