Oldest Coptic icon

An icon painted on wood depicting Jesus Christ and Abbot Mena dates to the 8th century CE. Jesus is identifiable by the cross inside his halo; Abbot Mena was the superior at the monastery at Bawit in Egypt, where the icon was discovered.

The Copts are an indigenous Christian ethno-religious community in Egypt. The icon of Christ and Abbot Mena was found in Bawit in 1900 by the French archaeologist Jean Clédat, and is currently housed at the Louvre in Paris.