Veronicas: On the face of Christ

I doubt he was light-skinned with blonde hair and blue eyes. The sun is rather strong in that region.

He probably had really tough feet. Also, tooth decay, probably because of lack of dental care and sand.

He was probably circumcised if he was Jewish.

he walked around alot - I'm assuming he didn't run. He also didn't have a lot of money (I think) so he probably would have been thin with slightly prounounced but long and smooth muscles - like powerwalkers.

If he gestured with his arms a lot the way he does in paintings, he would have muscled back and shoulders and thin lower arms.

He probably would have a full beard, given the time period. And long hair. I would assume it would be curly - not straight - because of the climate and region.

He was probably short, as people are when they're malnourished. But given that people naturally tend to follow tall leaders, maybe he was tall anyway - or tall for his time. People were smaller back then.

He probably got beat up a lot and didn't fight back. Maybe he would have had some kind of physical problems from that.

The "Centurion Letter," which is likely a forgery, states that he was a hunchback with hennaed hair and a squeaky voice. It certainly would have made him "Stand out."

hobit, I saw a brief tv promo for CNN's presentation (sorry, didn't watch it) on the many faces of Jesus. You might be able to help me here. Some expert has tried to reconstruct what Jesus might have looked like by using a skull and moulding facial features,etc. based on the criteria he has of the typical looking male of the time, somewhat the same as a sketch artist would do for perps.

I can't help but think of Patrick Stewart's distant ancestor, Kennewick Man.

thank you, hobit, for your explanation.

Goodnight from Florida.

Actually, I have no idea about the bearded vs. clean sahven thing. Hellenistic culture declared beardedness to be a sign of barbarian-ness (like a lagre, well. you know!). But I really don't know what the norm was for Jewish priests in first century Palestine. This has me rather intrigued, so I shall attempt to corner our antiquitist tomorrow.

h-bob there is a instruction in the Talmud to 'not cut the hair on your head'. That explains why the more orthodox Jews tend to look like ZZ Top.

Thanks. Do you know if this injuction was interpereted to mean the beard as well during this period, and do you know when this instruction dates from?