First, the earliest representations of Jesus, Mary, and Christ’s disciples appear in the catacombs of Rome, where offshoots of the Jewish sect known as the Essenes buried their dead. All of these portrayals picture a dark-skinned Jesus. In addition, many years after his death, the Roman Empire under Justinian II, minted a gold coin that pictured Jesus. This coin, displayed in the British Museum, shows a man with non-white facial features and tightly curled hair, consistent with the description of Jesus offered in the Book of Revelations, or those in Ezekiel and Daniel, wherein it is noted that the Messiah (presumed, of course, by Christians to be Jesus prophesied) had hair like wool, and feet the color of burnt brass, and an amber-colored torso.
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The essenes
