Archaeologists in Turkey's Karaman province have uncovered five carbonized loaves from the Byzantine era — one stamped with an image of Jesus and a Greek inscription that reads, “With gratitude to the blessed Jesus.”
The breads were found at Topraktepe, ancient Eirenopolis, and dated to the 7th–8th centuries A.D.
What sets the find apart is the iconography. Instead of the familiar Christ Pantokrator, the image presents Jesus as a sower or farmer — an agrarian motif that would have spoken directly to local communities whose faith, labor, and lands were intertwined. The other loaves bear Maltese cross impressions, strengthening the case that these were used liturgically, likely as communion breads.
How did bread survive 1,300 years? Researchers point to a rare chain of events: intense heat charred the loaves, then low-oxygen burial and stable temperatures preserved surface details, including the inscription and stamped imagery.
Teams plan microscopy and tomography to identify grains and baking techniques, which could illuminate both diet and worship in middle Byzantine Anatolia.
The discovery lands in a place that is foundational for Christians worldwide. Much of today’s Turkey was home to early Christian communities — from Paul’s journeys across Asia Minor to the Seven Churches named in early sources — and key councils such as Nicaea (in modern İznik) that shaped creeds recited to this day, and where the Pope will visit next month.
Most famously, in Antioch (present-day Antakya, Hatay province), “the disciples were first called Christians,” as recorded in Acts 11:26. That single line anchors Turkey’s claim as one of Christianity’s earliest cradles and a crossroads where the "Jesus movement" took on a public name
For Catholics, the resonance is immediate. The Catechism teaches that at the heart of the Eucharist are bread and wine — “signs of the goodness of creation” — that become Christ’s Body and Blood (CCC 1333).
Now, creation’s simplest food arrives across 13 centuries bearing thanksgiving to Jesus. The farmer-Christ motif also echoes the Gospel image of the sower, inviting believers and seekers alike to see holiness seeded in ordinary work and daily bread.
The pastoral dimension is just as striking. Stamping gratitude into dough before baking turned a staple into a proclamation: God provides; we give thanks. Even the charred crusts preach across time about dependence, generosity, and the way worship can be kneaded into common life.
As analysis proceeds, scholars expect more insights — from cereal types to oven technology — offering a rare, tangible bridge between present-day prayer and the tables of early Christians in Anatolia. Whether you approach this as archaeology, art history, or faith, the message impressed on that ancient loaf still fits the human heart: gratitude.
