The Pahlavi inscribed Processional
Cross of Herat, Afghanistan and the
Pahlavi Crosses of South India: A Comparative Study of Religio Cultural traditions of the Churches
of India and Parthia.
Dr. M Thomas Antony and Mathew Mailaparampil.
Introduction.
A Pahlavi inscribed processional cross conceivably dated from the 8th century AD was found recently from
Herat in Afghanistan. This cross has similarities with the Pahlavi inscribed
granite Crosses of South India and other crosses of Church of the East (East
Syriac Church) in China. It bears Pahlavi inscriptions which proclaims a
theological formula to defend the accusations made by the growing new religion
of Islam in the region . This processional cross witnesses the importance of
liturgical processions prevalent in the East Syriac tradition.
Herat.
Herat is the third largest city of Afghanistan and is the
capital of the province of Herat. It is situated in the valley of river Hari.
During the time of Achaemenid Empire 550-330 BC the area was called 'Haraiva'
in Persian [1] It
is situated in Khurasan north west region of modern Afghanistan. Khurasan or
Khorasan is a historical region comprising a vast area of north eastern Iran,
Southern Turkmenistan and Northern Afghanistan.[2] Prior to the Sasanian rule, the region of
Khorasan was called Parthia[3]
and was the homeland of the Parthian Emperors. Khorasan comprises the cities of
Balkh and Herat now in Afghanistan, Mashhad and Nisapur now in north eastern
Iran, Merv and Nisa now in southern Turkmenistan, and Bukhara and Samarkand now
in Uzbekistan.[4]
Christianity in Herat and Central Asia.
Christianity penetrated in to central Asia in the very early
period itself. Bardaisan in AD 196 commented about Christians in Gilan, the
southwest of Caspian and Bactria, the kingdom between Hindukush and Oxus (Amu
Darya).[5] In
AD 549, the Hephthalites in the Bactria
requested Patriarch Mar Aba I to consecrate a Bishop for them and an anonymous Syriac Chronicle describes Mar
Elias, the Metropolitan of Merv converting an entire nomadic population to Christianity by a miracle in AD 644.[6]
Herat was a Metropolitan Province of the Church of the East.
It was mentioned as a 'hyparchy' in the Synod of the Church of the East in AD
585. Herat had a Bishop since AD 424.[7] Synodicum Orientale mentions that three of the four cities of
Khurasan , Herat, Merv and Nisapur (Abrasahr), were represented by Bishops in
AD 424 .[8]
Herat was elevated as a Metropolitan province of the Church of the East in the Synod of Isho Yahb in AD 585.[9] Synodicum Oriantale mentions a Bishop
Yasdoi in the synod of Dadisho in AD
424, Bishop Gabriel in Synod of Akak in
AD 486, Bishop Yasdad attended the synod of Babai in AD 497, another Bishop Gabriel
in the synod of Isho Yahb in AD 585. Besides, a Bishop John from Abiward or
Baward in the north west of Khurasan attended the synod of Joseph in AD 554,
Bishop David from Abrashahr, a district in Khurasan in the synod of Dadisho in
AD 424, Bishop Yohannis also from Abrashahr in the synod of Babai in AD 497,
Bishop Habib from Bushanj, a town west of Herat in the synod of Isho Yahb in AD
585, Bishop Gabriel from Kadistan near Herat and another Gabriel from Badishi
or Badhgis, a district north of Herat in the synod of Isho Yahb in AD 585 .[10]
Thus, Christianity was well established in the area with numerous Bishops
attending various ecclesiastical synods showing vigorous activity of the East
Syriac Church in the area.
There was presence of Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch since the first half of
seventh century[11].
They follow West Syriac tradition. There was also presence of Armenian
Christian community in Herat during the fifth century.[12]
Processional Cross of Herat.
Philippe Gignoux, a French epigraphist and historian
reported about a bronze processional cross with Pahlavi
inscriptions found in Herat.[13]
The upper vertical arm was broken and missing leaving the lower three arms and
a base with an inverted cup with holes to fix a wooden pole or a stand with nails. It measures 18.3 x14.1 cm.
There were two curved ornamental plates connecting the lower arm to the two
lateral arms with an indentation in the middle making it a w shape.
Inscriptions in Pahlavi are seen on
these ornamental curved plates and also on the arms of the cross, on
both faces. It was possible to reconstruct the
shape and length of the missing arm with high probability by comparing
it with the two horizontal arms. When it is reconstructed the original size could have been 24.3 x 14.1
cm.
It appears that this was a processional cross based on the
fact that this cross was supposed to be fixed on a pole. If it was an altar
cross, there would not be inscriptions on both faces. There is nothing in the
inscriptions to suggest that this was a pastoral cross. This is a remarkable
evidence pointing towards the presence of an ancient Christian community in
Herat.
The design.
