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Ancient inscriptions written in Jesus' language reveal forgotten chapter of early Christianity
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Ancient inscriptions written the language Jesus spoke have revealed a lost 1,700-year-old chapter in early Christian history.
dailymail.com
Jul 7, 2026 · 2:50 PM UTC
https://x.com/DailyMail/status/2074506220568715705
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Ancient inscriptions written in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, have revealed a forgotten chapter of early Christianity's rise across the Roman Empire.
Etched into stone, the text mentions both Jesus Christ and Mithras, the deity worshipped by a mysterious all-male religion once popular among Roman soldiers and merchants.
The inscriptions were discovered at the entrance to an underground Mithras temple in southeastern Turkey, where researchers say it records the sanctuary's symbolic closure by early Christians around 1,700 years ago.
Located at Zerzevan Castle, the remarkably preserved temple still contains four sacrificial hangers, a basin believed to have collected the blood of sacrificial bulls, and three wall niches used in the cult's secret ceremonies.
The inscriptions date to roughly 300 years after Jesus' crucifixion, during a period when Christianity was rapidly spreading across the Roman Empire.
By the fourth century, after Roman emperors embraced Christianity, Mithraism was increasingly viewed as a rival faith, leading many of its temples to be abandoned or converted into churches.
Researchers also identified a carved cross, which they believe marked the temple's formal closure.
The text further references the Holy Cross and describes God as the one who brings order, renewal and love, reinforcing researchers' conclusion that the sanctuary had been transformed by early Christians.