A tablet said to date back to the first century BC could redefine links between the Christian and Jewish religions by predicting a messiah who would rise again after three days.

Biblical studies professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University Israel Knohl said his interpretation of the Hebrew text on the tablet could ''overturn the vision we have of the historic personality of Jesus'' Christ.

''This text could be the missing link between Judaism and Christianity in so far as it roots the Christian belief in the resurrection of the messiah in Jewish tradition,'' he said.

The tablet belongs to a collector living in Zurich who said he acquired the object from an antiquities dealer in Jordan. It is believed to originate from the Jordanian bank of the Dead Sea.

The text is described as ''the revelation of the Angel Gabriel'' and is inscribed in ink on rock, over 87 lines, with some letters or entire words wiped out by the passage of time.

The Israeli researcher said that line 80 referred to a ''three-day'' period and a faded word which uses a part of the verb ''to be''.

Christians celebrate Easter as the resurrection of Jesus who rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion.

The text declares that the Angel Gabriel is to awaken ''the prince of princes'' three days after his death, in an echo of the Jewish tradition which applies to the Messiah, according to the Israeli professor. The tablet was described and its text published last year in the Israeli historical and archaeological review Cathera.

Professor Knohl is to present his reading today at a seminar in Jerusalem as part of events to mark the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The tablet has been described as a ''Dead Sea Scroll on stone''.

According to The New York Times, ''If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus.

''It suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognised Jewish tradition at the time,'' the newspaper reported. AFP