{"id":13946,"date":"2025-10-21T12:36:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=13946"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:36:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:36:21","slug":"archaeologists-unearth-1200-year-old-bread-with-image-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/10\/archaeologists-unearth-1200-year-old-bread-with-image-of-christ.html","title":{"rendered":"Archaeologists Unearth 1,200-Year-Old Bread With Image of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Karaman Valili\u011fi \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaeologists in Turkey announced the remarkable discovery of an ancient 1,200-year-old burnt loaf of bread that bears the image of Christ. Archaeologists were excavating Topraktepe, known throughout the ancient world as Eirenopolis when they uncovered five charcoal-colored circles, according to a Facebook post by the Karaman Governorship<\/a>. An analysis revealed the circles were carbonized communion bread dating from the seventh or eighth century. The breads bore designs on them, with four of the breads being designed with what is known as the Maltese Cross printing. The Maltese Cross has its own significance in Medieval culture, with debate as to whether or not its origins are from Malta or Amalfi, a region in Italy.<\/p>\n

A fifth loaf had an image of Christ, though the post noted that Jesus was not shown in what is known as Jesus the Savior (known as the Pantokrator) but rather as Jesus the Sower or Jesus the Farmer. \u201cIt is estimated that this iconography points to the symbolic importance of fertility and labor in the religious understanding of the period,\u201d the post noted. The loaf also includes a transcription that states, \u201cWith gratitude to the Blessed Jesus.\u201d Archaeologists believe the bread is an example of Communion bread used in liturgy during the early Church period.<\/p>\n

The Christian community in Turkey would have been a strong one during the 7th<\/sup> to 8th<\/sup> centuries, as many Christians fled from persecution to the area of Asia Minor. There the Christian faith thrived during the Byzantine Empire. The rise of Islam, however, would eventually drive out the once-thriving Christian community and reduce it to a mere memory in the region. The number of Christians in Turkey has declined sharply since the First World War, with Christians making up about 20-25% of the population of Turkey in 1914 to a mere 0.4% to 0.2% today. This makes the find especially important as it gives a greater glimpse of Turkey\u2019s lost Christian past. In addition to their rarity, the finds are also very well-preserved, adding to the greatness of the find. Officials noted the conditions of the bread and remarked on the find\u2019s preservation. \u201cThe fact that the bread has become carbonated and reached our present day shows the extraordinary conditions of conservation,\u201d the post concluded. \u201cThe finds are among the best preserved specimens found in Anatolia to date.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Archaeologists in Turkey announced the remarkable discovery of an ancient 1,200-year-old burnt loaf of bread that bears the image of Christ. Archaeologists were excavating Topraktepe, known throughout the ancient world as Eirenopolis when they uncovered five charcoal-colored circles, according to a Facebook post by the Karaman Governorship. An analysis revealed the circles were carbonized communion…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":13949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nArchaeologists Unearth 1,200-Year-Old Bread With Image of Christ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Archaeologists in Turkey uncover a 1,200-year-old communion loaf bearing the image of Christ, offering a glimpse into early Christian faith.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/10\/archaeologists-unearth-1200-year-old-bread-with-image-of-christ.html\" \/>\n<meta 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