Thallus (early 2nd century AD)



Thallus (Greek: Θαλλός) sometimes spelled Thallos, was a early Samaritan historian who wrote in Koine Greek. Some scholars believe that his his work can be interpreted as the earliest reference to the historical Jesus, written about 20 years after the Crucifixion. Around the year 55, he wrote a three-volume history of the Mediterranean world from before the Trojan War to circa 50. Most of his work, like the vast majority of ancient literature, perished, but not before it was preserved by Sextus Julius Africanus in his History of the World.

The works are considered important by Christian scholars because they believe them to help confirm the historicity of Jesus. Some people believe that Thallus details the Crucifixion of Jesus but explains that the darkness that fell over the land at the time of Jesus' death was not a miracle as reported in the Canonical gospels, but merely an eclipse. This would establish a pre-Markan origin for the story spoken of in the Gospel of Mark