A team of Spanish archaeologists believe that they have discovered one of the earliest depictions of Jesus made by the oldest Coptic Christians in Egypt, UK MailOnline reported.
In a series of buried tombs dating from between the sixth and seventh centuries, the researchers uncovered a mysterious, underground image of a young man, with curly hair, who appears to be giving a blessing among other Coptic images.
Among the Coptic, or early Christian, images painted on the walls was what lead researcher Josep Padró described as "the figure of a young man, with curly hair, dressed in a short tunic and with his hand raised as if giving a blessing," Huffington Post reported.
Located in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxurhynchus, the Catalan experts believe that the tomb belonged to a well-known writer and a family of priests in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, according to The Local.
"The archaeological site of Oxyrhynchus is known for the thousands of papyri found there, but any scribe was found to date," Padró said.
Describing the discovery as "exceptional," Padró said the figure accompanies symbols and images of plants that are thought to date from the Coptic period of the first Christians.
"We could be dealing with a very early image of Jesus Christ," Padró told La Vanguardia.
For the last 20 years, Padró has been excavating several sites. About 45 tons of rock was removed by the researchers to access the tombs.
As the researchers work on translating the inscriptions surrounding the image, the drawing have currently been placed under lockdown.
In 2011, archaeologists working near the Sea of Galilee discovered a 2,000-year-old booklet with what was then thought to be one of the earliest depictions of Jesus. The booklet reportedly bore the inscription 'Saviour of Israel', but its authenticity was later questioned, Huffington Post reported.
