There is enthusiasm in the scientific and theological community after the discovery of a pottery discovered off the coast of Egypt and may contain the first reference to Christ in the world.

The so -called “Jesus Cup” was discovered in 2008 by a group led by French marine archaeologist Frank Gondios during an excavation in the ancient large port of Alexandria, which included the submerged island of Antirodos, where it could be located.

Alexandria in the first century was a cosmopolitan center where idolatry, Judaism and Christianity coexisted.

Surprisingly well preserved, the clay cup lacks only one handle and bears the Greek inscription “by Christos the GODIAS”, which translates as “by Christ of the chant”.

Dr. Jeremia Johnston, a New Testament scholar, explained in a recent excerpt from Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) that the pottery dates back to the first century AD, at the time Jesus was crucified.

“The reputation of Jesus at that time was that he was a healer, miracle and exorcist,” Johnston said. “This cup proves this legacy,” he said.

cup

The bowl is very similar to those depicted in early Egyptian statues, depicting oracles.

Ancient manuals describe how practitioners were pouring oil into the water and falling into ecstasy, seeking visions of mystical beings that could answer questions about the future.

The invocation of Christ, already recognized as a powerful miracle worker, may have given prestige to the ritual.

If the inscription really refers to Jesus Christ, it could represent the earlier material proof of its existence outside the Christian Scriptures, dating back to the first century AD.

The confirmation of this interpretation would cause historians to review the timetable and geography of early Christian influence in Egypt.

However, not all experts are confident that the inscription translates into the earlier reference to Christ.

Bert Smith, a professor of classical archeology and art at the University of Oxford, suggested that the engraving could have been dedicated or a gift from a person named “Christos”, which belonged to a possible religious group called the Junior.

Klaus Hallof, director of the Institute of Greek Inscriptions at the Berlin-Braseburg Academy, added that if Smith’s interpretation is correct, “Ista” could be linked to cults worshiped by early Greek and Egyptian deities.

Hallof also noted that historians from the Boll era, including Strabo and Pausanias, refer to a god called “Osoge” or “Joga”, suggesting that the inscription could refer to a variant of this deity.

It is even possible, as he said, the bowl refers to both Jesus Christ and the “Jesus”.

The scholar Steve Singleton argued that CHRIST just means “good” or “polite”, translating the inscription as “[Δόθηκε] Through kindness for the magicians. “

György Németh of the University of Eötvös Loránd proposes a practical explanation: The bowl may have been used to make ointments, with CHRISTO or Christos referring to an anointing, not to the biblical person.