The design of this cross agrees with many of the ancient
East Syriac rock crosses found in India and China. The arms of the cross ends
with a flowery design with three rounded buds as seen in the Pahlavi inscribed Saint
Thomas Crosses (Mar Thoma Sliva) of India. The lotus arrangement and the steps
in the Saint Thomas Crosses of South India
are not seen in the Herat cross.
As the top vertical arm is missing, we are not clear about any descending dove
on the top.
The Inscriptions.
The inscriptions are
in the Middle Persian language with some Syriac words in Pahlavi script. The Pahlavi inscribed crosses
of South India also bear Pahlavi inscriptions with definite Syriac logograms.[14]
These denote the strong Persian connection and the East Syriac background. The
Pahlavi script of this cross resembles the text used in the sixth century Pahlavi
Psalter found in Turfan in the Xinjiang- Uighur region of China. Philippe Gignoux thinks this inscriptions most
probably dates to a time between 6th and 8th centuries AD.[15]
The inscriptions talk about a certain 'Mare' of the Church of Herat in the year
507 or 517 entrusted the community to a
Saint or Holy (Karisise) and a theological formula that there are no three gods
but only one and a wish for the
prosperity for the Church.
As the Cross has a missing piece and inscriptions are on
both faces , the reading was difficult. Gignoux considered the starting point
was the vertical arm, then the horizontal
arm from right to left sides. The following is the translation of Philippe Gignoux[16].
Front side.
............(missing part)bagdag son of
Nisem-burzar that (sees/write)too. Mare son of NN, who (is) of the Church of
Herat, who gave this (same) flock to Karisise the Holy .... in the year 507/517
Back side.
......(missing part) (We believe that
?) in heaven there are not three Gods/Creators, and on earth that wealth and
happiness be the hosts to the Church of my good teaching.
In all probability, this Cross belonged to the Church of the
East and is connected to the local Persian heritage. The usage of Late Middle
Persian writing on an object of Christian worship shows that the local East
Syriac Christian community was proudly Persian and bilingual- using East Syriac
and Pahlavi. The Church of the East had several Bishops of Persian extract and with very Persian names in this region. It
has been pointed out that the theological formula regarding the non-existence
of three gods most probably is a rebuttal to accusations made by proponents of
the newly growing religion of Islam.[17]
The date on the inscription could not be the
Christian Era because 507/517 AD does not comply with the style of writing and
notations used by the Churches of the Syriac tradition. It is too early for the
Seleucid Era which began in 311/312 BC. While it is possible that it could be
the Sasanian Yazdegerd III Era which began in 632 AD, it would place the cross
in the 12th century. However, the writing is from a period closer to
the Pahlavi Psaltar and not later. Most probably, it is the Bactrian Era which
began in 233 AD as this region is near Bactria. That places the date on the
cross to 740/750 AD.[18] This time period coincides
with the great East-Syriac Christian expansion into central Asia and China.
Processional Crosses with inscriptions.
Glanville Downey, who was an Associate Professor of Byzantine
Literature in the Harvard University at Dumbarton oaks, Washington DC comments
that many of the ancient religious
antiquities seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art are inscribed with the
donor's names and some pious phrases and vows. He gives an example of a Processional silver cross of Antioch treasure of the sixth century, in the Metropolitan
museum of Art[19].
This cross has Greek inscriptions on both sides. The back side has the words "For
Herodotus and Komitas, sons of Pantaleon" meaning this cross was presented
for the salvation of the souls of Herodotus and Komitas. On the front,
inscribed "Holy God, Holy Mighty one, Holy immortal one, have mercy upon
us" the hymn of Trisagion[20].
This is most appropriate to read on a cross
in the front of a procession.
Another example of such
a prayer formula inscribed is on a large
58 cm processional cross excavated from
Divrigi near the village of Opsikom in Istanbul in AD 1969 with Armenian
inscription "In
gratitude.....offers to his/her intercessor, Saint George CAGINCOM". This
Cross was dated as of AD 547.[21]
Two other crosses reported in the collection of George Ortiz in Geneva, one of
them is 21.8 x16.1 cm with a bust of
Christ in the central medallion with inscriptions in Greek on both sides and another one
without any inscriptions. The cross with inscriptions is made of two sheets of silver laid over an iron
core. The inscription at the back of the
cross , on the top arm says - "Holy Holy Holy Lord of Hosts, Heaven and
earth are filled with thy glory",
on the bottom arm "Hosanna
in the highest Blessed is he that cometh in the name (of the Lord)", on
the left arm " Lord of" and on the right arm "Blessed". On
the front upper arm, written
"Jesus", bottom arm " Christ Lord, help Thy servant
Georgios", and left and right arms "victory".[22]
Another Cross in Toledo Museum of Art with inscription
in Greek, on the back reads "Have mercy on us son of God" and on
the front reads "He who has crucified for us".[23]
These inscriptions on the back are understood in terms of a
procession as people following the cross can read a prayer or a liturgical
formula. In the late 6th and 7th centuries, cross was the single most powerful
symbol in the church evocative of the triumph
over death, the life everlasting.[24]
Pahlavi Inscribed Crosses of Malabar,
South India.
