Early Christian Bronze Cross

Eastern Roman/Byzantine

6th - 8th Century AD

Thick dark green patina

Elaborate knobbed shape with a central cabochon stone

Back undecorated

(78 x 44mm – 3.1 inches tall), weight 22.15 gm

An elegant and well-crafted artifact in excellent condition. It retains the suspension loop and the central dark red stone is present. The patina bears testimony to many years of burial prior to discovery. From a Midwestern US private collection, obtained in Turkey in the early 1960’s.

A similar shape appears on a Byzantine Censer in the British Museum,

Byzantium Catalog #113a), dated 550-650 AD and on a processional cross

Christianity to the Byzantines was more than mere religion. Its theology and practice formed an all-encompassing way of life, permeating every act and decision from the foreign and domestic policies of the emperor to the briefest of small talk at the town square. By the 5th and 6th centuries the cross replaced the Chi-Rho as the standard emblem of religious devotion. Its meaning transcended that of the simple monogram to visually recall the crucifixion. The cross was worn by individuals from every social stratum, from the elaborate bejeweled golden cross of the patriarch to the simple crosses of  commoners.