Here's something to think about the next time you watch Hallmark characters take a stroll through a European Christmas market:
This story is at the intersection of history, technology, weird mysteries, and Christendom. It's like it was designed for Not the Bee!
This unread scroll preserved inside a "mysterious" silver amulet discovered in Germany shows that Christianity was making inroads in Europe earlier than many experts thought.
It was last read by a human 1,800 years ago, when Christianity was regarded a burgeoning cult.
Now, scientists have finally deciphered the 'Frankfurt silver inscription' - an 18-line engraving on a thin piece of foil, housed in a protective amulet.
Here are the 18 lines:
Amen and amen!
So, what's so special about this scroll, and how were we able to read it now after 1,800 years?
Researchers have used CT scans to 'digitally unroll' the 'wafer thin' foil and read the inscription within for the first time since the 3rd century AD.
Incredibly, the text represents the oldest known evidence of Christianity north of the Alps, dating back to between 230 and 270 AD, scientists say.
At the time, Christianity was still spreading over Europe from its historical origin of Judaea in the Middle East.
Yes, this is the earliest known Christian artifact in Europe north of the Swiss Alps. Sometime around 200 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, prior to the Christianization of the Roman Empire, Christianity was making its way into Europe.
The stunning findings were led by the Leibniz Center for Archaeology (LEIZA) in Mainz and published by the City of Frankfurt.
'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,' said Ivan Calandra, archaeologist at LEIZA.
'Using CT, we were able to scan it at a very high resolution and create a 3D model.'
Now THAT is a pretty cool use of technology. They were able to completely preserve the scroll AND read what was inside using a CT scan.
This scroll was discovered 6 years ago in Frankfurt, Germany, and the researchers at LEIZA have been working since then to get an idea of what all the scroll says.
It was taken from the grave of a man who was also buried with an incense bowl and a jug made of fired clay - potentially personal effects of the individual.
The man was buried in Germany between 230-270. The researchers also marvel that the message on the scroll is "purely Christian" as they would have expected a form of syncretism such as Christianity + paganism or Christianity + Judaism. However, the scroll is very explicitly Christian, without references to archangels or the Jewish fathers.
Researchers now consider the man found buried with the amulet to be the "first Christian" north of the Alps (although he is simply the first KNOWN Christian north of the Alps).
Who knows who else might show up in years to come?
Frankfurt's mayor Mike Josef called the inscription 'a scientific sensation'.
'It will force us to turn back the history of Christianity in Frankfurt and far beyond by around 50 to 100 years,' he said.
'The first Christian find north of the Alps comes from our city - we can be proud of that, especially now, so close to Christmas.'
There's just something about Germany and Christmas, isn't there? And it looks like those roots reach back further than anyone previously knew.
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