A team of researchers discovered a skeleton tattooed with symbols representing Jesus in an ancient cemetery in Sudan.
Tattoo on the leg of the skeletal remains. Photo: Kari A. Guilbault
Scientists in Sudan have discovered a tattoo related to Jesus on 1,300-year-old remains unearthed in a cemetery near a medieval monastery, Live Science reported on October 22. This is the second such tattoo found from Nubia, according to the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology (PCMA) at the University of Warsaw, the unit conducting excavations and research at the Ghazali site. Nubia is the region encompassing present-day Egypt and Sudan.
Located on the man's right foot, the tattoo contains the Chi-Rho symbol along with the Greek letters alpha and omega. The Chi-Rho symbol consists of the Greek words "chi" and "rho," forming the initials of Jesus. This abbreviation originated around 324 AD, when Constantine became emperor of the Roman Empire. Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, representing the belief that God is the beginning and the end of all things.
The location of the tattoo on the right foot is interesting because Jesus may have been crucified in this position during his execution, according to Robert Stark, a bioarchaeologist at PCMA, and Kari Guilbault, a tattoo expert at Purdue University in Indiana. Stark and Guilbault are members of the research team that discovered and analyzed the tattoo.
While the tattoos revealed the person in the tomb was Christian, the research team was unsure whether they were a priest. The individual was not buried in the same cemetery as the priests at the monastery, but in a cemetery used by the local community. Carbon dating suggests the person lived between approximately 667 and 774 AD. At this time, Christianity was the dominant and widespread religion in the region. The deceased likely died between the ages of 35 and 50.
An Khang (According to Live Science )
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