Geometrical figure
A
cross
is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter
X
, is termed a
saltire
in heraldic terminology.
The cross has been widely recognized as a symbol of
Christianity
from an early period in that religion's history.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Before then, it was used as a religious or cultural symbol throughout Europe, in western and south Asia (the latter, in the form of the original
Swastika
); and in Egypt, where the
Ankh
was a hieroglyph that represented "life" and was used in the worship of the god
Aten
. The effigy of a man hanging on a cross was set up in the fields to protect the crops.
[
citation needed
]
It often appeared in conjunction with the female-genital circle or oval, to signify the sacred marriage, as in Egyptian amulet
Nefer
[4]
with male cross and female orb, considered as an
amulet
of blessedness, a charm of sexual harmony.
[5]
Name
[
edit
]
The word
cross
is recorded in 11th-century
Old English
as
cros
, exclusively for the instrument of
Christ's crucifixion
, replacing the native Old English word
rood
. The word's history is complicated; it appears to have entered English from
Old Irish
, possibly via
Old Norse
, ultimately from the Latin
crux
(or its accusative
crucem
and its genitive
crucis
), "stake, cross". The English verb
to cross
arises from the noun
c.
1200
, first in the sense "to make the sign of the cross"; the generic meaning "to intersect" develops in the 15th century. The Latin word was influenced by
popular etymology
by a native Germanic word reconstructed as *
krukjo
(English
crook
, Old English
crycce
, Old Norse
krokr
, Old High German
krucka
). This word, by conflation with Latin
crux
, gave rise to Old French
crocier
(modern French
crosse
), the term for a
shepherd's crook
, adopted in English as
crosier
.
Latin
crux
referred to the
gibbet
where criminals were executed, a stake or pole, with or without
transom
, on which the condemned were impaled or hanged, but more particularly a cross or the pole of a carriage.
[6]
The derived verb
cruci?re
means "to put to death on the cross" or, more frequently, "to put to the rack, to torture, torment", especially in reference to mental troubles.
[7]
In the Roman world,
furca
replaced
crux
as the name of some cross-like instruments for lethal and temporary punishment,
[8]
[9]
ranging from a
forked cross
to a gibbet or
gallows
.
[10]
The field of etymology is of no help in any effort to trace a supposed original meaning of
crux
.
[11]
A
crux
can be of various shapes: from a single beam used for impaling or suspending (
crux simplex
) to the various composite kinds of cross (
crux compacta
) made from more beams than one. The latter shapes include not only the traditional †-shaped cross (the
crux immissa
), but also the T-shaped cross (the
crux commissa
or
tau cross
), which the
descriptions in antiquity of the execution cross
indicate as the normal form in use at that time, and the X-shaped cross (the
crux decussata
or
saltire
).
The Greek equivalent of Latin
crux
"stake, gibbet" is
stauros
, found in texts of four centuries or more before the gospels and always in the plural number to indicate a stake or pole. From the first century BC, it is used to indicate an instrument used in executions. The Greek word is used in
descriptions in antiquity of the execution cross
, which indicate that its normal shape was similar to the Greek letter
tau
(
Τ
).
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
History
[
edit
]
Pre-Christian
[
edit
]
Due to the simplicity of the design (two intersecting lines), cross-shaped incisions make their appearance from deep prehistory; as
petroglyphs
in European
cult
caves, dating back to the beginning of the
Upper Paleolithic
, and throughout prehistory to the
Iron Age
.
[16]
Also of prehistoric age are numerous variants of the simple cross mark, including the
crux gammata
with curving or angular lines, and the Egyptian
crux ansata
with a loop.
Speculation has associated the cross symbol ? even in the prehistoric period ? with astronomical or cosmological
symbology
involving
"
four elements
" (Chevalier, 1997) or the
cardinal points
, or the unity of a vertical
axis mundi
or celestial pole with the horizontal
world
(Koch, 1955). Speculation of this kind became especially popular in the mid- to late-19th century in the context of
comparative mythology
seeking to tie
Christian mythology
to ancient
cosmological myths
. Influential works in this vein included
G. de Mortillet (1866),
[17]
L. Muller (1865),
[18]
W. W. Blake (1888),
[19]
Ansault (1891),
[20]
etc.
In the
European Bronze Age
the cross symbol appeared to carry a
religious meaning
, perhaps as a symbol of consecration, especially pertaining to burial.
[21]
The cross sign occurs trivially in
tally marks
, and develops into a
number symbol
independently in the
Roman numerals
(X "ten"), the Chinese
rod numerals
(
十
"ten") and the
Brahmi numerals
("four", whence the numeral
4
).
