A former Byzantine church in the Negev desert of southern Israel is the site of one of the early known depictions of the Jesus Christ. That’s according to archaeologists from the University of Haifa, who recently uncovered the remnants of a painting located above a crucifix-shaped baptismal font.
What remains of the image—faint outlines and faded patches of paint—shows a man’s head with short curly hair and a long nose. His visage is surrounded by a halo, but he there is no traditional beard as seen in more modern, iconic depictions of Christ. That’s what is most intriguing about the painting, according researchers. “It appears that the painting might be the very first pre-iconoclastic baptism of Christ scene to be found in the Holy Land. Images of Jesus from this era in Israel are extremely rare,” the IFLScience story explained.
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