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Earliest reference describes Christ as 'magician'
Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2008 (CDT) by Thoth
 A team of scientists led by renowned French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio recently announced that they have found a bowl, dating to between the late 2nd century B.C. and the early 1st century A.D., that is engraved with what they believe could be the world's first known reference to Christ.
If the word "Christ" refers to the Biblical Jesus Christ, as is speculated, then the discovery may provide evidence that Christianity and paganism at times intertwined in the ancient world.
The full engraving on the bowl reads, "DIA CHRSTOU O GOISTAIS," which has been interpreted by the excavation team to mean either, "by Christ the magician" or, "the magician by Christ." "It could very well be a reference to Jesus Christ, in that he was once the primary exponent of white magic," Goddio, co-founder of the Oxford Center of Maritime Archaeology, said.
He and his
colleagues found the object during an excavation of the underwater
ruins of Alexandria's ancient great harbor. The Egyptian site also
includes the now submerged island of Antirhodos, where Cleopatra's
palace may have been located.
Both Goddio and
Egyptologist David Fabre, a member of the European Institute of
Submarine Archaeology, think a "magus" could have practiced fortune
telling rituals using the bowl. The Book of Matthew refers to
"wisemen," or Magi, believed to have been prevalent in the ancient
world.
According to Fabre, the
bowl is also very similar to one depicted in two early Egyptian
earthenware statuettes that are thought to show a soothsaying ritual.
"It has been known in
Mesopotamia probably since the 3rd millennium B.C.," Fabre said. "The
soothsayer interprets the forms taken by the oil poured into a cup of
water in an interpretation guided by manuals."
He added that the individual, or "medium," then goes into a hallucinatory trance when studying the oil in the cup.
"They therefore see the
divinities, or supernatural beings appear that they call to answer
their questions with regard to the future," he said.
The magus might then have
used the engraving on the bowl to legitimize his supernatural powers by
invoking the name of Christ, the scientists theorize.
Goddio said, "It is very
probable that in Alexandria they were aware of the existence of Jesus"
and of his associated legendary miracles, such as transforming water
into wine, multiplying loaves of bread, conducting miraculous health
cures, and the story of the resurrection itself.
While not discounting the
Jesus Christ interpretation, other researchers have offered different
possible interpretations for the engraving, which was made on the
thin-walled ceramic bowl after it was fired, since slip was removed
during the process.
Bert Smith, a professor of
classical archaeology and art at Oxford University, suggests the
engraving might be a dedication, or present, made by a certain
"Chrestos" belonging to a possible religious association called
Ogoistais.
Klaus Hallof, director of
the Institute of Greek inscriptions at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy,
added that if Smith's interpretation proves valid, the word "Ogoistais"
could then be connected to known religious groups that worshipped early
Greek and Egyptian gods and goddesses, such as Hermes, Athena and Isis.
Hallof additionally pointed
out that historians working at around, or just after, the time of the
bowl, such as Strabon and Pausanias, refer to the god "Osogo" or
"Ogoa," so a variation of this might be what's on the bowl. It is even
possible that the bowl refers to both Jesus Christ and Osogo.
Fabre concluded, "It should
be remembered that in Alexandria, paganism, Judaism and Christianity
never evolved in isolation. All of these forms of religion (evolved)
magical practices that seduced both the humble members of the
population and the most well-off classes."
"It was in Alexandria where
new religious constructions were made to propose solutions to the
problem of man, of God's world," he added. "Cults of Isis, mysteries of
Mithra, and early Christianity bear witness to this."
The bowl is currently on
public display in the exhibit "Egypt's Sunken Treasures" at the
Matadero Cultural Center in Madrid, Spain, until November 15.
Copyright: MSNBC
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