In the
Phoenician alphabet
and
derived scripts
, the cross symbol represented the phoneme /t/, i.e. the letter
taw
, which is the historical predecessor of Latin
T
. The letter name
taw
means "mark", presumably continuing the
Egyptian hieroglyph
"two crossed sticks" (
Gardiner Z9
).
[22]
Post-Christian
[
edit
]
The shape of the cross (
crux
,
stauros
"stake, gibbet"), as represented by the letter
T
, came to be used as a new symbol (seal) of the
Early Christianity
since the
2nd century
.
[23]
Clement of Alexandria
in the early 3rd century calls it
τ? κυριακ?ν σημε?ον
("the Lord's sign") he repeats the idea, current as early as the
Epistle of Barnabas
, that the number 318 (in
Greek numerals
, ΤΙΗ) in Genesis 14:14 was a foreshadowing (a "type") of the cross (the letter Tau) and of Jesus (the letters
Iota Eta
).
[24]
Clement's contemporary
Tertullian
rejects the accusation that Christians are
crucis religiosi
(i.e. "adorers of the gibbet"), and returns the accusation by likening the worship of pagan idols to the worship of poles or stakes.
[25]
In his book
De Corona
, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the
sign of the cross
.
[26]
While early Christians used the T-shape to represent the cross in writing and gesture, the use of the
Greek cross
and
Latin cross
, i.e. crosses with intersecting beams, appears in Christian art towards the end of
Late Antiquity
. An early example of the
cruciform halo
, used to identify Christ in paintings, is found in the
Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes
mosaic of
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
, Ravenna (6th century). The
Patriarchal cross
, a Latin cross with an additional horizontal bar, first appears in the 10th century. A wide variation of cross symbols is introduced for the purposes of
heraldry
beginning in the age of the
Crusades
.
[27]
Marks and graphemes
[
edit
]
The
cross mark
is used to mark a position, or as a
check mark
, but also to mark
deletion
.
Derived from Greek
Chi
are the
Latin
letter
X
, Cyrillic
Kha
and possibly runic
Gyfu
.
Egyptian hieroglyphs
involving cross shapes include
ankh
"life",
ndj
"protect" and
nfr
"good; pleasant, beautiful".
Sumerian cuneiform
had a simple cross-shaped character, consisting of a horizontal and a vertical wedge (
??
), read as
ma?
"tax, yield, interest"; the superposition of two diagonal wedges results in a decussate cross (
??
), read as
pap
"first, pre-eminent" (the superposition of these two types of crosses results in the eight-pointed star used as the sign for "sky" or "deity" (
??
),
DINGIR
). The cuneiform script has other, more complex, cruciform characters, consisting of an arrangement of boxes or the fourfold arrangement of other characters, including the
archaic cuneiform
characters
LAK
-210, LAK-276, LAK-278, LAK-617 and the classical sign EZEN (??).
[28]
Phoenician
t?w
is still cross-shaped in
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet
and in some
Old Italic scripts
(
Raetic
and
Lepontic
), and its descendant
T
becomes again cross-shaped in the Latin
minuscule
t
. The
plus sign
(+) is derived from Latin
t
via a simplification of a ligature for
et
"and" (introduced by
Johannes Widmann
in the late 15th century).
The letter
Aleph
is cross-shaped in
Aramaic
and
paleo-Hebrew
.
Egyptian hieroglyphs
with cross-shapes include
Gardiner
Z9 – Z11
("crossed sticks", "crossed planks").
Other, unrelated cross-shaped letters include
Brahmi
ka
(predecessor of the
Devanagari
letter ?) and
Old Turkic (Orkhon)
d²
and
Old Hungarian
b
, and
Katakana
ナ
na
and メ
me
.
The
multiplication sign
(×), often attributed to
William Oughtred
(who first used it in an appendix to the 1618 edition of John Napier's
Descriptio
) apparently had been in occasional use since the mid 16th century.
[29]
Other typographical symbols resembling crosses include the
dagger
or
obelus
(†), the
Chinese
(
十
,
Kangxi radical 24
) and
Roman
(X ten).
Unicode
has a variety of cross symbols in the "
Dingbat
" block (U+2700?U+27BF):
- ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The
Miscellaneous Symbols
block (U+2626 to U+262F) adds three specific
Christian cross variants
, viz. the
Patriarchal cross
(?),
Cross of Lorraine
(?) and
Cross potent
(?, mistakenly labeled a "
Cross of Jerusalem
").
Emblems
[
edit
]
The following is a list of cross symbols,
except
for variants of the
Christian cross
and
Heraldic crosses
, for which see the dedicated lists at
Christian cross variants
and
Crosses in heraldry
, respectively.
