The staurogram (⳨), also monogrammatic cross or ''tau-rho'', is a

ligature Ligature may refer to: * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture used to shut off a blood vessel or other anatomical structure ** Ligature (orthodontic), used in dentistry * Ligature (music), an element of musical notation used especially in the me ...

composed of a superposition of the

Greek letters The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as we ...

tau Tau (uppercase Τ, lowercase τ, or \boldsymbol\tau; el, ταυ ) is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless dental or alveolar plosive . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 300. The name in English ...

(Τ) and

rho Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...

(Ρ).

Early occurrence and significance

The symbol is of pre-Christian origin. It is found on copper coins minted by

Herod I Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...

in 37 BC, interpreted as a ''tr'' ligature representing ''trikhalkon'' indicating the coin value.

Abbreviation for ''stauros''

The staurogram was first used to abbreviate ''

stauros ''Stauros'' () is a Greek word for a stake or an implement of capital punishment. The Greek New Testament uses the word ''stauros'' for the instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, and it is generally translated ''cross'' in Christian contexts. This ar ...

'' (), the Greek word for

cross 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 sa ...

, in very early New Testament manuscripts such as , and , almost like a

nomen sacrum In Christian scribal practice, nomina sacra (singular: ''nomen sacrum'' from Latin ''sacred name'') is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A nomen sacrum consists ...

, and may visually have represented Jesus on the cross.

Monogram of Christ

The Tau-Rho as a

Christian symbol Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. The symbolism of the early Church was characterized by ...

outside its function as

in biblical manuscripts appears from c. the 4th century, used as a '' monogramma Christi'' alongside the

Chi-Rho The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters— chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek word ( Christos) in such a way tha ...

and other variants, spreading to Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries.

In combination with alpha and omega

Ephrem the Syrian (4th century) discusses a Christian symbol, apparently combining the Tau-Rho with Alpha and Omega placed under the left and right horizontal arms of the Tau. Ephrem says that the Tau represents the cross of Jesus (prefigured by the outstretched hands of Moses in ), the Alpha and Omega signify that the crucified Christ is "the beginning and end", and the Rho, finally, signifies "Help" ( ; classical spelling: ), because of the numerological value of the Greek word being

100 100 or one hundred ( Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

, represented by Rho as a

Greek numeral Greek numerals, also known as Ionic, Ionian, Milesian, or Alexandrian numerals, are a system of writing numbers using the letters of the Greek alphabet. In modern Greece, they are still used for ordinal numbers and in contexts similar to those ...

.Hurtado (2006), citing F. J. Dölger, ''Sol Salutis'' (1920)
p. 61
(note 2). ''Ephraem in sanctam Parasceven'', ''Ephraem Syri opera omnia quae extant graece — syriace — latine'' Tom. III Romae 1746, p. 477.

Tau and rho separately

The two letters tau and rho can be found separately (not in ligature) as symbols already on early Christian

ossuaries An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

(''Contra Marcionem'' 3.22) explains the Tau as a symbol of salvation by identification with the sign which in was marked on the forehead of the saved ones. The rho by itself can refer to Christ as

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

because

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...

, taken as symbol of the Messiah, generated

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...

according to a promise made by God when he was one hundred years old, and 100 is the value of rho. Bagatti, Bellarmino, "The Church from the Circumcision: History and Archaeology of the Judaeo-Christians", ''Studium Biblicum Franciscanum'', Collectio Minor n. 2, Jerusalem (1984).

Coptic Unicode block

The staurogram is encoded by

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...

in the Coptic block, at , and as of Unicode 7.0 (2014) also in the Ancient Symbols block, at . The Coptic block has a ligature of the full word σταυρός, where the τρ is represented by the staurogram, and two

lunate sigma Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as ...

s are attached to either side of the tau's horizontal bar, at .

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Greek ligatures Christian crosses Monograms