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1. Alexamenos graffiti, or the “blaspheme graffiti”: This might be the oldest image in the world related to Jesus and Christianity. However, this is not a liturgical or devotional image at all, but an engraving on a plaster wall in Rome, mocking both Christ and Christians. In it, a donkey-headed, crucified human figure is depicted being worshiped by a person, next to the inscription "Alexamenos worshiping his god." Since crucifixion was the punishment reserved for the worst criminals (up until the fourth century, when Constantine abolished it), the donkey head aims to make the image even more offensive. The value of this image lies in the fact that it proves the presence of Christians in Rome as far back as in the first century: that’s how old this graffiti is!
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