- As a design element
Picture
|
Cross name
|
Description
|
|
Crossed keys
|
Symbol of the Papacy used in various emblems representing the keys to heaven.
|
|
Crossed swords
|
The crossed swords symbol (? at Unicode U+2694) is used to represent battlegrounds on maps. It is also used to show that person died in battle or that a war machine was lost in action. Two crossed swords also look like a Christian cross and the mixed symbolism has been used in military decorations. It is also a popular way to display swords on a wall often with a shield in the center
|
|
Four-leaf clover
|
Used as a symbol for luck as well as a stand in for a cross in various works.
|
|
Skull and crossbones
|
Traditionally used to mark Spanish cemeteries; the symbol evolved to represent death/danger, poison, and pirates.
|
Physical gestures
[
edit
]
Cross shapes are made by a variety of physical
gestures
.
Crossing the fingers of one hand
is a common invocation of the symbol. The
sign of the cross
associated with Christian
genuflection
is made with one hand: in Eastern Orthodox tradition the sequence is head-heart-right shoulder-left shoulder, while in Oriental Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican tradition the sequence is head-heart-left-right.
Crossing the index fingers of both hands represents and a charm against evil in European folklore. Other gestures involving more than one hand include the "cross my heart" movement associated with making a promise and the
Tau
shape of the
referee
's "time out" hand signal.
In Chinese-speaking cultures, crossed index fingers represent the number 10.
Unicode
[
edit
]
Unicode
provides various cross symbol:
[30]
Symbol
|
Name
|
Code Point
|
?
|
Heavy Greek Cross
|
U+271A
|
?
|
Maltese Cross
|
U+2720
|
?
|
East Syriac Cross
|
U+2671
|
?
|
West Syriac Cross
|
U+2670
|
?
|
Jerusalem Cross
|
U+2629
|
?
|
Cross of Lorraine
|
U+2628
|
?
|
Cross of Jerusalem
|
U+2629
|
?
|
Latin Cross outline
|
U+271F
|
?
|
Shadowed White Latin Cross
|
U+271E
|
?
|
Outlined Cross
|
U+271F
|
?
|
Latin Roman Cross
|
U+271D
|
†
|
Cross
|
U+2020
|
?
|
Open Centre Cross
|
U+271B
|
?
|
Outlined Greek Cross
|
U+2719
|
?
|
Heavy Ballot X
|
U+2718
|
?
|
Heavy Open Centre Cross
|
U+271C
|
?
|
Heavy Multiplication X
|
U+2716
|
?
|
Cross Mark
|
U+274C
|
?
|
Ballot X
|
U+2717
|
?
|
Four Teardrop-Spoked Asterisk
|
U+2722
|
?
|
Heavy Four Balloon-Spoked Asterisk
|
U+2724
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Rebecca Stein, Philip L. Stein.
The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft
.
Taylor & Francis
. p. 62.
The cross is a symbol most clearly associated with Christianity.
- ^
Christianity: an introduction
by Alister E. McGrath 2006
ISBN
1-4051-0901-7
pages 321-323
- ^
George Willard Benson.
The Cross: Its History and Symbolism
. p. 11.
- ^
"Nefer"
.
- ^
Walker, Barbara G. (1983).
The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets
. San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers. p. 188.
- ^
Lewis and Short,
A Latin Dictionary
:
crux
- ^
Lewis and Short,
A Latin Dictionary
:
crucio
- ^
Jensen, Steffen; Rønsbo, Henrik (2014).
Histories of Victimhood
. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 32.
ISBN
978-0-8122-0931-0
.
The jurist Julius Paulus, for example, "gives crucifixion (
furca
= gallows, the word that replaced the 'holy' word cross in legal literature after
Constantine
)" as one punishment for deserters and for betrayers of secrets (Hengel 1977:39; Bauman 1996:151)
- ^
Pickering, F. P. (1980).
Essays on Medieval German Literature and Iconography
. Cambridge University Press. p. 73.
ISBN
978-0-521-22627-1
.
According to the article "crux" in
Pauly-Wissowa
, the old term
furca
may have been revived under
Justinian
to shield the sacred term from misuse; its shape, the conventional 'gallows', may have been evolved in such a way as to avoid any association with the Christian cross.
- ^
Rees, Abraham (1824).
The Cyclopædia
. Samuel F. Bradford. p. 148.
- ^
Gunnar Samuelsson,
Crucifixion in Antiquity
(Mohr Siebeck 2011), p. 203
- ^
"The Epistle of Barnabas, IX"
.
- ^
"Clement of Alexandria,
The Stromata
, book VI, chapter 11"
.
- ^
"Adversus Marcionem, liber III, cap. XXII"
.