The Pahlavi inscribed granite crosses of South India parallels
the same theme. These crosses were altar crosses rather than processional
crosses. These are probably sculptured in South India by migrant Persian
Christians who escaped persecution in Persia. The inscription seems to be a
prayer for the person who erected it as deciphered by many eminent scholars. A
new interpretation published recently by a linguist and an epigraphic- palaeographic researcher in the
University of Allahabad, Shilanand Hemraj is as follows. "My Lord is the
Mishiha and life giver, who be praised for ever because of salvation. Indeed
the Lord suffered crucifixion to redeem us."[25]
The inscription is in Pahlavi which denotes that this prayer was
intended for Persian speaking
Christians, probably migrant Persian Christians who escaped persecution
and intermarried with native Christians[26].
Later, the local Christians copied it and placed in the altars in many places,
copying the inscription also without knowing what it is. Studies by C P T
Winkworth showed that all these inscriptions are copies of an original, based
on the finding that many letters are upside down and a word
as mirror image due to copying by using rubbings or estampages from the
original put in the wrong way in the copy.[27]
One of the Pahlavi inscribed crosses at Kottayam bears a
Syriac inscription also which confirms that Syriac was a prominent language
used at that time.
Glanville Downey reports of a Marble Cross excavated from
Hebdomon near Istanbul designed to stand in the open air with inscription of Trisagion hymn, with the
four phrases occupies on each arm of the cross as read from the top to bottom
and left to right with a spectator's point of view of the order in which the Greek
orthodox person makes his sign of Cross. On the back of the Cross, a
dedication by the Emperor Leo I
(457-474) This Cross is now in the Museum of Istanbul.[28]
Pahlavi and Church of the East.
Pahlavi denotes a particular written form of various Middle
Iranian languages that uses an Aramaic-derived script with Aramaic/Syriac
logograms[29].
Pahlavi was the court language of the Sasanian Empire. Pahlavi was commonly
used by Persian Christians, especially the East Syrians. The Christians of
Mesopotamia were originally Jewish people and other local Aramaic/ Syriac
speakers. But in the east of Tigris, the Persian Christians were mostly
Zoroastrian converts who retained Middle Iranian languages such as Middle
Persian and Sogdian. The first generation of these Christians retained their
Persian names. Later generations changed their names into Christian
appellations formed by the compounds of
faith.[30]
Chronicles of Seert mentions about a Ma'na, a student of the
School of Edessa translated many Syriac works into Pahlavi and in AD 470,
another Ma'na of the same school wrote religious discourses, cantilces and
hymns to be sung and recited in the Persian Christian churches in Persia.[31]
Even Certain
ecclesiastical canons like that of
Simon, the Metropolitan of Rev Ardashir (d 670 AD) were originally
composed in Pahlavi and later translated into Syriac by a Monk from Beth Katraye.[32]
This confirms that the official language of the Church of the East was Syriac
and hence the local documents had to be translated into Syriac.
It appears that the Sasanians promoted Pahlavi over Syriac
and hence the Church in Persia started using Pahlavi also, probably for para
liturgical uses. Even when Pahlavi canticles and hymns were found, no such
manuscript of a liturgical text in Pahlavi has ever been found anywhere in the ecclesiastical
area of jurisdiction of the Church of the East. There is no evidence so far to
confirm that the whole liturgy was translated into Pahlavi. We can see usage of
Syriac language widespread in
inscriptions in central Asia and China where the Christianity was brought from
Persia. This means the Persian Christians and Missionaries used both Pahlavi
and Syriac, but Syriac remained as the liturgical and universal language.
Even the more liberal Western Churches considered
translating the liturgy to a language other than Latin only after 1960s, how
can we even think of more conservative and traditional Syriac churches adopting
vernacularisation at a very early period ? Early Christianity evolved in three
different languages- Syriac, Greek and Latin.
Pahlavi usage was prominent in South Persia. Christianity spread to
Central Asia and China through Persia, but most of the inscriptions found in Central Asia and
China are in Syriac. Widespread presence of
ancient Syriac inscriptions and manuscripts found in central Asia and
China confirms the prominent usage of
Syriac language in the area.[33] There
are local Chinese, Pahlavi and Sogdian inscriptions also. In Malabar , South
Indian State of Kerala, Syriac and local language- vattezhuthu(early malayalam)
-inscriptions are commonly seen in the
Christian context but the series of
Persian Crosses bear Pahlavi inscriptions.
