The earliest known evidence of Christianity north of Italy was recently revealed by archaeologists, who are calling the discovery one of the “most important evidence of early Christianity.”

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

The Frankfurt silver inscription is an engraving on silver foil consisting of 18 Latin lines. 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 the former Roman city of Nida. The inscription begins: “In the name of Saint Titus, holy, holy, holy! In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God!”

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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 his will to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

“The heavenly, the earthly, and the underworld, and every tongue confess (Jesus Christ),” the text concludes.

Since the inscription was written in Latin, it took several weeks to decipher due to its poor condition. Archaeologists had to “digitally unroll” the silver foil, which had been crumpled for around 1,800 years.

The text was finally deciphered in May using computer tomography and state-of-the-art technical equipment. It was then translated over a longer period of time.

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“Sometimes it took weeks, even months, until I had the next idea,” said Goethe University Professor Markus Scholz about the translation process. “I called in experts from the history of theology, among other things, and we approached the text together bit by bit and finally deciphered it.”

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

“It is unusual that the inscription is written entirely in Latin,” said Scholz. “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 also does not refer to Judaism at all and does not contain any pagan elements, making it even more unique.

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“It is unusual that there is no reference to any faith other than Christianity in the inscription,” the museum’s press release said. “Usually, up to the fifth century, a mixture of different faiths can always be expected with such precious metal amulets. Elements from Judaism or pagan influences can often be found.”

“But in this amulet there is no mention of Yahweh, the Almighty God of Judaism, nor the archangels Raphael, Gabriel, Michael or Suriel, nor forefathers of Israel such as Isaac or Jacob. And no pagan elements like demons either. The amulet is purely Christian.” “

The press release says the artifact is “one of the most significant evidence of early Christianity in the world.”

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“Until now there has been no such early, authentic evidence of pure Christianity north of the Alps,” the statement said. “All (other) finds are at least around 50 years younger.”

“There is evidence from historiography of the first Christian groups in Gaul and perhaps also in the province of Upper Germany in the late second century,” the statement continued. “However, certain evidence of Christian life in the northern Alpine regions of the Roman Empire generally only dates from the 4th 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 of the Rhine.”