Archeologists unearthed a 1,800-year-old silver amulet in Frankfurt, which features an 18-line inscription that could reshape our understanding of the history of Christianity in Europe.
“It will force us to turn back the history of Christianity in Frankfurt and far beyond by around 50 to 100 years,” Mike Josef, mayor of Frankfurt, told the New York Post.
‘The first Christian find of the north of Alps’
“The first Christian find north of the Alps comes from our city,” he added. “We can be proud of that, especially now, so close to Christmas.”
The amulet, measuring around 1.4 inches long, was found next to the remains of a man at a burial site on the outskirts of Frankfurt in 2018.
Ancient engraved amulet could ‘turn back history’ of Christianity, experts claim https://t.co/R7fIctiPHl pic.twitter.com/mZbQjHnoks
— New York Post (@nypost) December 16, 2024
Specialists used CT scans to decode the text
The text is called the “Frankfurt silver inscription” and is the oldest evidence of Christianity north of the Alps between 230 and 270 AD.
Around that time, the only acceptable religions in Europe were Judaism and paganism, according to the experts.
The ancient finding was “digitally unrolled” by specialists from the Leibniz Center for Archaeology, and computer tomography (CT) scans were used to decode and translate the 18-line text.
“In the name of Saint Titus. Holy, holy, holy! In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God! The Lord of the world resists with [strengths] all attacks [or setbacks]. The God grants entry to well-being. May this means of salvation protect the man who surrenders himself to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, since before Jesus Christ every knee bows: those in heaven, those on earth and those under the earth, and every tongue confesses (Jesus Christ),” the translation reads, according to the Daily Mail.
The text was surprisingly written in Latin
Professor Markus Scholz, an archaeologist from Goethe University in Frankfurt, led the process of interpreting the wafer-thin silver foil text.
“I called in experts from the history of theology, among others, and we approached the text together, piece by piece, and finally deciphered it,” Scholz told the Daily Mail.
Researchers confirmed that the man wore the amulet around his neck and was a devoted Christian. They were also surprised to learn that the text was written in Latin rather than Greek or Hebrew.
The man is also known as the first Christian in the north Alps, which experts say would change research practices on the religion.
“This extraordinary find affects many areas of research and will keep science busy for a long time to come,” Ina Hartwig, Frankfurt’s head of culture and science said, according to the Daily Mail.
