The Frankfurt silver inscription is an early Christian silver amulet from the 3rd century, originating from the Roman settlement of Nida. The amulet was discovered in 2018 during excavations at a Roman-period burial ground in Frankfurt-Praunheim and is now part of the collections of the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt am Main. In 2024, the rolled-up silver foil was digitally "unrolled" and deciphered with the help of computed tomography. The inscription is considered one of the earliest material testimonies of Christianity north of the Alps and provides valuable insights into early Christian devotional practices in the border regions of the Latin West.
Place of discovery The Frankfurt amulet was recovered during archaeological excavations at the burial ground on Heilmannstraße in Frankfurt-Praunheim.For the necropolis, see: Andrea Hampel: Das Gräberfeld „Heilmannstraße“ in Frankfurt a. M.-Praunheim. Hessen Archäologie 2017 (2018), pp. 132–135; and City of Frankfurt et al.: Frühestes Zeugnis des Christentums nördlich der Alpen. Bayerische Archäologie 2 (2025), pp. 4–7. Known since the late 19th century, the burial ground is located on the northwestern edge of the ancient city of Nida, which, as the capital of the civitas Taunensium, was one of the most important urban centers in the Roman province of Germania Superior. The settlement developed from a military base in the 70s AD and, after the withdrawal of the troops in the early 2nd century, underwent a rapid transformation into a culturally and economically prosperous city. At the beginning of the 3rd century, the city reached the peak of its urban development. Fortifications testify to the importance and defensibility of the city during this phase. From the 250s onward, Nida experienced a swift decline, largely as a consequence of persistent conflicts in the frontier provinces, a process clearly reflected in widespread abandonment. By 275/280 AD at the latest, the settlement had been completely deserted, marking a profound rupture in its settlement history.Peter Fasold: Die Römer in Frankfurt, Regensburg 2019, pp. 30–42, 105–107, 122–128. The abandonment of the town simultaneously provides the terminus ante quem for the dating of the amulet. The grave goods recovered in situ—a censer and a ceramic vessel—support dating the burial to the period between approximately 230 and 260 AD.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: p. 27.
The cemetery on Heilmannstraße was investigated in 2017 and 2018 by the Heritage Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main. Over an area of roughly 500 m², a total of 127 graves could be documented. The location of the burial ground is noteworthy, as it lay in the northwestern periphery of the ancient urban area and—unlike the other necropoleis of Nida—was not situated directly along a main traffic route.
The burials were clearly dominated by inhumations. Of the 127 interments, 113 belonged to this category, whereas at other cemeteries in Nida inhumations account for only around 10% of the burials. Notably, 45 of the 113 inhumations were devoid of any grave goods, while the remaining burials were characterised by an exceptionally diverse range of grave furnishings. Particularly noteworthy is the high number of glass vessels, which have not previously been attested in the older necropoleis of the urban area. In addition, there is a wide variety of jewellery items, including beads made of glass, jet, and semi-precious stones such as rock crystal. Also remarkable is the presence of 14 pairs of shoes placed beside the feet or at the lower legs of the deceased.
In this context, particular significance was attached to the discovery of a silver amulet capsule, which lay beneath the chin of a man aged approximately 35 to 45 years (grave no. 134) buried in an inhumation grave and contained a rolled-up silver foil bearing an incised inscription.City of Frankfurt et al.: Frühestes Zeugnis des Christentums nördlich der Alpen. Bayerische Archäologie 2 (2025), pp. 4–7, here: p. 5.
Property description The recovered object, which was transferred to the collection of the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum after its discovery, consists of a 3.5 cm long silver capsule containing a wafer-thin, badly damaged silver foil. On one of its long sides, the capsule has small eyelets for the leather cord or strap with which it could be attached to the wearer's body. Initial material analyses in 2019 indicated that the silver plate bore an inscription, but this could not be deciphered at the time. It was only through high-resolution CT scans and virtual smoothing of the crumpled foil at the Leibniz Center for Archaeology in Mainz (LEIZA) in May 2024 that the inscription could be fully captured. The inscription comprises 18 lines and is about 9 cm long.City of Frankfurt: Frühestes Zeugnis des Christentums nördlich der Alpen. Bayerische Archäologie 2 (2025), pp. 4–7, here: p. 5f.; and Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: p. 27f.
