A silver amulet is one of the latest high-value archaeological finds unearthed during excavations at the Deultum-Debelt National Archaeological Reserve, near the village of Debelt, southeastern Bulgaria, reports Quote from Agerpres Bulgarian press agency BTA. It is believed that the amulet is the oldest evidence of the presence of Christianity on the territory of Bulgaria. After the restoration and analysis of the inscription on the amulet, it will be possible to admire it in the museum of the reserve, informed the curator of the museum Dora Todorova.

“The early Christians were careful not to be recognized and used different symbols to denote Jesus. In this case, the amulet was placed in the grave, next to the head of the buried person, hidden from prying eyes,” Todorova explained. The name of the Savior is written on it, and the first letter is turned 45 degrees, forming the symbol of the cross. According to the curator, this feature is also associated with very early Christian inscriptions.

Todorova claimed that the analysis of the amulet and its dating was conducted by one of the best epigraphic experts in Europe, Dr. Mykola Sharankov. In his published analysis, Sharankov claims that after dating, this amulet was found to be the oldest Christian relic containing the earliest reference to Jesus discovered on the territory of Bulgaria. According to him, the discovery of such an ancient Christian object in Deultum is not unexpected, since this Roman colony was the first known settlement where there was a Christian community and a bishop.

Colony Deultum is the first Roman colony on the territory of Bulgaria, founded in the 1st century AD, inhabited by veterans of the 8th legion of Augustus. Archaeologists from the Deultum Debelt Archaeological Reserve in Bulgaria have been studying this colony since the 1980s.