The Anuradhapura cross is a form of the Christian cross symbol. It is the most ancient symbol of

Christianity in Sri Lanka Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. It was introduced to the island in first century. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka because of its ...

The cross

The cross was discovered in 1912 during archaeological excavations in

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

. It is cut in sunk relief on the side of a smooth granite column of which a fragment was excavated. An immediate determination about the cross came from the Archaeological Commissioner of Ceylon,

Edward R. Ayrton Edward Russell Ayrton (17 December 1882 – 18 May 1914) was an English Egyptologist and archaeologist. Early life Ayrton was the son of William Scrope Ayrton (1849-1904), a British consular official in China, and his wife Ellen Louisa McClat ...

, who concluded that it was a Portuguese cross. In 1924, Ayrton's successor, Arthur Maurice Hocart, put more effort to clarify the cross and he described it in his publication, ''Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon'', as being "''a cross of a

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

type standing on a stepped pedestal from which emanates two fronds on each side of the cross like horns''". Hocart also concluded it was a Portuguese cross. Both men considered that it was a

Nestorian cross The Nestorian Cross is associated with the Church of the East. It is composed of a cross similar to the Maltese cross, with four arms of roughly equal length which narrow in width towards the center of the cross. In Eastern Christian art in China ...

or "Persian Cross" from the Portuguese era. A number of historical records also suggest that

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول� ...

may have been in Sri Lanka between the middle fifth and sixth centuries. There, it is believed that the cross was dated to the

Anuradhapura period The Anuradhapura period was a period in the history of Sri Lanka of the Anuradhapura Kingdom from 377 BCE to 1017 CE. The period begins when Pandukabhaya, King of Upatissa Nuwara moved the administration to Anuradhapura, becoming the kingdom's ...

. Meanwhile, whilst it was considered as a Portuguese cross these claims are questionable given various historic facts, notably that the Portuguese did not have a presence in Anuradhapura at the time. The most conclusive determination of the cross's origins was made in 1926 by Humphrey Codrington, based on evidence contained in a 6th-century manuscript, ''

Christian Topography The ''Christian Topography'' ( grc, Χριστιανικὴ Τοπογραφία, la, Topographia Christiana) is a 6th-century work, one of the earliest essays in scientific geography written by a Christian author. It originally consisted of fiv ...

'', that a community of Persian Christians were known to reside in Taprobanê (the Ancient Greek name for Sri Lanka). Codrington wrote in his book, ''A Short History of Ceylon'', that "about A.D. 500 we read of a Persian colony; a Nestorian cross undoubtedly belonging to this community is to be seen in the Anuradhapura museum". In 1954 the then assistant Archaeological Commissioner, Titus Devendra, dismissed the historical reliability of the ''Christian Topography'' and attributed the cross to the Portuguese dating it later than 1547. Academics however have since concluded that the ''Christian Topography'' is historically accurate. In 1984 an archaeological find at

Manthai Manthai ( ta, மாந்தை, translit=Māntai) is a coastal town and an ancient harbor situated in the Mannar district, of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Manthai functioned as the main port of the Anuradhapura Kingdom throughout its hi ...

confirmed the existence of Persian Christians in Sri Lanka, including a seal with a Nestorian cross, with similar stylistic features to the Anuradhapura cross.

Symbology

The cross is considered as a variation of the

St Thomas Cross Saint Thomas Christian crosses are ancient crosses associated with the community of Indian subcontinent, who trace their origins to the evangelism of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century AD. The Saint Thomas Christians, which is one of the o ...

due to its similar shape and possible links between the early Christian community in South India and Sri Lanka. The Anuradhapura cross however has unique features when compared to other crosses. The three main elements that the Anuradhapura cross has in common with Nestorian crosses are: the "leaves" (with their upward facing fronds) at the base of the cross, which symbolize the "

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...

" (the vitality of the tree is accentuated by its fruit-like protrusions); the second element is that each of the arms of the cross terminate in a pearl. Pearls played a central theme in

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

devotional literature and iconography. The third element is the base, which is a three-stepped pedestal. The three tiers symbolise the three levels of paradise, the three decks of the ark, and the three limits of ascent to Sinai.

Popular use

The Anuradhapura cross was featured in the official logo of Pope Francis' visit to Sri Lanka. The website of

Archdiocese of Colombo The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo ( la, Archidioecesis Columbensis in Taprobane) is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, whose ecclesiastical province covers all Sri Lanka plus the Maldives (which are ...

mentions the cross as ''the Glorious Cross'' or ''the Cross of the Resurrection''. The

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

(

Church of Ceylon The Church of Ceylon ( si, ලංකා සභාව) is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment ...

) has the cross on its emblem.

Similar crosses

Nasrani cross.jpg, Persian cross/St. Thomas Christian cross (Kerala, India) Western Syriac Cross.svg, Syrian/Jacobite cross (illustration) Flora Sinensis - Nestorian Stele.JPG,

(China), with flora at the bottom Nestorian headstone.jpg, Nestorian cross (China), on a headstone Ordem Avis.svg, Portuguese cross (founded in 1146) OrderOfCristCross.svg, Portuguese cross (founded in 1319)

Note

References

External links

Persian Christians in the Anuradhapura Period

{{Christian crosses Christianity in Sri Lanka Christian crosses