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ARCHAEOLOGY

Spanish team finds hidden ‘tomb of Jesus’

Spanish Egyptologists have discovered what could be one of the oldest images of Jesus Christ, painted on the walls of a mysterious underground structure deep in an ancient Egyptian tomb.

Spanish team finds hidden 'tomb of Jesus'
Previous digs nearby have uncovered a temple dedicated to the Egyptian god of the afterlife. Photo: Societat Catalana d’Egiptologia

A team of Catalan archaeologists have returned from the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus after uncovering a mystery underground structure in buried tombs which date from the 6th and 7th centuries.

It is reportedly decorated with Coptic images — or paintings by a group who number among the earliest Christians — and may contain one of the earliest-known representations of Jesus Christ.

The head of the expedition, Josep Padró, who has spent  over 20 years excavating sites in the area, described the discovery to La Vanguardia newspaper as "exceptional".

It has caused such as stir that even Egypt's Minister of Antiquities, Mohamed Ibrahim, has become personally involved.

He broke the news himself in a press release which described the contents of the tombs, which are believed to have belonged to a well-known writer and a family of priests.

The Egyptian ministry will take responsibility for developing the archaeological site, which was discovered by a joint team from the Catalan Egyptology Society and the University of Barcelona.

Previous digs in Oxyrynchus have unearthed temples dedicated to Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife, but the exact nature of the latest discovery has left the experts baffled but excited.

Padró described the underground stone structure as "incredibly good, but we don't know what it is".

SEE ALSO: Jesus' crucifixion was legal: Spanish study

Over 45 tonnes of rock was moved to get at the hidden treasures, in a meticulous operation overseen by an architect and an engineer.

Once inside, the archaeologists found "five or six coats of paint on the walls, the last of which was from the Coptic period of the first Christians."

Among the plant motifs and inscriptions was something special — the "figure of a young man, with curly hair, dressed in a short tunic and with his hand raised as if giving a blessing," according to Padró.

"We could be dealing with a very early image of Jesus Christ," he added.

The figure is under protection while a team begins to translate the inscriptions surrounding it.

Archaeological work in the area is continuing as there has still not been time to excavate another unidentified structure connected to the tombs via a set of very worn steps.

"We don't know what we'll find there," said the Egyptologist.

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TODAY IN FRANCE

France to compensate relatives of Algerian Harki fighters

France has paved the way towards paying reparations to more relatives of Algerians who sided with France in their country's independence war but were then interned in French camps.

France to compensate relatives of Algerian Harki fighters

More than 200,000 Algerians fought with the French army in the war that pitted Algerian independence fighters against their French colonial masters from 1954 to 1962.

At the end of the war, the French government left the loyalist fighters known as Harkis to fend for themselves, despite earlier promises it would look after them.

Trapped in Algeria, many were massacred as the new authorities took revenge.

Thousands of others who fled to France were held in camps, often with their families, in deplorable conditions that an AFP investigation recently found led to the deaths of dozens of children, most of them babies.

READ ALSO Who are the Harkis and why are they still a sore subject in France?

French President Emmanuel Macron in 2021 asked for “forgiveness” on behalf of his country for abandoning the Harkis and their families after independence.

The following year, a law was passed to recognise the state’s responsibility for the “indignity of the hosting and living conditions on its territory”, which caused “exclusion, suffering and lasting trauma”, and recognised the right to reparations for those who had lived in 89 of the internment camps.

But following a new report, 45 new sites – including military camps, slums and shacks – were added on Monday to that list of places the Harkis and their relatives were forced to live, the government said.

Now “up to 14,000 (more) people could receive compensation after transiting through one of these structures,” it said, signalling possible reparations for both the Harkis and their descendants.

Secretary of state Patricia Miralles said the decision hoped to “make amends for a new injustice, including in regions where until now the prejudices suffered by the Harkis living there were not recognised”.

Macron has spoken out on a number of France’s unresolved colonial legacies, including nuclear testing in Polynesia, its role in the Rwandan genocide and war crimes in Algeria.

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