Almost half of the manuscripts in 'Turfan collection' are in Syriac language. These are dated 11-14 th century AD by different scholars. There
are some manuscripts in local scripts like Sogdian, Uighur Turkic and Pahlavi. Many of the Sogdian, Uighur Turkic and Middle Persian
manuscripts are written in Syriac script. Many of the Turfan collection of
Christian manuscripts are bilingual, with Syriac liturgical text with rubric
instructions to the Priests in Sogdian. Almost all of the liturgical texts are
in Syriac.[34]
In a certain document dated AD 1253, found from Inner Mongolia in the 1980s,
a cross a and a short quotation of Psalm 34 in Syriac characters and language
with the remaining text in memory of the dead in the Uighur alphabet.[35]
Thus we can assume that even in 13-14 th century Syriac was still the liturgical language with local
language used for giving instructions in liturgical texts and for para
liturgical texts.
Thus, it is evident
that in South Persia Central Asia, China
and India, even when Pahlavi, Chinese and Early malayalam- vattezhuthu is used
in Christian inscriptions and Christian manuscripts, in all these areas, Syriac
was also used widespread. This shows that Syriac
was the common link language because of the liturgical use.
We have to assume that in all these areas, Syriac was used
as the liturgical language but local languages were used in documents, manuscripts and up to certain
para liturgical usage like Pahlavi canticles and hymns used by Persian speaking
migrants.
Even when different languages were used, knowledge in Syriac
was a universal necessity in the Church
of the East. When the illustrious Monk Markose, the Chinese born Patriarch of East Syriac Church in AD 1281 confessed on the occasion of his
selection to the Patriarchal position " I am lacking in education and
church doctrine. I am not even acquainted with your Syriac language which is a
matter of universal necessity[36].
The Syriac Church of the East- the
continuation of the Judeo Christian movement of the Apostles.
The Church of the East was the direct continuation of the
Judeo Christian movement of the Apostles of Jesus. Jesus and His disciples
spoke Aramaic, pronunciation of which is well preserved in the East Syriac dialect.
This fact is evidenced by the preservation of many East Syriac words in the
Bible written in Greek transliterated- as
'Amen', 'Maran Atha', 'Thal itha
cum' - Little Girl, get up(Mark 5:41), Eph' pha-tha'- be opened ( Mark 7:34), 'E'li
E'li Le-ma sa-back'thani'- My God, My God, why have you foresaken me ( Mathew
27:46) 'Martha' the sister of Lazar and Mary (Luke 10:38-42, John 11:1,
19-24,30,39 )[37]
Early Christianity developed in Syriac Aramaic. When the
Churches in Jerusalem and Antioch became Hellenised and adopted Greek as their
religio cultural language, the Syriac Churches continued Syriac as their religio
cultural language. Even in Rome, there is evidence that the Christian liturgy
was celebrated in the very early period in Syriac. An early second century document
recently unearthed from the base of the Palatine hill in Rome reveals
the dissatisfaction among many Christians in adopting Latin instead of Aramaic
Syriac in the celebration of Holy Mass.[38]
The Church of the East was founded by Jesus himself by His
promise to the Edessan King Abgar the Ukkama that I will send my disciples to
Edessa to heal you and give life to you and those with you, once I have been
taken up after finishing what I have been sent for.[39]
On the day of Pentecost, people from Mesopotemia and Parthia were present in
Jerusalem. "Parthians and Medes and
Elamites, and those who dwell in
Mesopotamia, Jews and cappadocians and
those from Pontius and Asia minor. And those from the region of Phrygia and of Pamphyli and of , Egypt and of
the regions of Libya near Cyrene, and
those who have come from Rome, both Jews and proselytes. And those from Crete, and Arabians, behold we hear them
speak in our own tongues of the wonderful works of God".[40]
The Church of Edessa was founded by Mar Addai (Addai is the
Syriac version of the Greek name Thaddeus)[41]
who was sent by Apostle Thomas. Church of Ctesiphon was founded by Mar Mari, a
disciple of Mar Addai. Churches of
Parthia and India were founded by Apostle Thomas himself. Thus, the Syriac
Church of the East was founded by Apostle Thomas and his disciples and hence
could be called as Thomasine Churches.
Iranian Christianity.
During the Parthian rule, the Christians of Persia (Parthian
Empire ) suffered harassments and
persecutions but no systematic campaigns against them . But during the Sasanian
period and later Islamic periods, there were organised persecutions.[42]
Christianity in Iran
can be traced back from the visit of the three Parthian Priests (Magi) to
infant Jesus.[43]
Persian Christians claim that the Magi were the first ever Christians.[44]
Saint John Chrysostom taught " The Incarnate Word on coming into the world gave to Persia, in the person
of the magi, the first manifestations of His mercy and light so that the
Jews themselves learn from the mouths of Persians of the birth of their
Messiah.[45]
The early Christians in Persia might have been those fled from Roman empire
due to persecution as early as AD 68 onwards and those came to Persia as
missionaries to preach the Jewish communities in the Parthian Empire and their
Jewish converts[46].
