Francis Arihilam
Seen for the first time: Ancient Nativity scene discovered scrawled on the inside of an Egyptian cave that predates Jesus by 3,000 YEARS. The reddish rock art was found in a small cave within the Sahara desert
It shows a mother, a father, a baby raised to the sky and animals stood around. Marco Morelli made the discovery in 2005 but has only just gone public
A Nativity scene that pre-dates the birth of Jesus by around 3,000 years has been discovered in Egypt.The reddish rock art found in a small cave within the Sahara desert, shows a mother and father stood over a newborn, with animals present and a star in the east. It was actually discovered in 2005 by geologist Marco Morelli, director of the Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato, near Florence, Italy, while on an expedition between the Gilf Kebir Plateau and the Nile Valley, but he has only just made the images public.
Dr Morelli told Seeker: ‘It’s a very evocative scene which indeed resembles the Christmas nativity. But it predates it by some 3,000 years.‘ He added that when the baby is drawn above the parents, it usually resembles a birth or pregnancy in ancient Egyptian art.