- ^
"Lucian,
Trial in the Court of Vowels
"
.
- ^
Bailey, Douglass W. (2005).
Prehistoric figurines : representation and corporeality in the Neolithic
. London: Routledge.
ISBN
0-203-39245-0
.
OCLC
252740876
.
- ^
G. de Mortillet, "Le signe de la croix avant le christianisme", Paris, 1866
- ^
L. Muller, "Ueber Sterne, Kreuze und Kranze als religiose Symbole der alten Kulturvolker", Copenhagen, 1865
- ^
W. W. Blake,
"The Cross, Ancient and Modern"
New York, 1888
- ^
Ansault, "Memoire sur le culte de la croix avant Jesus-Christ", Paris, 1891.
- ^
"In the bronze age we meet in different parts of Europe a more accurate representation of the cross, as conceived in Christian art, and in this shape it was soon widely diffused. This more precise characterization coincides with a corresponding general change in customs and beliefs. The cross is now met with, in various forms, on many objects: fibulas, cinctures, earthenware fragments, and on the bottom of drinking vessels. De Mortillet is of opinion that such use of the sign was not merely ornamental, but rather a symbol of consecration, especially in the case of objects pertaining to burial. In the proto-Etruscan cemetery of Golasecca every tomb has a vase with a cross engraved on it. True crosses of more or less artistic design have been found in Tiryns, at Mycenæ, in Crete, and on a fibula from Vulci." O. Marucchi, "Archæology of the Cross and Crucifix",
Catholic Encyclopedia
(1908).
- ^
Benner, Jeff A.
"Taw (Tav)"
.
The Ancient Hebrew Letters
. Ancient Hebrew Research Center. Archived from
the original
on 17 June 2015
. Retrieved
17 June
2015
.
- ^
Kohler, Kaufmann.
"Cross"
.
Jewish Encyclopaedia
.
Archived
from the original on 7 October 2011.
The cross as a Christian symbol or "seal" came into use at least as early as the second century (see "Apost. Const." iii. 17; Epistle of Barnabas, xi.-xii.; Justin, "Apologia," i. 55-60; "Dial. cum Tryph." 85-97); and the marking of a cross upon the forehead and the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of demons (Tertullian, "De Corona," iii.; Cyprian, "Testimonies," xi. 21-22; Lactantius, "Divinæ Institutiones," iv. 27, and elsewhere). Accordingly the Christian Fathers had to defend themselves, as early as the second century, against the charge of being worshipers of the cross, as may be learned from Tertullian, "Apologia," xii., xvii., and Minucius Felix, "Octavius," xxix. Christians used to swear by the power of the cross
- ^
"Clement of Alexandria: Stromata, Book 6"
.
Early Christian Writings
. Retrieved
18 June
2016
.
- ^
Roberts, Alexander; Donaldson, James; Coxe, A. Cleveland; Knight, Kevin, eds. (1885).
"Church Fathers: Apology (Tertullian) - Chapter 16"
.
New Advent
. Translated by Thelwall, S.
Archived
from the original on 12 March 2024.
Then, if any of you think we render superstitious adoration to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us. If you offer homage to a piece of wood at all, it matters little what it is like when the substance is the same: it is of no consequence the form, if you have the very body of the god. And yet how far does the Athenian Pallas differ from the stock of the cross, or the Pharian Ceres as she is put up uncarved to sale, a mere rough stake and piece of shapeless wood? Every stake fixed in an upright position is a portion of the cross; we render our adoration, if you will have it so, to a god entire and complete. We have shown before that your deities are derived from shapes modelled from the cross.
Sed et qui crucis nos religiosos putat, consecraneus noster erit. Cum lignum aliquod propitiatur, viderit habitus, dum materiae qualitas eadem sit; viderit forma, dum id ipsum dei corpus sit. Et tamen quanto distinguitur a crucis stipite Pallas Attica, et Ceres Pharia, quae sine effigie rudi palo et informi ligno prostat? Pars crucis est omne robur, quod erecta statione defigitur; nos, si forte, integrum et totum deum colimus. Diximus originem deorum vestrorum a plastis de cruce induci.
- ^
"At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign" (
De Corona
, chapter 3
)
- ^
William Wood Seymour,
"The Cross in Heraldry"
,
The Cross in Tradition, History, and Art
(1898).
- ^
An example of a cruciform arrangement of a character that is itself cruciform is the ligature "EZEN x KASKAL squared", encoded by
Unicode
at U+120AD (??).
- ^
Florian Cajori,
A History of Mathematical Notations
. Dover Books on Mathematics (1929),
251f.
- ^
"Cross symbol"
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Crosses
.
Wikiquote has quotations related to
Cross
.