An Early Christian Amulet

Last updated on: March 8, 2025 at 1:08 am by Ben Witherington

An Early Christian Amulet 2025-02-25T08:18:42-05:00 Ben Witherington

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In a previous post I chronicled the finding of an early Christian locket with a part of the Lord’s prayer found in it on a tiny piece of paper. These things were worn for protection from the dark powers, and from harm in general. The Smithsonian in a recent article. (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-say-this-tiny-amulet-is-the-oldest-evidence-of-christianity-found-north-of-the-alps-180985674/). is revealing that a Christian amulet has been found north of the Alps, and dated to the late second century. Here is a summary of the report…

In 2018, researchers found a tiny silver amulet in an ancient Roman grave near Frankfurt, Germany. The 1.4-inch-long artifact contained a roll of foil—a tiny scroll, which researchers didn’t dare remove for fear of breaking it apart. Now, thanks to advanced scanning technology, experts have been able to read the scroll’s inscription without unrolling it. According to an announcement from the city of Frankfurt, it’s the oldest Christian artifact ever found north of the Alps.The silver amulet was buried with a man in his 30s or 40s who died between 230 and 270 C.E., per the Greek Reporter’s Abdul Moeed. His grave is located in the ancient Roman town of Nida, a rich archaeological site in present-day Frankfurt’s suburbs.

The amulet was found tucked under the interred skeleton’s chin: He’d likely worn it on a cord around his neck. According to a statement from the Frankfurt’s Goethe University, the inscription 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].

During the third century, Christianity was growing but wasn’t yet widespread. In the northern Alpine regions of the Roman Empire, it was still risky to publicly practice. For the amulet’s owner, “his faith was apparently so important that he took it with him to his grave,” per the statement.

Researchers worked for years to recover the scroll’s contents, as the thin silver foil was too brittle to unfurl. Instead, researchers at the nearby Leibniz Center for Archaeology used high-resolution CT scanning.

“The challenge in the analysis was that the silver sheet was rolled, but after around 1,800 years, it was of course also creased and pressed,” says Ivan Calandra, head of the center’s imaging lab, in the statement. “Using CT [scanning], we were able to scan it at a very high resolution and create a 3D model.”

Thanks to alert reader Jim for finding this article…..

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