An ancient Egyptian city, Oxyrhynchus, was excavated, and during the process many early Coptic Christian paintings were unearthed. The ancient city of Oxyrhynchus is among the country's most spectacular archaeological sites.

Archaeologists from different prestigious universities and organizations came to the ancient city to study the recovered artifacts. Scientists from the Catalan Egyptology Society, University of Montpellier and the University of Barcelona have come to Egypt and dug through many of the stones on their way into a huge tomb.

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According to the archaeologists' findings, the burial ground was of a scribe who died at 17 during the Coptic Roman period. On the other hand, the tomb was said to be exceptional, not because of who was buried in it, but due to an astonishing painting.

The freshest painting in the tomb was painted around the sixth or seventh century AD. Meanwhile, the bottom of the grave has the oldest painting done by the first Christians in Egypt. Among these images, one showed a young man in tunic with curly hair, said a report from UPI.com.

According to Egyptologist, Josep Padro, in an interview with the Discovery News, stated that the painting showed a man raising his hand like that of a priest giving a blessing. Padro, an experienced Egyptologist said that they could possibly be dealing with the image of Jesus Christ shown in the painting.

The grave was part of a bigger temple built for Serapis, the equivalent of the Egyptian god Osiris of the afterlife. The researchers of the excavation said that it would be necessary to dig an attached structure for them to be able to carry out future expeditions.

The tomb was surrounded by other structures in the middle of what looks like a temple and was connected by a route to the nearby Nile River. The team of archaeologists was hopeful that visitors would soon be allowed to see the painting believed to have the early image of Jesus Christ.

The excavation also found a grave full of Roman mummies.

TagsJesus Christ early image, Egypt, Ancient Egyptian City, Oxyrhynchus