Scientists who examined a controversial fragment of papyrus written in Egyptian Coptic in which Jesus speaks of his wife concluded in papers published on Thursday that the papyrus and ink are probably ancient and not a modern forgery.
The existence of the fragment, known as the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife," was made public at an academic conference in 2012. It is seen by some as a glimpse of how ancient Christians thought while decried by others, including the Vatican, as an absurd fake.
Scientific studies performed over the last two years at various universities suggest both the ink and the papyrus are probably no newer than the ninth century and that the language and writing style are authentic for the period.