Archaeologists have discovered a silver amulet with an inscription that one theologian says could rewrite the history of Christianity north of the Alps.
An amulet with an inscription was found buried in a grave in Frankfurt, Germany in 2018, according to the city's announcement. A little over an inch in size, the amulet is wrapped in silver foil with an inscription inside. It took years to determine what the inscription said: it had to be deciphered by computer scanning because the foil was too fragile to unwrap. The so-called “Frankfurt Silver Letter” was presented to the public in early December.
The inscription was identified as a statement of faith in Jesus Christ, written in Latin. The statement indicated that the wearer “was clearly a devout Christian, which is totally unusual for this time,” the city said.
Researchers dated the tomb where the amulet was found to 230-270 AD. It is the earliest evidence of Christianity north of the Alps, the city said, with all other finds being decades younger, with “reliable evidence” of religion in the region dating back to the 4th century.
Leibniz Institute of Archeology in Mainz
The inscription does not mention any religion other than Christianity, which the researchers called unusual. Until the 5th century, such amulets “always contained a mixture of different faiths”, such as Judaism or paganism. Instead, it is based entirely on Christianity. At one point there is a call of “Holy, holy, holy!” is present. Researchers previously dated this call no earlier than the 4th century. The amulet also contained quotations from the Bible used by Christians of the time.
“The Frankfurt inscription is a scientific sensation,” Mayor Mike Josef said in a statement. “This will set us back about 50 to 100 years in the history of Christianity in Frankfurt and far beyond. The first Christian find north of the Alps comes from our town: we can be proud of it, especially now, so close to Christmas, they have done a great job.'
The researchers said the discovery would lead to a re-evaluation of the tomb where the amulet was found. It would also lead to a revision of ideas about Christianity north of the Alps.
German church historian Ulrich Folp This was reported by the Evangelical press service that the amulet can be used to help understand how Christianity spread in the Roman Empire in the third century, even in the face of persecution.
“The significance of the discovery is hard to overstate,” Volp said.
The news comes about six months after experts in Germany said a newly deciphered manuscript dating back 1,600 years was recognized the oldest record of the childhood of Jesus Christ.