Tattoo Found on Medieval Remains From Sudan

GHAZALI, SUDAN—Live Science reports that a tattoo with references to Jesus Christ has been detected on remains uncovered at a cemetery thought to have been used by local people at the site of a medieval Christian monastery in what is now Sudan. The person is thought to have been between the ages of 35 and 50 at the time of death, sometime between A.D. 667 and 774, when Christianity was the main religion in the region. The tattoo, which features a symbol known as the Christogram and the Greek letters alpha and omega, was spotted with full-spectrum photography on the person’s foot by a team of researchers including bioarchaeologists Robert Stark of the University of Warsaw and Kari Guilbault of Purdue University. The Christogram, which is formed with the first two letters (chi and rho) of the Greek word “Christos,” had been used as a Christian symbol since the fourth century. The letters alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, were also employed by early Christians to represent their beliefs. The researchers suggest that the tattoo’s placement on the individual’s foot may reference the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. For more on the monastery at Ghazali, go to "World Roundup: Sudan."