A tattoo referencing Christ was found on the 1,300-year-old body of an individual in what is now Sudan.

Scientists in Sudan have discovered a tattoo with references to Jesus Christ on a 1,300-year-old body excavated in a cemetery near a medieval monastery.

It is only the second time that a tattoo has been found from medieval Nubia, the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (PCMA) at the University of Warsaw, whose members are conducting excavation and research at the site, known as Ghazali, said in a statement. Nubia is a region that encompasses parts of modern-day Egypt and Sudan.

  • ᗪᗩᗰᑎEnglish
    9•1 year ago

    anyone background in this field able to chime in on how accurate this is? I read it briefly and looked up alpha/omega and the “chi-rho” but not sure how they got that out of some random blotches that are barely visible. Seems like generous interpretation may have been used. I can see how they may be able to verify its a tattoo by looking at the materials the blotch is made of, but superimposing an image of what it “is” seems like a stretch to me without knowing more about this.

    • @FrickAndMortarEnglish
      6•1 year ago

      I agree - you could just as easily make those blotches “coalesce” into a conventional dagger-and-skull tattoo, as you could into the shape shown here.