The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ

Nicolas Notovitch, author of "The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ," was a Russian aristocrat, Cossack officer, spy, and journalist known for his contention that during the years of Jesus Christ's life missing from the Bible, he followed traveling merchants abroad into India and the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, Nepal, where he studied Buddhism. While recovering from a broken leg at the the monastery of Himis, Notovich discovered the text to "The Life of Issa" and realized that it recounted the "lost years" of Jesus. The descriptions of Indian life in this book are illuminating and realistic. Regarding the descriptions of Jesus' life in India, similar material exists in the Gospel of Thomas which was discovered in Nag Hamadi. Nicolas Notovitch traveled extensively throughout India, Afghanistan and Tibet during the 1890's. His journeying took him through a variety of remote places such as the passes of Bolan, across the Punjab, and eventually into the beautiful and historic Vale of Kashmir of the Himalayas. On one such voyage, whilst he was visiting Leh, the main city of Ladak, Notovitch broke his leg in an accident. While convalescing at the Himis convent, Notovitch heard that there were ancient writings chronicling the life of Jesus Christ existed. Subsequently, he traced and studied a Tibetan rendition of these writings and copied down in his journal in excess of two hundred verses from the curious document referred to as "The Life of St. Issa." Notovitch also translated some Tibetan volumes, from which he later wrote his exra-biblical book which later became known as "The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ."