Archaeologists have discovered an artefact in a grave near Frankfurt, Germany, that could rewrite the timeline of Christian influence in the region.

The find comes from the ancient Roman town of Nida, where a man was buried between A.D. 230 and 270.

Among his burial items was a tiny silver foil amulet, just 1.4 inches long, believed to have been worn for protection. 

Known as the Frankfurt Silver Inscription, this 18-line text has been classified as a phylactery—a protective amulet. Dr Tine Rassalle, a biblical archaeologist, explained to Live Science that such items were believed to protect or heal their owners from misfortunes and were more common in the eastern Mediterranean during Late Antiquity.

The Leibniz Center for Archaeology (LEIZA) digitally unrolled the foil using high-resolution CT scans, revealing its Christian text. Professor Markus Scholz from Goethe University, who deciphered it, described the amulet as evidence of the man’s devout Christian faith.

“I called in experts from the history of theology, among others, and we approached the text together, piece by piece, and finally deciphered it,'"Professor Scholz told the Daily Mail.

The inscription is entirely in Latin, which Scholz described as unusual since such amulets were typically written in Greek or Hebrew. 

Dr Ina Hartwig, Frankfurt's head of culture and science, called the find "extraordinary", adding it will impact archaeology, religious studies, and anthropology for years to come.