London: Millions across the world have a fixed mental image of Jesus, who has often been depicted as fair skinned with dark blonde locks and light coloured eyes, but a forensic expert who tried to recreate what Jesus looked like with the help of science, will tell you how flawed these depictions are.
Richard Neave, a forensic Anthropologist had used computerised tomography to determine what Jesus might have looked like and the result was an almond complexioned man with typical Middle Eastern Jewish features and dark brown hair.
Jesus is usually imagined in popular culture as a light skinned Caucasian with long hair (Photo: Pixabay)
Dr Neave had used x-rays of three Semite skulls, which belong to the age Jesus is believed to have lived in and used technology to work on his 'real' appearance. He worked with his team to digitally reconstruct a face and then created a cast of the skull on which layers of clay were added to look like facial tissues and replicate the image generated by the program.
His team had extensively researched and analysed various skulls of men from Jesus’ time, to understand and design the build of an average Jewish man that lived in Galilee, Israel which is very different from the tall, lean paintings of Jesus.
Busting the popular notion that Jesus had long hair, Neave’s team said that he ought to have had short hair in keeping with the Jewish traditions that existed during those times.
While Neave's image is a far cry from popular depictions, experts believe that his version is closer to the truth than what the art world would have you believe.
The image was first released years ago but only recently went viral on the social media.
