An ancient manuscript about the childhood of Jesus was found (4 photos)

Scientists have deciphered 2,000-year-old papyrus records. The text describes how the 5-year-old Messiah turned clay doves into living birds.





The sloppy handwriting suggests that the story was written by a student in a school or religious community in 4th- or 5th-century Egypt, which was Christian at the time.



The story was originally written around the 2nd century as part of the Gospel of Thomas, a book recounting the youth of Jesus of Nazareth.

Before this discovery, the earliest written example of the Gospel dates back to the 11th century.

The papyrus was kept in the Hamburg State and University Library in Germany, but remained unnoticed. Experts came across it while analyzing manuscripts and noticed the name of Jesus in the text.

"We thought it was a letter or a shopping list because the handwriting seemed so sloppy," said Dr. Lajos Berkes, a researcher and lecturer at the theological faculty of Humboldt University Berlin.

"We first noticed the word 'Jesus' in the recording. Then, by comparing it with many other digitized papyri, we deciphered it letter by letter."





The Gospel of Thomas describes the life of Jesus from the ages of 5 to 12, but was not included in the Bible because it was not considered authentic.

The stories are limited to the birth of Jesus, the family's flight to Egypt, the return to Nazareth, and the visit to the Jerusalem Temple. More detailed information about his youth is contained in apocryphal tales.

In one of the texts, the 5-year-old Messiah plays in a stream and makes 12 sparrows from soft clay. When his father, Joseph, notices what he is doing, he scolds the child and asks why he is sculpting on the Sabbath, a holy day of rest and worship. In response to this, Jesus commands the clay figurines to fly up, and they come to life.

The papyrus fragment measures 10 by 5 centimeters and contains a total of 13 lines of religious history. Researchers do not know when the artifact became part of the library's collection.



It is not known why the early years of Jesus' life were omitted from the Bible, but Charles Dyer, a professor at the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, suggested: "Perhaps the reader should focus on why the Messiah came to earth, his ministry and what led to him to crucifixion."