Script and language A first palaeographic reconstruction and transcription was published by Markus Scholz.City of Frankfurt et al.: Frühestes Zeugnis des Christentums nördlich der Alpen. Bayerische Archäologie 2 (2025), pp. 4–7, here: p. 7; also online on the website of the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt. The text is written in cursive script and displays a mixture of upper- and lowercase letters, a feature also encountered in roman graffiti and curse tablets. It therefore does not represent the elegant calligraphy found on official inscriptions or monuments. Greek terms appear in the text, rendered in Latin script. The Latin language of the inscription and the popular cursive hand situate its owner culturally and socially within a vernacular milieu.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: pp. 28–29. Nevertheless, the language may certainly be regarded as sophisticated.City of Frankfurt et al.: Frühestes Zeugnis des Christentums nördlich der Alpen. Bayerische Archäologie 2 (2025), pp. 4–7, here: p. 7
The Frankfurt object as an amulet The classification of the object as a protective amulet rests both on its external form and on the content of the inscription. Protective amulets were widespread in antiquity and, with the spread of Christianity, increasingly adopted Christian motifs. Since most known Christian amulets emerged only from the 4th cent. onward, the Frankfurt specimen represents an exceptionally early example. Whereas many early Christian amulets still exhibit a mixture of Christian and pagan elements, the protective invocation on the Frankfurt amulet is directed exclusively to Jesus Christ.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: pp. 27–28.
It is also remarkable that the text was engraved on a fine silver plate, since the majority of known amulets are made of more perishable materials such as papyrus or parchment. Although metallic amulets—usually of gold or silver—are also known from the Hellenistic world, they remained rare. In this respect, the Frankfurt specimen is therefore unique; another known Christian silver amulet does not date until the fifth century CE. The material itself is of particular significance, as it was closely related to the function of the object. Curse texts were typically inscribed on lead tablets, whereas protective texts were preferably written on more precious metals. The choice of silver thus also emphasizes the amulet’s protective purpose.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: p. 28.
Another striking feature is the use of the Latin language, since the majority of surviving amulets are written in Greek. The cursive script suggests a vernacular milieu of both the writer and the wearer. Later Greek-language amulets occasionally incorporated words from other tongues—such as Hebrew or Aramaic—to invoke the magical powers believed to reside in those words.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: pp. 28–29. The inscription on the Frankfurt amulet likewise exhibits this phenomenon: the word agios ("holy") appears three times in Latin transliteration,To this aspect: Harald Buchinger: Die „Frankfurter Silberinschrift“. Heiliger Dienst 78/4 (2025), pp. 304–306. and the names Jesus Christ (Iesous Christos) are rendered in abbreviated form with an overline (I͞H X͞P), following the tradition of the nomina sacra.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: pp. 28–29; Eckhard Nordhofen: Ein Christliches Tetragram. Merkur 912 (2025), pp. 82–86. For other magical aspects of the inscription, see also Piotr Kubasiak: Mit den Dogmen zaubern? Die magische Verwendung des christlichen Credos zwischen Zauberei und symbolischer Kommunikation. In Andreas Vonach et al. (ed.): Kult – Magie – Ritual. Festschrift für Reinhard Meßner zum 65. Geburtstag, Innsbruck 2025, pp. 301–318, here: pp. 313–315. The author may have known this way of writing the name of Christ from Greek manuscripts.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: p. 39.
Transcripti and translation Transcription and translation are difficult because the inscription is only accessible digitally via CT. This makes it difficult to identify the type and direction of the incisions, which are important for deciphering individual letters. In addition, the text has large gaps, especially at the beginning of lines, which are further complicated by the uneven size of the letters in Latin cursive.Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: p. 29. Santiago Guijarro suggests the following reading of the text:Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: p. 38; for a comprehensive philological commentary, see ibid. pp. 29–37. Alternative reading and translation by Markus Scholz in: City of Frankfurt et al.: Frühestes Zeugnis des Christentums nördlich der Alpen. Bayerische Archäologie 2 (2025), pp. 4–7, here: p. 7; also online on the website of the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt. +TranscriptTranslation1In nomine sancti Tit̅i.In the name of Saint Titus2Agios, agios, agios.Holy, Holy, Holy3In nomine I͞H X͞P Dei f(ilii),In the name of Jesus Christ Son of God.4mundi dominus,The Lord of the world5viribus omnibuswith all his might6incurs ionibus oponit.faces attacks.7Deus valetudinibusGod, to the diseases8salvis accessumhealed grants access9praestat. Haec salus tueatThis salvation (this amulet?) may protect10hominem, qui sethe man who himself11dedit voluntatisurrendered to the will12Domini I͞H X͞P ti Dei f(ilii).of the Lord Jesus Christ Son of God.13Quoniam I͞H X͞PoFor before Jesus Christ14omnes genua flec-everyone knees shall15tent, caelestes,bend, those of heavens,16terrestres etthose of the earth and17inferi, et omnis lin-those underneath and all tongue18gua confiteatur.confess.
Content description In terms of content, the text can be divided into four parts:Santiago Guijarro: The Frankfurt Amulet. Popular Christianity in the Limes Germanicus. Isidorianum 34/1 (2025), pp. 25–48, here: p. 31.
Invocation of Titus (lines 1–2); Invocation of Jesus Christ (lines 3–9a); Request for protection (line 9b); Scripture quotation reinforcing the request (lines 13–18).
Invocation of Titus (lines 1–2)