Cross, lead, Fayum, Egypt, Late Antique, 5th to 7th Century

Lead cross pattée pendant set within a circle, with a suspension loop on the top.

Given by Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, esq.

Found at a cemetary near Illahun, in the Fayum.

Items 595-1890 to 602-1890 inclusive donated directly from W.M.F. Petrie. Items 603-1890 to 610-1890 inclusive purchased from Mr Fraser, per Petrie.

Many small crosses have been found in early Christian burial sites in Syria, Palestine and Egypt . Some were made of precious materials, however the majority were made of less costly materials, such as bronze, wood and bone. They served both as personal jewellery and as pendants with an apotropaic function. In their burial context they signify the faith of the wearer and their hopes for a Christian afterlife.

Christianity arrived in Egypt from Judea. It probably first came into Alexandria, which was both an intellectual centre and the home of a large Jewish community. Christianity was heavily persecuted in the third century AD, but was widely accepted by the end of the fourth century. The Christian church within Egypt was known as the Coptic church, from a corruption of the Greek word for Egyptians, Aiguptioi. The term 'Coptic period' is a very approximate one; it may be thought of as running from the third century AD until around the time of the visible decline of Christianity in the ninth century AD. It is roughly equivalent to the Byzantine period elsewhere in the Mediterranean world.

Excavated from a cemetery to the north-west of Illahun near Al Fayyum middle Egypt. Many small crosses have been found in early Christian burial sites in Syria, Palestine and Egypt . Some were made of precious materials, however the majority were made of less costly materials, such as bronze, wood and bone. They served both as personal jewellery and as pendants with an apotropaic function. In their burial context they signify the faith of the wearer and their hopes for a Christian afterlife.

596-1890