By Sertac Aktan withAP
Release date
A fresco depicting Jesus in Roman form as the “Good Shepherd” has been discovered by Turkish archaeologists. This is one of the most important discoveries from the early Christian period in Anatolia.
The painting was discovered in August in a crypt near Iznik, where Pope Leo XIV recently visited as part of his first overseas trip. The town is known in Christian history as the place where the Nicene Creed was adopted in 325 AD.
The tombs in the village of Hisardere are thought to date from the 3rd century, a time when Christians still faced widespread persecution in the Roman Empire.
The Good Shepherd fresco depicts a clean-shaven, youthful Jesus wearing a toga and carrying a goat on his shoulders. Researchers claim that this is one of the rare cases in Anatolia where Jesus is depicted with clearly Roman characteristics.
Before the cross was widely adopted as a universal symbol of Christianity, the motif of the Good Shepherd played an important role in expressing faith, indicating protection, salvation, and divine guidance. However, only a few examples of the Good Shepherd have been found in Anatolia, and the one in Hisardele is the best preserved.
Chief archaeologist Gulsen Kutubai said the artwork was probably “the only example of its kind in the region”.
The walls and ceilings of the narrow tombs are also decorated with bird and plant motifs. Portraits of noble men and women accompanied by their slave retinue also decorate the walls of the tomb.
Eren Erten Ertem, an archaeologist at the Iznik Museum, said the frescoes “mark the transition from late paganism to early Christianity and depict the passing of the dead into the afterlife in a positive and appropriate way.”
The excavations also uncovered the remains of five people, three of whom were identified as two young people and a six-month-old infant.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented a tile painting of the Discovery of the Good Shepherd to Pope Leo XIV during a visit last month to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
Anatolia witnessed a pivotal moment in the history of Christianity. St. Paul was born in Tarsus, St. John spent his final years in Ephesus, and the Virgin Mary may have spent her final days near the same city.