The Oldest Known Portrait of Christ Was Found Underground in Ancient Nicaea
A 1,800-year-old fresco discovered in Iznik, Turkey, the site of ancient Nicaea, is now considered the best-preserved early depiction of Jesus Christ ever found. The painting was sealed inside an underground family tomb with almost no oxygen, which kept its colors nearly intact since the early to mid-3rd century AD.
The image shows Christ as the "Good Shepherd," carrying a ram across his shoulders. It is one of only five known adult depictions of Jesus from that era, and it looks nothing like the Byzantine icons most people recognize. The figure has no beard, short hair, and wears aristocratic Roman clothing.
"Anatolia was effectively the cradle of early Christianity" — Professor Candida Moss, University of Birmingham
The find is part of a wave of discoveries across Anatolia over the past two years. Archaeologists have uncovered at least twelve previously unknown 4th and 5th century churches, early Christian tombs, inscriptions, and worship sites, all confirming that what is now Turkey was the geographic core of early Christianity within decades of the Crucifixion.
In ancient Pergamon, near modern Bergama, researchers found one of the earliest known images of Saint George on a 5th-century clay pilgrim vessel. In Laodicea, a rare 4th-century house church was identified, a private worship space that predates the construction of large basilicas. In Smyrna, 2nd-century Christian graffiti is being studied as a candidate for some of the oldest surviving Christian written text anywhere.
In Ephesus, a thick layer of ash from a 7th-century Persian raid preserved an entire Byzantine neighborhood almost untouched, including thousands of everyday objects, food stores, and shops that served Christian pilgrims.
Professor Candida Moss of the University of Birmingham, a specialist in early Christianity, described the discoveries as having "enormous significance." She noted that Anatolia was effectively the cradle of early Christianity, visited by both the Apostles Peter and Paul, and later became the seat of imperial power when Constantinople replaced Rome as the empire's capital.
