Shema amulet, gold and silver, third century, Landesmuseum Burgenland, Eisenstadt.
This amulet was discovered in a third-century CE child’s grave near the Roman frontier city of Carnuntum. The amulet is formed out of a silver capsule and small gold leaf, inscribed with a Hebrew Shema‘ Yisrael written in Greek letters. At its peak circa 200 CE, Carnuntum had a population of around 50,000 people. Situated on the Danube in lower Austria it was the capital of the Pannonia Superior province and a main trading center on the Amber Road.