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ANCIENT CHRISTIAN ROMAN LEAD CROSS PENDANT FROM THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE 7th - 11th Century A.D. This intact ancient lead cross dates back to the 7th to 11th centuries A.D. and was worn by a Christian soldier in the Roman Empire. It was found on an ancient battlefield site and has survived in wonderful preservation. Heavy ivory white lead patina covers the entire surface as a testament to its age. Design is bold and simple with a single hole for suspension at the top. If desired, your local jeweler can safely add another ring to allow the cross to lay flat if worn on a necklace. Solid and wearable. Lead crosses seem to be in scarcer numbers than bronze making this artifact an interesting example. WARNING: Fakes of these ancient crosses have saturated the collectible market. Ebay is definitely the worst assemblage of them but I have seen numerous on websites being pawned off as real. Crooked and/or ignorant dealers are selling copies for pennies to the dollar compared to authentic examples like this one but some are asking the same price as the genuine artifacts! If the price seems too good to be true, then it is. Even the people digging these out of the ground in the most remote regions know the value of a genuine example. Beware of copies that have what appear to be signs of authenticity right down to the faking of the color and oxidized patina!!!
The Christian jewelry of the ancient world always reflected the humility that Christ preached. Stunning bejeweled adornments were left to the high priests only while performing rituals. The Christian jewelry worn by all believers in antiquity was that of very crude and simplistic design, only very rarely in precious metal. The crosses of the Byzantine Period were predominantly bronze and sometimes lead. The art style was highly stylized, typical for the Byzantine culture. Depictions of Christ and Mary most often appear quite cartoon-like in the imagery on the Christian jewelry and coinage. Since many of the Byzantine coins had religious inscriptions and images of Jesus and occasionally Mary, coins are sometimes found with holes punched through them having been used as a pendant in ancient times by an early believer. In the later Medieval Era and Dark Ages, Christian jewelry maintained this humility in both overall design and manufacture with an increase in the use of silver but a continuance in the use of bronze, copper and lead. Imagery became more refined and detailed. Pilgrim badges were often worn by believers in these times if they had the grand opportunity to visit the Holy city of Jerusalem. An excellent (and wearable!) genuine antiquity from the earliest period of Christian jewelry. 1" in overall height. Solid and safe to wear. R045 SOLD COMES WITH A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY / HISTORY SHEET |
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The
cross came to symbolize the basic Christian concepts: Incarnation,
Atonement and the Resurrection. It was believed the crosses
possessed hidden healing strength and guaranteed salvation of the
soul! Many objects in antiquity, both everyday items as well as
those for holy rituals, abounded in Christian imagery. Some examples
of this imagery that were used with Christian significance besides the
cross were the Chi-Ro symbol, the fish, angels, a starburst and
abbreviated inscriptions in Greek (the language used for religious
writings and coinage) which translated to "In Christ, Victory"
or "Jesus Christ, King of Kings".