During the Sasanian era, Christians who supported the
diaphysite thought fled to Persia due to persecution in the Roman Empire.[47]
Shapur I in the AD 250s
reclaimed many of the old Achaemenid kingdom of Persia that was
destroyed by Alexander the Great by war
with the Roman Empire resulted in a large number of Roman prisoners deported to
Persia and resettled them in Beth Aramaye, Maishan, Beth Huzae and Fars. Many
of these were Christians. They spoke Greek and had different services than that
of the Church of the East. They founded a Roman Church in exile and had Bishops
from Antioch namely Demetrius, Ardaq, Andrew and so on. Chronicles of Seert
also comments about two separate churches found in Rev Ardashir, the Church of
the Romans where the services were in Greek and the Church of the Kirmanians (the
Christian traders from Kirman resided in Rev Ardashir) where Syriac was used
for the liturgy.[48]
In the third century, Zoroastrian priest Kartir initiated
persecution of other religions. The Kaba-ye
Zardusht inscriptions of Kartir in AD 285 speaks of striking down the
Nasraye and Kristiane communities along
with the Manichaens, Budhists, Jews and Brahmins to put Zoroastrianism beyond
challenge in the Empire.[49]
The Nasraye were the Syriac speaking Judeo Christian community of the East
Syriac Church and the Kristiane were the Greek speaking Christians who were
deported from the Roman Provinces to Persian empire during the war.
After a century, the Acts of the martyrs present a different
story in which many of the Christian victims
of Shapur II had Iranian names that they were Zoroastrian converts to
Christianity. This means by the beginning of 4th century, there were Iranian( Persian)
speaking Christians too in Persia.[50] Thus,
by the early fifth century, Persian Empire had a Christian community that
included Syrians, Greeks and Persians.[51]
Church of the East
spread along the silk road to Bactria in the early centuries itself. Metropolitan
provinces of Merv and Herat of Khurasan in the fifth century is an evidence of
spread of missionary activity along the silk road to the east. The Khurasan
area was a hub of the missionary activities directed towards east. An anonymous
Chronicle written in AD 680 in Syriac
mentions about Metropolitan Elias of Merv actively involved in
converting many people from Turks and other nations. It describes an encounter
of the Metropolitan with a Chieftain in that location while travelling, the
Metropolitan dispelled a storm by sign of Cross resulting in the Chieftain and
the community converted to Christianity en masse.[52]
History of Mar Aba
mentions consecration of a Hephthalite Bishop in AD 549. The location of this See
could be the Bishopric of Badghis-Qadistan represented in the Synod of Isho Yahb
in AD 585. This could have resulted in elevation of Herat as a Metropolitan See
as Herat was traditionally associated with regions of Pusang, Badghis and Qadistan.[53]
Church of Fars and Church of India -Maritime
Trade links
India and South Persia had strong trade links. The Sassanids
overthrowing the Parthians in AD 225 set ready for trans oceanic trade with
India by setting up ports like Rew Ardashir,( Rishahr on the Bushire
Penninsula), Astarabadh Ardashir (formelry Charax)Bahman Ardashir (Forat of
maisan), Wahasht Ardashir, Kujaran Ardashir (on the Iranian Coast), and Batn
Ardashir on the Arabian coast. It was the Christian merchants who operated this
trade. Chronicles of Seert mentions that Sassanid ruler Yasdigird I( 399-421
AD) sent the East Syriac Catholicos Mar Ahai to Fars to investigate the piracy of ships returning from India and
Ceylon. This denote that the merchants involved were Christians.[54]
This Maritime trade caused a strong connection with Indian
Church and the Church of Fars. On the coasts of the Arabian Gulf, there were
many Monasteries as spiritual hub for these merchant missionaries.
Kharg Island was such a hub where Archaeological excavations
revealed a monastery and about 60 Christian
tombs of the period 250 CE - confirms the strong presence of Christians in the
area .[55] Archaeological
studies at Sir Bani- Yas, Marawah islands off Abu Dhabi, ,Failaka and Akaz
islands off Kuwait are other strong evidence for the Maritime Trade- Missionary links on the Arabian coast.[56]
Processional Crosses.
Processional
crosses are crosses used in processions
in the ceremonies of worship. They are used in processions in the
Liturgy. In certain traditions, it is a privilege of the Bishops to use a
processional cross in Liturgy. They are used outside the church also for
processions. One of the earliest specific references to the custom of using
crosses in processions can be found in a hymn in the honour of cross by
Venantius Fortunatus of the sixth century[57]
Processional crosses were associated with relics. In the
monastery of Theodore of Sykion, there is a sixth century processional cross
that contain relics of the true cross[58]. The
Monstrance used widely in the Roman Catholic Church is a variant for of a plain
Cross with a capsule in the centre to place venerable relics and later the Holy Eucharist for adoration.
