Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Ethiopian Handheld Coptic Cross
General material designation
- Object
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Item
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Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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ca. [1940-1960] (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
metal cross; 28.7cm x 13.3cm
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Custodial history
Robert N. Thompson acquired these Coptic Crosses from Ethiopia and later donated them. It is understood that Thompson served in Ethiopia between approximately 1945 and 1960, first as a commanding officer in the Ethiopian Air Force and then as a high school headmaster, Superintendent of Schools, Director of Education, and an Advisor in Foreign Affairs, although it is unclear when and how the Coptic Crosses came into his possession.
Scope and content
Object is an Ethiopian handheld Coptic Crosse made of brass with engraved x marks, half circles and dotted lines accentuating the cut out areas of the cross.
Notes area
Physical condition
Object is tarnished and worn.
Immediate source of acquisition
Robert N. Thompson
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Preferred citation Trinity Western University Archives and Special Collections, Robert N. Thompson fonds, RNT-ob-0022.
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General note
The cross is universally the most important symbol of Christianity, but Ethiopia stands out among other Christian regions for the inexhaustible variety and intricacy of the patterns used to decorate their crosses. They crown not only churches but also private houses, and in Ethiopian tradition the shape of the cross appears frequently even in everyday contexts. The Coptic Cross is designed as a sacred matrix whose intricacies are meant to encompass the life of the world. Hand-held crosses, such as the ones Robert N. Thompson acquired, usually belonged to clerics and monks for use in religious services, and were therefore handled typically only by men.
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Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Nov. 2022, MN
Language of description
Script of description
Sources
Source used to explain the significance of Coptic Crosses:
Evangelatou, Maria, "The Symbolic Language of Ethiopian Crosses: Visualizing History, Identity and Salvation Through Form and Ritual." University of California Santa Cruz (2013): https://huichawaii.org/assets/evangelatou_maria_ahs_2013.pdf.