Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient amulet in a gravesite that could shake up the history of Christianity.
Researchers dusted off the inscribed silver object, thought to date back some 1,800 years, during a 2017-18 excavation at a cemetery in the Heilmannstraße area, just outside Frankfurt, Germany, in what was once the former Roman city of Nida.
Nestled amid the remains of a man thought to have been between 25 and 35, archaeologists found the object with a thin inscribed silver foil rolled up within.
The message written upon it has long remained a mystery, with researchers fearful of damaging the fragile foil. But it’s since been cracked using scanning technology, offering an astounding glimpse into how the religion spread across the globe.
Known as the “Frankfurt Silver Inscription”, the object was presented to the public earlier in December and was determined to be marked with a statement of faith in Jesus Christ in Latin, according to a news release from the city.
The city said the message is bears shows that the unknown wearer “was clearly a devout Christian, which is absolutely unusual for this time”.
The grave was found to date back to between 230 and 270 AD, making it the earliest evidence of Christianity north of the Alps.
All other finds up to its discovery are decades younger, offering “reliable evidence” of the religion being followed in the region in the 4th century.
Until the 5th century, amulets of this kind contained a mixture of different faiths, such as paganism or Judaism, but the Frankfurt Silver Inscription stands out by only mentioning Christianity, researchers said.
Included in the short text is the invocation “Holy, holy, holy!” which experts had previously seen dated back only as far as the 4th century, and also included quotations from the Bible Christians read at that time.
The translated text, which was deciphered by Professor Markus Scholz, an archaeologist from Goethe University in Frankfurt, reads:
(In the name?) of St Titus.
Holy, holy, holy!
In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God!
The lord of the world
resists to the best of his [ability?]
all seizures(?)/setbacks(?).
The god(?) grants well-being
Admission.
This rescue device(?) protects
the person who
surrenders to the will
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
since before Jesus Christ
bend all knees: the heavenly ones,
the earthly and
the subterranean, and every tongue
confess (to Jesus Christ).
In a translated statement, city mayor Mike Josef said the inscription is a “scientific sensation.” He continued: “It will force us to turn back the history of Christianity in Frankfurt and far beyond by around 50 to 100 years.
“The first Christian find north of the Alps comes from our city: we can be proud of that, especially now, so close to Christmas. Those involved have done a great job.”
German church historian Ulrich Volp says the amulet will help work out how the religion spread through the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, despite the persecution its followers faced.
“The significance of the discovery can hardly be overestimated,” Volp told the Evangelical Press Service.
The breakthrough comes after experts in Germany said a recently deciphered 1,600-year-old manuscript dating back was determined to be the oldest record Jesus’ childhood, as per CBS News.