The Monstrance has a basic design of a
plain cross with radiant spikes from the centre forming a circle.
Processional Crosses in Malabar
The Processional crosses were common among the Saint Thomas
Christians of India also. They are part
of the paraphrenalia of the public processions in the Christian Churches in
Kerala along with ornamental umbrellas and so on. They are usually plain crosses
not crucifixes, with a stand which is decorated with a beautiful veil.[59]
 |
| A contemporary processional cross among Saint Thomas Christians of India. |
The Saint Thomas Christians used processional crosses
in the liturgy. One such ancient processional cross has been
documented in the history of Saint Thomas Christians, the processional Cross of
the ancient Church at Muttuchira, Kerala.
The Processional Cross of Muttuchira.
The ancient Church at Muttuchira in the South Indian State
of Kerala is traditionally believed to
be founded in the fifth century. A number of archaeological artefacts are found
in this Church compound including the Pahlavi inscribed Persian Cross and the historically important
Lithic inscriptions of Muttuchira[60]. The discovery of the ancient Pahlavi inscribed
Granite Cross during the renovation of
the ancient Ruha D Kudisha Church on the eastern side of the open air rock
cross in the present Church complex in
AD 1923 caught attention of the archaeology department of the then Government of
Travancore. This initiated detailed investigation and a
bell metal cross with Silver covering was also found along with several
archaeologically important objects. A
local historian George P Murickel wrote on 02/12/1925 "Our brass cross has
a close resemblance to the cross engraved on the oval stone (the Pahlavi inscribed
granite cross)". [61]
Rev Fr Joseph Pediyekkal who was a Vicar in this Church reported to the investigators
that the bell metal Cross reported by Mr Murickel was actually a Silver Cross
with bell metal core, which was melted in AD 1919 to recover the Silver.Fr
Pediyekkal also reported that this was used in processions.[62]
This cross is not seen today, but a picture of it has been
published in the book Christianity in India, a History in ecumenical
perspective, Edited by Rev Fr H C
Perumalil CMI and Rev E R Hambye S J,
Prakasam Publications, Alleppey, India 1972[63].
This was a Processional Cross modelled on the famous Mailappore Cross and the series of Pahlavi inscribed
Granite Crosses of South India, the Mar Thoma Sliva.
Other Similar Processional Crosses of
East Syriac Church.
Malacca cross.
Sir Henry Yule reported in a manuscript about a copper Cross
found in Malacca. "While digging in
a property near Malacca river belonging to Raya Mudaliyar . About 2 braccas
down they found a 'cross fleurie' of
copper in the ruins of an underground house of bricks like a hermitage. This was of the shape of the crosses of the knights of
Calatrava, 3 palms breadth and length
It seems it is the cross of some of the Christians of Mailappore came
with merchants of Coromandel to Malacca" .[64]
Iron Cross with Syriac and Chinese
Inscriptions found in Mosul.
Alphonse Mingana, a famous orientalist and researcher who
was a Reader in Syriac in the University of Manchester reported that he found an Iron Cross with Syriac and Chinese
inscriptions in a private family at Mosul, Iraq. The Syriac words read 'Sliba
Zkha' means the 'Cross has conquerred.'[65]
As it has Chinese inscriptions, it might have originated in China and might
have been imported to Iraq by some Missionaries or pilgrims. The words 'Cross
has conquered' may denote a processional hymn.
Iron Cross with Chinese Inscriptions.
An iron Cross was found in China in the province of
Kiang-seen with inscriptions on it from
which we can assume that it belong to AD
239.[66]
The inscriptions on it was in Chinese
language which reads as " Four seas rejoice over peace, iron road
spendours a cross, Ten thousand folks for grace
yearn ,a thousand autumns incensed by golden urn". This may or may
not be of any Christian significance, but if we see this information together
with the report of Arnobius in "Adverses Gentes"mentions about Seres(China)
as among the nations reached by the Gospels[67]
and the Malabar tradition that Apostle
Thomas went to China from India, one has to consider that this could be the
earliest Christian artefact in the far east.
Cross found in ruins of an East Syriac
Monastery in Samarkand- Uzbekistan with Syriac, Sogdian and Chinese
inscriptions.
East Sogdian Archaeological Expedition of the Academies of
Sciences of Ukraine and Uzbekistan found ruins of a Medieval Christian
monastery in the Urgut area of Samarkand, today's Uzbekistan, in the foothills
of Zerafshan mountain ranges. In the mountain cave, they found Sogdian,
Syriac and Chinese inscriptions. Arabic
Chronicles give hints of a monastery in the region by 9 th century AD , but archaeological evidence
from even 7th century were found in the site. One important finding was an iron Cross found on the steps directed to
an altar supposed to be a processional cross used in liturgies.[68].
Processional Crosses: Church of the
East and Thomas Christian tradition.
