Josep Padro, archaeology team in Egypt find early portraint of Jesus Christ

Photo courtesy of the University of Barcelona.

A group of Spanish archaeologists working in Egypt has found a portrait next to a tomb some are saying could be an early depiction of Jesus Christ.

According to the Huffington Post report, a mysterious series of tombs dated to the 6th and 7th centuries have been unearthed by the Catalan team, after 20 years of excavation and removing 45 tons of rock.

The lead researcher Josep Padró says of the Christ-like image on the rock wall: “[it is] the figure of a young man, with curly hair, dressed in a short tunic and with his hand raised as if giving a blessing.”

“We could be dealing with a very early image of Jesus Christ,” Padró told La Vanguardia.

The Local reports that other Coptic images may have been found in the tombs, and the images are being protected while a team of translators is assembled to translate the inscriptions found in the tombs.

This is the latest of many ancient artifacts found thought to be connected with Jesus of Nazareth.

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.’