It was discovered in April 2017 during French-Croatian 'Mirine-Fulfinum
Archaeological Park' project of Omišalj Municipality. This ivory comb, probably
for a liturgical purpose, is an exceptionally valuable archaeological find from
the early Christian period.
The comb was restored by the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, and the find
was presented by Sanjin Mihelić, Director of the Archaeological Museum in
Zagreb, Morana Čaušević-Bully, scientist from the University of Franche-Comté,
Sébastien Bully, CNRS head researcher, and Damir Doračić, conservator of the Archaeological
Museum in Zagreb.
The Mirine comb is decorated on both sides with carved images of the
miracles of Christ. One side depicts the transformation of water into wine at
the Wedding at Cana, and the miracle of the loaves of bread. On the other side of
the comb, there is the scene of the bleeding woman healed by touching Jesus’ cloak,
and next to it on the left, probably the image of a woman in front of the tomb
of Jesus. Unique to our region and one of very few similar combs found across the
world, this is one of the most significant finds in recent Early Christian archaeology
in Croatia.