By Since the summer of 2016, a dedicated team of archaeologists from Innsbruck has been meticulously conducting excavations in a late antique hilltop settlement located in the municipality of Irschen in southern Austria. In the summer of 2018, their painstaking efforts led to a groundbreaking discovery: a Christian reliquary hidden within a previously unknown church. Inside, they found an ancient ivory reliquary box adorned with intricate decorations.
The Christian Post reported the details of the incredible find:
During excavations of a church at the summit of Burgbichl, a small hill in the municipality of Irschen, archeologists from Innsbruck University of Austria uncovered a shrine containing a 1,500-year-old ivory box adorned with Christian motifs. The discovery was first made in August 2022.
“We know of around 40 ivory boxes of this kind worldwide and, as far as I know, the last time one of these was found during excavations was around 100 years ago — the few pyxes that exist are either preserved in cathedral treasures or exhibited in museums,” lead archaeologist Gerald Grabherr said.
One of the motifs shows a man turning his head with a hand rising out of the sky above him. He appears to also be placing something between the person’s arms, along with depictions of biblical figures.
“This is the typical depiction of the handing over of the laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, the beginning of the covenant between God and man from the Old Testament,” said Grabherr.
1,500-year-old reliquary discovered – Universität Innsbruck (https://t.co/dnVnu2Cu3x) pic.twitter.com/KLlJVKyUOI
— Douglas Estes (@DouglasEstes) July 10, 2024
This discovery not only adds a new chapter to our understanding of early Christian relics but also highlights the historical significance of the site in Irschen. The exceptional find offers invaluable insights into the religious practices and artistic craftsmanship of the era, marking a significant milestone in archaeological research.
According to CBS News, researchers at the University of Innsbruck will continue studying the 1,500-year-old relic. The team has recently made significant strides in their analysis. Ulrike Töchterle, who leads the university’s restoration workshop, mentioned that the relic is extremely delicate and cannot be reassembled in its original form. However, they are currently working on creating a 3D reconstruction of the artifact.
“The ongoing research helped Töchterle, Grabherr and other researchers learn more about the carvings on the relic. At one end of the pyx is a carving of a man at the foot of a mountain while a hand descends from the sky to give him an object.
‘This is the typical depiction of the handing over of the laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, the beginning of the covenant between God and man from the Old Testament,’ Grabherr said.Â
Other locations on the box show biblical figures, including a man riding a chariot pulled by two horses as a hand emerges from the sky to pull him to heaven. Grabherr said researchers assume this is “a depiction of the ascension of” Jesus Christ.
‘The depiction of scenes from the Old Testament and their connection with scenes from the New Testament is typical of late antiquity and thus fits in with our pyx; however, the depiction of the Ascension of Christ with a so-called biga, a two-horse chariot, is very special and previously unknown,'” he claimed.
