• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

One Of The Earliest Depictions Of Jesus Shows Him With A Donkey Head

August 14, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

One of the oldest known depictions of Jesus Christ isn’t found in a humble chapel in Bethlehem, nor is it a fine work of art kept in the shady basements of the Vatican. In fact, it’s a piece of crudely drawn Roman graffito that shows a person with the head of a donkey being crucified.

Advertisement

Known as the Alexamenos Graffito, the disrespectful doodle dates to the late second or early third century CE, making it one of the earliest pictorial representations of the crucified Christ. This was a time before Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire – and clearly, the burgeoning religion wasn’t popular with some. 

It depicts a human-like figure with the head of a donkey affixed to a crucifix. On the left, a man is seen with his left arm pointing towards the ass-headed character. 

Along with the illustration, it features ancient Greek text that translates to something like: “Alexamenos worships [his] god.” Although its meaning is up for interpretation, it is widely believed that the graffito was intended to mock a Christian named Alexamenos for his belief in the unfamiliar, new religion.

The graffiti was discovered in 1857 on the Palatine Hill, one of the oldest parts of Rome, on the wall of a building annexed to the imperial palace where slaves received their training. 

Who knows, perhaps it was one of the empire’s disgruntled slaves who scratched it onto the wall, poking fun at one of their comrades as they underwent training. Then again, it could have been the handiwork of a bored soldier or any other citizen, as the ancient Romans are known for their graffiti.

A low-res image of the original Alexamenos graffito, the Earliest Depiction Of Jesus from Ancient ROman

A low-res image of the original Alexamenos graffito.

But why depict Jesus as a donkey? During this chapter of Imperial Rome, Jewish people and early Christians were often mocked and persecuted for practicing onolatry, the act of worshipping donkeys or mules. 

The origins of this bizarre misunderstanding aren’t fully understood, although it most likely started with confusion between believers of the Hebrew Bible and worship of the ancient Egyptian god Set, who is represented as a man with the head of a donkey and often associated with the animal.

Of course, the Romans eventually changed their tune when it came to Christianity. Around 312 CE, Emperor Constantine had adopted Christianity and, by 380 CE, Emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity to be the official religion of the Romans.

The artwork still lives near its original site at the Palatine Museum of Rome along with many other ancient artifacts from the long-gone empire. As you can see, time hasn’t been too kind to the artwork, and it’s very hard to discern its contents with the naked eye today.

Advertisement

There’s plenty of ancient graffiti to feast your eyes on elsewhere, though. One of the most common motifs seen throughout the graffiti of the Roman Empire was a cartoonishly large penis (some things never change, eh?).

Historians like to claim that ancient Romans didn’t scrawl dick pics as a dirty joke, but as symbols of fortune and fertility – although judging by the Alexamenos Graffito, they clearly weren’t scared of offending people with their street drawings.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. ARK Invest’s Wood expects market rotation back to growth stocks
  2. Most Plant-Based Milks Are Poorer In Key Micronutrients Than Dairy
  3. Great Pacific Garbage Patch Now A Floating Love Shack For Coastal Species
  4. Hard Working Urchins Don’t Deserve Their Bad Reputation

Source Link: One Of The Earliest Depictions Of Jesus Shows Him With A Donkey Head

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version