A ram statue discovered by archaeologists during the excavation of a Byzantine-era church in Caesarea Harbor National Park on Christmas Eve may have intended as a representation of the Christian messiah Jesus, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Sunday.
As the IAA explained, Christian artists often show the ram being carried on the shoulders of the “Good Shepherd,” a term coined to describe how Jesus cares for his followers or his “flock.” The ram is often used to either depict either those followers, or Jesus himself, they added.
It has also appeared in Roman art, alongside the Greek gods Mercury and Hermes, and was also used to represent the god Amun in Egyptian mythology, according to the archaeologists. The ram statue is made out of marble and may be up to 1,500 years old, the Christian Post said.
IAA archaeologist Dr. Peter Gendelman told Tazpit Press Service (TPS) that the discovery was “very interesting” and that “its level and status of preservation are quite rare.” He added that it is “possible” that it was “a decoration in a 6th or 7th century Byzantine church in Caesarea.”
Statue could also have been linked to Greek, Egyptian gods
In a statement released along with fellow IAA archaeologist Mohammad Hater, Dr. Gendelman explained that the ancient Christian did not portray Jesus as a person, but used symbols such as the ram and the lamb instead. He said that it “may or may not” be a coincidence that they found the statue on Christmas Eve, but also admitted that it may date back to the Roman era.
“We know that Christianity adopted the lamb as a symbol of Jesus so it could very well be associated with the Christian community,” he told TPS, adding that Caesarea was “one of the centers of Christianity in the Holy Land” and that Cornelius, the Roman officer said to be the first gentile to convert to Christianity, hailed from that region.
The ram statue follows another discovery from earlier this month that was also of interest to Christians, according to the Christian Post: the discovery of Hebrew inscriptions on a slab of marble on the shores of Lake Kinneret. The marble slab is believed to be 1,500 years old and indicates that early Christians or Jews once inhabited the ancient village of Kursi.
Kursi, the publication explained, is thought to be the town where the Bible said that Jesus had driven out demons from a pair of possessed men and sent them into a herd of pigs. The research team behind the discovery said that the artifact was “the first indication that there was a Jewish presence” in Kuris, and “ reinforces the belief” that it was “where Jesus performed the ‘Miracle of the Swine.’ ”
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Feature Image: Vered Sarig, The Caesarea Development
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