Oldest evidence of Christianity north of the Alps revealed by historians

The earliest known evidence of Christianity north of Italy was recently uncovered by archaeologists, who call the discovery one of the “most important pieces of evidence from early Christianity”.

The artifact, made public by the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum last week, is called the Frankfurt Silver Inscription. Discovered in 2018, the inscription has been analyzed and studied for years before it was finally released to the public this month.

The Frankfurt Silver Inscription is an engraving on silver foil consisting of 18 lines written in Latin. It dates to between 230 and 260 AD. and was discovered wrapped in a small silver amulet.

In a press release translated from German, the museum explained that the artifact was found in a third-century tomb in Hesse, Germany, in what was once the former Roman city of Nida. The inscription begins: “In the name of Saint Titus, Holy, holy, holy! In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!”

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Experts have recently decoded and released the earliest evidence of Christianity north of the Alps found in a third-century tomb. (Frankfurt Archaeological Museum)

Saint Titus was a first century Christian missionary and disciple of the Apostle Paul. The inscription also calls for the amulet to protect “the man who gives the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to the will.”

“The heavenly, the earthly, and the underground, and every tongue confesses (to Jesus Christ),” the text concludes.

Written in Latin, the inscription took several weeks to decipher due to its deteriorated condition. Archaeologists needed to “digitally unroll” the silver foil, which had been crumpled for about 1,800 years.

Using computed tomography and state-of-the-art technological equipment, the text was finally deciphered in May. It was then translated over a longer period of time.

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The early Christian inscription was written in Latin, which was unusual at the time. (Frankfurt Archaeological Museum)

“Sometimes it took weeks, even months, for me to get the next idea,” Goethe University professor Markus Scholz said of the translation process. “I brought in experts from the history of theology, among other things, and piece by piece together we tackled the text and in the end deciphered it.”

Scholz added that the inscription was “very sophisticated” and called its author “an elaborate writer.”

“It is unusual that the inscription is entirely in Latin,” Scholz said. “This is unusual for this time. Such inscriptions were usually written in amulets in Greek or Hebrew.”

Not only is the inscription not written in Hebrew, it does not refer to Judaism at all, nor does it contain pagan elements, making it even more unique.

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The silver foil was “digitally rolled out” and translated by experts. (Frankfurt Archaeological Museum)

“It is unusual that there is no reference in the inscription to any faith other than Christianity,” the museum’s press release added. “Usually up to the fifth century, a mixture of different faiths can always be expected with precious metal amulets of this kind. Often there are still elements of Judaism or pagan influences.”

“However, in this amulet neither Yahweh, the Almighty God of Judaism, nor the archangels Raphael, Gabriel, Michael or Suriel, no ancestors of Israel like Isaac or Jacob. Nor any pagan elements like demons. The amulet is purely Christian.”

The press release called the artifact “one of the most important testimonies of early Christianity worldwide.”

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“So far there has been no such early, authentic evidence of pure Christianity north of the Alps,” the statement explained. “All (other) finds are at least about 50 years younger.”

The silver foil was found in a tomb from the third century. (Frankfurt Archaeological Museum)

“There are references from the historiography to the first Christian groups in Gaul and perhaps also in the province of Upper Germania at the end of the second century,” the statement added. “However, certain evidence of Christian life in the northern Alpine regions of the Roman Empire generally does not come until the fourth century AD.”

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“These 18 lines, experts agree, will enormously enrich previous research on the spread of Christianity and the late period of Roman rule on the right side of the Rhine.”