Ancient Document Sheds New Light On The Three Wise Men
As part of the Christmas story, the Three Wise Men, who visited baby Jesus is very well known, however, there is little historic evidence to back up the biblical account. An 8th century manuscript of the historic account has now been revealed by the Vatican. The Huffington Post reports on the mysterious document.
Three Wise Men following a star across the desert clutching their gifts for baby Jesus is one of the best-known images from the Nativity.
Now, an ancient document found in the Vatican has revealed a different and more in depth version of the Magi’s journey.
The mysterious ‘Revelation of the Magi’ document has been held at the Vatican for 250 years and has only now been translated from ancient Syriac by a university professor.
Brent Landau – an expert in religious studies from the University of Oklahoma – spent two years poring over the frail pages of the 8th-century manuscript. The document itsself is merely a copy of a text first written down almost half a millennium earlier.
Read the rest of the article at Ancient Document Sheds New Light On The Three Wise Men.
Ancient Christian city discovered in Egypt
Shortly after the ascension of Jesus Christ, Saint Mark of Alexandria began to instruct the people of Alexandria in the teachings of Jesus. Christianity took hold in Alexandria and quickly spread throughout Egypt. By the 3rd Century AD, Christianity was the major religion of the area and the Church of Alexandria became one of the original four Apostolic Sees, second only to Rome. Sean McLachlan reports on the discovery an ancient Christian city in Egypt for Gadling.
An ancient Christian city dating to the fourth century AD has been discovered in Egypt.
Archaeologists digging at the Ain al-Sabil area of the New Valley Governorate have discovered the remains of a basilica and buildings to serve the priests. This is the first excavation at the site and researchers hope more discoveries will be made under the Egyptian sands.
Egyptian Christians trace their history back to just after the Crucifixion, when Saint Mark preached in the country. Called the Copts, these Christians make up anywhere from 5-23% of the population. Estimates vary so widely because the actual number is a politically contentious issue. Most sources agree that about 10% is the correct figure, meaning slightly more than 8 million people.
Read the rest of the story at Ancient Christian city discovered in Egypt | Gadling.com.
Unique Early Christian Tomb to Be Opened in Bulgaria’s Sofia
The Hagia Sophia church in Sofia, Bulgaria dates back to the 6th Century BC. In the 14th Century BC, the church gave it’s name to the city of Sofia, which was originally called Sredets and Serdika. The Sofia News Agency reports of a Christian tomb now open to the public.
A unique early Christian tomb will be opened for tourists in downtown Sofia by Christmas, it has been
announced.
The tomb is situated in front of the city’s ancient “Saint Sofia” basilica. It has been discovered during repair works in the 80ies and it dates back to the 4th century AD. A total of BGN 140 000 has been spent by the Sofia municipality for restoration works on the tomb, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova has said, as cited by the 24 chasa daily.
“An inscription found in the tomb suggests it was dedicated to Honorius. We suppose he was a person of gentle birth and probably a clergyman,” Todor Chobanov, Bulgarian Deputy Culture Minister, has revealed.
Read the rest of the article Bulgaria: Unique Early Christian Tomb to Be Opened in Bulgaria’s Sofia – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency.
Photo by Vammpi
Discovery of world’s earliest Christian engravings reveals religion’s ties to Paganism
It’s hard to believe a stone inscription would take 50 years to translate, but a team of researchers have finally pieced together the information that allowed them to make the translation. Gregory Snyder translated the inscription as ‘To my bath, the brothers of the bridal chamber carry the torches, [here] in our halls, they hunger for the [true] banquets, even while praising the Father and glorifying the Son. There [with the Father and the Son] is the only spring and source of truth.’ Gavin Allen of the Daily Mail reports on Snyder’s findings.
The discovery of the world’s earliest Christian engraving has thrown light on the life of a pagan sect and its relationship with the more orthodox religion.
Researchers at the Capitaline Museums in Rome believe they have finally translated and dated NCE 156, an inscription carved into stone in Greek.
It is now believed the stone, housed at the Capitaline, dates from the latter half of the second century when the Roman Empire was in its pomp but pagan teachings seemingly mingled with the Christian doctrine.
Gregory Snyder, a study researcher based at the Davidson College in North Carolina, revealed details of his work in the latest edition of the Journal of Early Christian Studies.
‘If it is in fact a second-century inscription, as I think it probably is, it is about the earliest Christian material object that we possess,’ Snyder told LiveScience.
Snyder’s research caps 50 years of work by a clutch of experts, who between them have sourced, dated and translated the ancient verse, which he believes to be a funeral epigram.
The mysterious inscription was initially published in an Italian archaeological journal in 1953 by Luigi Moretti.
Read the rest of the article at Discovery of world’s earliest Christian engravings reveals religion’s ties to Paganism | Mail Online.
Photo by Chris Rivait
The ‘True Cross’ of Jesus in Almeria
Almeria is believed to have had at least three pieces of the ‘True Cross’.
One, possibly the most famous, is in the Archpriests Parish of Holy Cross, in Canjayar. There is another in Santa Maria Magdalena Parish in Los Molinos district of Almeria city, and another, which may have been destroyed in the 1804 earthquake, is believed to have existed in Berja.
Where did this ‘True Cross’ or ‘Lignum Crucis’ come from? To understand this, we must go back to 313 AD, when Roman Emperor Constantine legalised Christianity.
Euro Weekly News; Photo Wikimedia Commons
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