The East Syriac Church always had a tradition of honouring
Cross. Narsai (399-502 AD) wrote " the altar stands crowned with
beauty and splendour and upon it is the gospel of life and the adorable wood(
the Cross)". Gabriel Qatraya and Abraham Bar Lipah also
comments similarly that the altar
of the East Syriac Churches adorned with
the Cross and the Gospel also the image of Christ. According to John Bar Zo'bi, Cross and the gospel on the altar
represent the 'qnoma' of Christ. Cross represent the image of the body of
Christ and the gospel his soul. [69].
Gabriel Qatraya and Abraham Bar Lipah witnesses
position of the Cross, the Gospel and the Image of
Christ on the madbha. The onitsa
sung on the Friday following the feast of the cross states " Saviour,
your church carries a heavenly treasure and riches. She takes refuge and fixes her trust in the mysteries and images that you entrusted to her,
namely the great book of the gospel, the adorable wood of your cross and
the glorious image of your humanity . The mysteries of her redemption are
indeed exalted " [70]
Crosses are used in various liturgical processions inside
and outside the churches of Saint Thomas
Christians.
Cross in the procession in the
Eucharistic liturgy
In the ancient liturgy of the Saint Thomas Christians of
Malabar, there are three specific occasions where a procession of Cross is
celebrated.
1 Procession with the cross from the sanctuary during the Onitsa
d' Qanke
2 Procession of the cross with the gospel
3 Re-entry of the
cross and the gospel in the sanctuary
before the 'offertory'.
Procession of the Cross from the sanctuary
during the Onitsa d' Qanke.
The earliest evidence available today is a manuscript kept
at the Monastery of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) at Mannanam,
Kerala, India which is the modified version of the ancient
liturgical 'taksa' (text) of Thomas Christians. The manuscript is the Latinised text of the
ancient liturgy of Thomas Christians. At the end of the manuscript, there is a
note stating that " the order of the 'Raza' as arranged by Bishop Roz in the synod of Angamali in the
fourth year and fourth month of his reign (1603 AD)".
It has to be noted that due to the resistance of the
Cathanaars(Priests) of the undivided Saint Thomas Christians, the Portuguese
Missionaries had to keep many of the traditions and rituals of the Holy
Eucharistic liturgy untouched. Thus this
confirms the longstanding practice of the Saint Thomas Christians with
procession of Cross during the liturgy. Gabriel Qatraya also witnesses similar
custom among the east Syriac Church.[71]
In the procession of the cross from the sanctuary during the
Onitsa d Qanke, the celebrant, deacons and the laity kisses the cross and then
places the cross in the madbaha. Gabriel Qatraya also describes the procession
of the cross from the santuary to the bema among the East Syriac Church.
Abraham Bar Lipah, Assemani and Van
Unnik also describes about this procession. After the Kissing of the Cross, the
Cross is placed in the bema.
Procession of Cross with the Book of
Gospel.
Gabriel Qatraya and Abraham bar Lipah describes about the
procession of cross along with the book of Gospel in the East Syriac
Church. The procession of cross with the
gospel is not described in the 'Rozian' order even when in
Latin tradition, especially Braga tradition prevailed in Goa, a crucifix accompanies the book of Gospel. If
the procession of cross was of Latin origin, Roz would have kept it in the
order of Raza. Roz omitted this procession in order to suppress one of the Syriac
traditions. Even though this was omitted in 'Rozian order', the custom
continued in Malabar.[72] Priest
takes the book of gospel, incense it and 'turgama' is sung. Then the Book of
Gospel is taken to the nave for reading as a procession along with the Cross.
AS mentioned before, the Cross is the Qnoma of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel
the words of the Lord. Hence they can't be separated and goes together.
Re-entry of the cross
and the gospel in the sanctuary before the 'offertory'
The third procession of Cross is the re-entry of the Cross
and Gospel into the sanctuary after the Korozhutha as a procession.
Cross in the procession during the Onitsa
d' Basalike of Ramsa.
Fr Charles Payngott
explains quoting Gabriel Qatraya that
the tradition of a procession of Cross in the celebration of Ramsa originated from the time of King Constantine
who used to go to the church of evening prayers. There was a procession to honour the kings. As the word
for King in Greek is Baseleus, the name Onitsa d' Basalike came into existence.
Later, Patriarch Isho Yahb changed it
into a procession of Cross.
Processions outside the Church.
In all religious processions, a large processional cross is
carried in the front. This is usually an ornamental cross with a veil on the
base.[73]
The Iron Cross of Niranam.
The picture of this Cross has been published in the Saint Thomas
Christian Encyclopedia- Thomapedia, Ed. Dr George Menacherry[74]. This
is made of iron and was once a steeple cross of one of the earlier Churches of
Niranam. This is a Persian Cross of a different design. This is an equilateral
Cross modelled on the Granite Cross at Kottakkavu near Cranganore in Kerala.
