Medieval History
The archaeological examination by robotic camera of an intact first century tomb in Jerusalem has revealed a set of limestone Jewish ossuaries or ?bone boxes? that are engraved with a rare Greek inscription and a unique iconographic image that the scholars involved identify as distinctly Christian.
The four-line Greek inscription on one ossuary refers to God ?raising up? someone and a carved image found on an adjacent ossuary shows what appears to be a large fish with a human stick figure in its mouth, interpreted by the excavation team to be an image evoking the biblical story of Jonah.
In the earliest gospel materials the ?sign of Jonah,? as mentioned by Jesus, has been interpreted as a symbol of his resurrection. Jonah images in later ?early? Christian art, such as images found in the Roman catacombs, are the most common motif found on tombs as a symbol of Christian resurrection hope. In contrast, the story of Jonah is not depicted in any first century Jewish art and iconographic images on ossuaries are extremely rare, given the prohibition within Judaism of making images of people or animals.
Click here to read this article from History of the Ancient World
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Medieval History
Jerusalem Tomb Reveals First Archaeological Evidence of Christianity from the Time of Jesus
The archaeological examination by robotic camera of an intact first century tomb in Jerusalem has revealed a set of limestone Jewish ossuaries or ?bone boxes? that are engraved with a rare Greek inscription and a unique iconographic image that the scholars involved identify as distinctly Christian.
The four-line Greek inscription on one ossuary refers to God ?raising up? someone and a carved image found on an adjacent ossuary shows what appears to be a large fish with a human stick figure in its mouth, interpreted by the excavation team to be an image evoking the biblical story of Jonah.
In the earliest gospel materials the ?sign of Jonah,? as mentioned by Jesus, has been interpreted as a symbol of his resurrection. Jonah images in later ?early? Christian art, such as images found in the Roman catacombs, are the most common motif found on tombs as a symbol of Christian resurrection hope. In contrast, the story of Jonah is not depicted in any first century Jewish art and iconographic images on ossuaries are extremely rare, given the prohibition within Judaism of making images of people or animals.
Click here to read this article from History of the Ancient World
- Fourth-century Hebrew Inscription Discovered In Portugal
Archaeologists of the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena found one of the oldest archaeological evidence so far of Jewish Culture on the Iberian Peninsula at an excavation site in the south of Portugal, close to the city of Silves (Algarve). On a marble...
- Archaeologists Discover Major Pictish Site
An excavation has revealed a fortified early medieval settlement and unearthed significant artefacts which position a tiny Scottish village as a seat of major political power and influence. Rare Late Roman pottery found during archaeological excavation...
- Crusader Inscription By Frederick Ii Discovered In Israel
An Arabic inscription that bears the name of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, and the date ?1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah?, was recently deciphered by Professor Moshe Sharon and Ami Shrager of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
- World's Earliest Christian Engraving Shows Surprising Pagan Elements
By Owen Jarus Researchers have identified what is believed to be the world's earliest surviving Christian inscription, shedding light on an ancient sect that followed the teachings of a second-century philosopher named Valentinus. Officially called...
- Tracing Apocrypha, Medieval To Modern
The other day I started wondering about how to relate my dissertation research on apocrypha in Old English sermons to more contemporary topics. So, on a whim, I returned to a blog post by Michael Peppard that I had read about Pope Benedict XVI's...