The three-foot tablet, probably found near the Dead Sea in Jordan, according to some scholars who have studied it, is a rare example of a stone with ink writings from that era, the New York Times said today.
If such a messianic description really is there, the Times says, it will contribute to a developing "re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus", since it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognised Jewish tradition at the time.
The tablet is written, not engraved, across two neat columns, similar to columns in a Torah. But the stone is broken, and some of the text is faded, meaning that much of what it says is open to debate, the report says.
Still its authenticity has so far faced no challenge. Daniel Boyarin, a professor of Talmudic culture at the University of California at Berkeley, said that the stone was part of a growing body of evidence suggesting that Jesus could be best understood through a close reading of the Jewish history of his day.
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"Some Christians will find it shocking a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology while others will be comforted by the idea of it being a traditional part of Judaism," Boyarin said.
Given the highly charged atmosphere surrounding all Jesus-era artifacts and writings, as well as the concern over forgery and charlatanism, it will probably be some time before the tablet's contribution is fully assessed, the paper says.