A newly discovered 1,800-year-old silver amulet inscribed with 18 lines of Latin text is rewriting the history of Christianity's spread in the northern Roman Empire. This find, the oldest evidence of Christianity north of the Alps, predates all other known instances by at least 50 years.
Archaeologists discovered a silver amulet containing an 18-line text showing the oldest known devotion to Christianity north of the Alps. Computer technology helped unravel the mystery of the text hidden within a silver amulet from the third century A.D.The find rewrites the history of Christianity ’s spread in the northern Roman Empire .
An 1,800-year-old silver amulet discovered buried in a Frankfurt, Germany, grave, still next to the chin of the man who wore it, has 18 lines of text written in Latin on just 1.37 inches of silver foil. That could be enough to rewrite the known history of Christianity in the Roman Empire. The amulet—and the inscription—are the oldest evidence of Christianity found north of the Alps.Every other link to reliable evidence of Christian life in the northern Alpine area of the Roman Empire is at least 50 years younger, all coming from the fourth century A.D. But the amulet, found in a grave dating between 230 and 270 A.D. and now known as “The Frankfurt Inscription,” was made to better decipher the inscription. “This extraordinary find affects many areas of research and will keep science busy for a long time,” Ina Hartwig, Frankfurt’s head of culture and science, said in a translated statement. “This applies to archaeology as well as to religious studies, philology, and anthropology. Such a significant find here in Frankfurt is truly something extraordinary.”The amulet was found in what was once the Roman city of Nida at an archaeological site outside of Frankfurt in 2018. During excavation of the area, crews uncovered an entire Roman cemetery wherein the plot designated as “grave 134,” a small silver amulet, known as a phylactery, was located right under the chin of the occupant’s skeleton. He likely wore it around his neck and was buried with it. Following the find, the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt restored the silver amulet, which included a thin silver foil with an inscription, as seen by microscopic examinations and X-rays in 201
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1,800-year-old silver amulet could rewrite history of Christianity in the early Roman EmpireKristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Killgrove holds postgraduate degrees in anthropology and classical archaeology and was formerly a university professor and researcher.
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