CNN —A small silver amulet discovered by archaeologists in Germany could transform our understanding of how Christianity spread under the Roman Empire, experts have said. However, it has taken until now for researchers to be able to examine a thin silver foil that was found inside it. The “hair-thin” foil inside the amulet was so brittle that it would have simply disintegrated if researchers had tried to unfurl it. At the time of the burial, Christianity was becoming an increasingly popular sect but identifying as a Christian was still risky. Markus Scholz, an archaeologist and expert in Latin inscriptions and professor at Frankfurt’s Goethe University, painstakingly deciphered the text of the “Frankfurt Silver Inscription,” as it is known.

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Persons: Michael Obst, Ivan Calandra, Jesus, Titus, St, Paul the Apostle, Markus Scholz, St Titus, Holy, Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Christ, ’, Wolfram Kinzig, Scholz, ” Kinzig, “, ”, Peter Heather, ” Heather, wasn’t, they’d, “ You’ve Organizations: CNN, Archaeological, Denkmalamt Stadt, Leibniz Center for Archaeology, Frankfurt’s Goethe University, University of Bonn, University of Bonn’s, King’s College London Locations: Germany, Roman, Frankfurt, Nida, Hesse, Denkmalamt, Denkmalamt Stadt Frankfurt, Mainz, LEIZA, Europe, Roman Germania, Roman Germany