Jesus was married, says ancient script
Jesus Christ was a married man, according to an ancient script.
The previously unknown 1,700-year-old fragment of papyrus is said to quote him referring to a wife.
US expert Karen King said it is the only text to suggest a marriage — as in hit book The Da Vinci Code.
The excerpt, written in ancient Egyptian Coptic, reads: “Jesus said to them, 'My wife — she will be able to be my disciple'.”
It appears to add: “I dwell with her.”
The woman is thought to be his disciple Mary Magdalene, said by some to have been a repentant prostitute.
The belief that Jesus never married gave rise to the celibate priesthood in the Catholic church.
Harvard professor Ms King believes the text is a copy of a gospel probably written in Greek in the second century.
She said: “Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was not married — even though no reliable historical evidence exists to support that claim.”