Archaeologists from the Institute of Prehistory and Early History of the University of Vienna have found an amulet inscribed with a Jewish prayer in a Roman child’s grave dating back to the 3rd century CE at a burial ground in the Austrian town of Halbturn. The 2.2-centimeter-long gold scroll represents the earliest sign of Jewish inhabitants in present-day Austria.
Curiously, the prayer is Hebrew--the Shema from Deuteronomy 6--but is transliterated into the Greek alphabet:
ΣΥΜΑ ΙΣΤΡΑΗΛ ΑΔΩNΕ ΕΛΩΗ ΑΔΩN Α
[SHEMA IS[T]RAEL ADONE ELOE ADON A]
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
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Heb
שמע ישראל יהוה
אלהינו יהוה אחד׃
Heb(ptd)
שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃
Heb(xlit)
šəma‘ yiśərā’ēl yəhwâ ’ĕlōhênû yəhwâ| ’eḥāḏ:
Targum
LXX
ακουε Ισραηλ κυριος ο θεος ημων κυριος εις εστιν
Vulg
Audi, Israël: Dominus Deus noster, Dominus unus est
