The reliquary — a small box in which sacred relics are kept — was found in a marble shrine that was part of an early Christian church in what is now Irschen, Austria, the university said. (File photo credit: shutternelke …An ivory reliquary depicting Christian motifs dating back around 1,500 years was discovered in Irschen, Austria, the country’s University of Innsbruck announced.
The shrine was first uncovered in 2022, and researchers were surprised to find the fragments of the ivory relic box, also called a pyx, which would usually be among the most important items to take when abandoning a church. In this case, researchers believe that the box was broken in the late Roman period and buried within the shrine as a sacred object itself.
Decorations on the box fragments show a man at the foot of a mountain as a hand reaches down the sky to place something in his arms. Typically, such a motif shows the prophet Moses receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.