They could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, surviving almost 2,000 years in a Jordanian cave. They could, just possibly, change our understanding of how Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and how Christianity was born.

By Robert Pigott BBC News religious affairs correspondent

A group of 70 or so “books”, each with between five and 15 lead leaves bound by lead rings, was apparently discovered in a remote arid valley in northern Jordan somewhere between 2005 and 2007.

The texts might have been written in the decades following the crucifixion

The books, or “codices”, were apparently cast in lead, before being bound by lead rings. Their leaves – which are mostly about the size of a credit card – contain text in Ancient Hebrew, most of which is in code.

The books were bound by lead rings

“As soon as I saw that, I was dumbstruck. That struck me as so obviously a Christian image,” he says.
“There is a cross in the foreground, and behind it is what has to be the tomb [of Jesus], a small building with an opening, and behind that the walls of the city. There are walls depicted on other pages of these books too and they almost certainly refer to Jerusalem.” It is the cross that is the most telling feature, in the shape of a capital T, as the crosses used by Romans for crucifixion were. “It is a Christian crucifixion taking place outside the city walls,” says Mr Davies.

Read More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12888421