Earliest-known images of Jesus found in Egyptian tomb?
Spanish scientists have discovered what could be one of the earliest-known images of Jesus Christ, painted on the walls of a mysterious underground structure in an ancient Egyptian tomb.
A team of archaeologists led by Josep Padro from the Catalan Egyptology Society (SCE) has unearthed a mystery underground structure in buried tombs, which date back to the 6th and 7th centuries, in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus.
The structure is decorated with Coptic images - or paintings by a group who number among the earliest Christians - and may contain one of the earliest-known representations of Jesus Christ.
Padro, who has spent over 20 years excavating sites in the area, described the discovery to La Vanguardia newspaper as "exceptional".
Padro said the underground stone structure was "incredibly good, but we don't know what it is".
According to The Local, the archaeologists found "five or six coats of paint on the walls, the last of which was from the Coptic period of the first Christians."
Among the plant motifs and inscriptions was the "figure of a young man, with curly hair, dressed in a short tunic and with his hand raised as if giving a blessing," according to Padro.
"We could be dealing with a very early image of Jesus Christ," he added.
A team is now translating the inscriptions surrounding the figure.
The Egyptian ministry will take responsibility for developing the archaeological site, which was discovered by a joint team from the CSE and the University of Barcelona. - Business-Standard
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Ghost Sex?
A Ukranian-born actress is scaring up lots of publicity after making this outrageous claim: She's had sex with a ghost -- twice.
Natasha Blasick made the spirited confession Tuesday morning on British TV show This Morning and said she found the experiences "really, really pleasurable."
The first experience happened when she was alone in her room.
“I was laying in bed and then I felt something enter the room and I couldn’t see anybody," she said, according to the Mirror. “I could feel that somebody was touching me and the hands were pushing me against my will and I could feel the weight of the body on top of me.
"I couldn’t see anybody but I could feel the pressure, the energy, the warmth pushing in different directions.”
She added: "I enjoyed it."
The ghost then left, but Blasick said it returned a month later for more, the New York Daily News reports.
Although Blasick is married, she said her ghost sex antics have given her something more than traditional nookie ever could.
“It was fun. I think ever since I was a child I always wanted to know if there is anything more to this world, I was always asking the questions, and I think this made me feel kind of reassured that there is something more than what we can see with the naked eye," she said, according to DigitalSpy.com. "It gave me comfort and support and love, and it did answer questions for me that there is something else out there.”
Blasick isn't the first performer to extol the virtues of ghost sex.
In September, Kesha revealed to Ryan Seacrest that a randy romp with a male ghost helped give birth to her new song, "Supernatural."
"It's about experiences with the supernatural... but in a sexy way," she told Seacrest. "I had a couple of experiences with the supernatural. I don't know his name! He was a ghost! I'm very open to it."
Claims like Blasick's arouse skepticism from paranormal experts.
Alexandra Holzer, a ghost researcher and HuffPost blogger, says people who experience ghost sex don't feel "warmth" of the kind that Blasick alleges.
"The people who report having sex with a ghost report feeling pressure on them and even penetration, but ghosts don't have warmth," Holzer told HuffPost. "When they're in the room, it's a very cold environment." - THP
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Elvis' Teeth 'On Tour'
Patients at a dental surgery in Malvern may be forgiven for feeling all shook up.
Beacon Dental Care on Pickersleigh Road is set to be transformed from Heartbreak Hotel to Toothache Hotel for one day only as staff dress up to remember the King and take charge of his very own crown.
The reason for the Elvis Presley-themed event on Wednesday (April 30) is both the 60th anniversary of his first hit That’s All Right and to raise awareness of mouth cancer.
The practice will take temporary charge of the King’s Crown – a model of Elvis Presley’s teeth together with the genuine crown made for the star by former Memphis dentist Henry J Weiss.
Elvis’ legendary music will be played in the waiting room.
Dentist Dr Karen Sutton says the day has a serious message behind it, raising awareness of mouth cancer with free mouth screenings on offer.
“Beacon Dental Care is thrilled to have been selected to be one of only a dozen dentists in the UK to host the prized object which is on loan for a day,” said Dr Sutton.
It is believed Elvis had toothache shortly before his death in August 1977 having visited a dentist the night before.
Elvis’ crown was bought in auction in February 2012 for $11,000 by Michael Zuk, a Canadian author, dentist and obsessive collector of celebrity teeth. Five people a day are reported to die in the United Kingdom from mouth cancer. - Malvern Gazette
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Family Gift...or Curse?
The first time I experienced anything paranormal I was 5 years old. Of course, at the time I had no clue what was going on, or whether it was a normal occurrence for people.
I always kept my bedroom door open so the light from the bathroom could shine in and I wasn't in complete darkness. One night I was up secretly reading when I should have been asleep and it was the first time I saw her. I remember all the sudden I was overcome with a fear and dread that I had never experienced before. I also felt I was being watched. I glanced to the doorway and there stood someone. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a little girl, like me. She was probably around 8 years old, was wearing a dirty long dark colored dress, she had long brown hair that hung slightly into her face, and oddly, she looked wet all over. I was confused. Why would some random girl come into my house? Why was she wet? Why are her parents letting her out this late? Normally, seeing another girl I would have spoken to her and asked if she wanted to play or something of that nature, but the fear I had wouldn't allow it. I just stared at her. She slowly lifted her head and glanced at me and I saw she was very pale, had dark eyes and dark circles under them. She then raised her arm almost robotic like, with twitchy sort of movements, and started moving her index finger in the "come here" motion.
Even at 5 years old I listened to the voice in my head and my gut telling me not to follow her. I covered my head with my blanket because as everyone knows, nothing can harm you or see you when you are under the shield of your "invisibility cloak".
I woke up the next day and told my mom about the girl. She shrugged it off and said I was probably dreaming. I accepted that, it was possible, but I had never had a nightmare before. That night, I laid in bed trying to convince myself it was a dream. I decided to stay up and wait to see if she came back just in case it wasn't.
She came back.
I knew I wasn't dreaming this time. I had the exact same terrified feeling as she stood at the door beckoning me to come with her. Again, I hid under my blanket. I didn't mention it to my mom, but after a week of the girl returning every night I decided to tell my dad.
He nodded his head as I told him and told me he was going to let me in on a little secret. He told me that his side of the family has a "gift", or as some of his family call it a "curse." That confused me so I asked him what he meant. He explained that he had the ability to see and speak to people who aren't alive anymore. I understood somewhat, but still was confused how he could do that. He told me his mother had the ability to hear them and her mother could hear, sense, feel emotions and communicate with them. He said from what I've told him, it seems as if I had the abilities of his grandmother, as I could feel what they felt and if they were good or bad as well as see them. He told me if I ever have that bad feeling to listen to it, as it is a gift and won't let me be fooled by "nice faces". I took his advice to heart.
That little girl visited me every night, no matter what room I was in (only in my house though) until I turned 10 years old. At 10, I finally had the courage to tell her to leave me alone.
I just remember so vividly how she would always try to get me to follow her. I know you will probably think I'm making this up or crazy for this next statement, but sometimes she even had a dollar (or what looked like a dollar) waving it in her hand trying to get me to follow her (I know it sounds insane, but I swear to you on my life she did). Of course I was curious as to what she wanted to show me, but my dads words and my feelings about her always kept me from going with her.
When I was older, I asked my mother about the little girl. Her face became pale and she just looked at me. She asked almost as if it were a disease, "You have it too, don't you?" I told her yes and she proceeded to tell me to never tell her when I saw or heard things unless they were threatening to harm someone or give her message. I agreed. She proceeded to tell me that a very long time ago, there was a man and his wife that lived there with two children, a boy and a girl. She said the two children died by drowning in the well and that it was ruled accidental, but everyone suspected the father had murdered them.
I tried looking it up, but they live so far out in the country, its hard to place the address back then.
In case you are wondering, I do have the gift. I can sense, see, hear and feel emotions from spirits (the emotion feeling I can feel on any person dead or alive). Sometimes it has felt like a curse, but I've learned to embrace it.
Even after 21 years, I still look for the little girl whenever I visit my parents and will always wonder, what if I had followed her? - Reddit.com
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Star Wars 'Tatooine' Film Sets
The Matmata caves in Tunisia which stood in for Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine home in the Star Wars films have been turned into the Sidi Driss hotel.
The Mos Espa set was specially built for the films and left intact after shooting finished. It is now abandoned and in danger of being swallowed by shifting sand dunes.
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