The four equal arms ends with a flowery
pattern- two curved flowery petals on either side with a bud in the centre-
fleury Cross. The curved floral petals
on either sides of the ends of each arm meet with similar petals of the other arms of
the Cross forming a circle with indentation in between the arms. This design of
Cross is commonly seen on the open air rock crosses, granite beams, baptismal
fonts and woodworks of the ancient Saint Thomas Christian Churches. The famous
mural painting of Archdeacon George of Christ is seen holding a pastoral cross
of similar design. This may have been the design of pastoral crosses of Saint
Thomas Christians.
 |
| A mural painting of Archdeacon george of Christ. |
Conclusion.
Pahlavi was widely used by Persian Missionaries of the
Church of the East who migrated to India, Central Asia and China. When Persian
Christians migrated to other places due to persecution, they continued to use
Pahlavi. These left archaeological artefacts in the form of inscriptions and manuscripts.
The Pahlavi inscribed granite crosses of South India are one of the vestiges of
the presence of Persian speaking Christian migrants in South India. There is
evidence that later the local Christians
copied these crosses with the Pahlavi inscriptions, even though they did not
understand Pahlavi- evidenced by uneducated copying of Pahlavi inscriptions
leading to letters upside down and words as mirror images on the copies. They
might have considered these inscriptions as some important theological formulae
or prayers.
Pahlavi inscribed
processional cross found in Herat also denotes the
possible religio cultural practice of inscribing theological formulae
and prayers dedicated to the donors on objects of veneration. This is an
archaeological evidence of ancient East Syriac Christianity in Herat and
Central Asia related to the Persian Church and a living example of the
Missionary zeal of the Church of the East which was larger than even the Roman Church during the European Middle ages[75],
without official patronage of any Empire.
It also shows the multi cultural, multi linguistic and multi
ethnic nature of the East Syriac Church which had even an ethnic Chinese
Patriarch ( Jaballaha III) in the year 1281 AD.
This confirms the Universality and the real Catholicity of the ancient Judeo-
Christian Church of the East.
Picture courtesy.
The different pictures of the Processional Cross of Herat has been taken from the paper- Philippe Gignoux, Une Croix de procession de Herat inscrite en pehlevi, Le Museon, 07/2001,; 114(3):pp291-304
Picture of the processional cross at Ollur and mural painting of Archdeacon george of Cross are taken from ‘The Nazranis, Indian Church History Classics, Ed Prof. George Menacherry,South Asia Research Assistance Service, ollur, Kerala.
Picture of processional cross of Muttuchira is taken from the book Christianity in India, a History in ecumenical perspective, Edited by Rev Fr H C Perumalil CMI and Rev E R Hambye S J, Prakasam Publications, Alleppey, India 1972
Picture of the iron cross of Niranam is taken from The Thomapedia, The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed Prof. George Menacherry.
References.
[1] Wikipedia article
Herat, Afghanistan, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herat accessed on 14 December
2014
[2] Encyclopedia
Britanica article Khorasan, accessed on 25 April 2015.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/316850/Khorasan.
[3] Robert Guisepi, Ed. A History of the Parthians, The
International History Project. http://history-world.org/parthians.htm
[4] Wikipedia article
Greater Khorasan accessed on 25 April 2015.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Khorasan.
[5] Alphons Mingana,
Early Spread of Christianity in Central Asia and the far east, a new document,
Bulletin of John Rylands Library, Manchester, Vol 9, July 1925, no 2, p 308.
[6] Pier Gieorgio
Borbone, Some Aspects of Turco- Mongol Christianity in the light of Literacy
and Epigraphic Syriac sources, Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, Vol 19, No
2 2005 p 7 citing P Bedjan, Ed. Historie de mar Aba, in Historie de Mar
Jaballaha, de trois autres patriarches, d'un prete et de deux laiques nestoriens, paris 1895, pp 266-269 A Christian Priest arrived at the court of the Persian sovereign,
Khusraw I Anushirwan, as an envoy from the Hephthalites, with the request to
Mar Aba to order him Bishop before his people.
[7] Christopher Buck,
The Universality of the Church of the East: How Persian was Persian
Christianity, The Journal of Assyrian Academic Society,10.1: 1996,p67.
Alphons Mingana, Early Spread of Christianity in Central
Asia and the Far East, , a new document, Bulletin of John Rylands Library,
Manchester, Vol 9, July 1925, no 2. p 298.
[8] Erica Hunter, Church of the East in Central Asia, Bulletin
of John Rylands Library, Manchester,vol 78.3:1996.p121
[9] Erica Hunter, Opus
cit p 134.
[10] A Mingana, opus cit ,
p319
[11] Erica Hunter, opus
cit. p 142
[12] Philippe Gignoux,
Une Croix de procession de Herat inscrite en pehlevi, Le Museon, 07/2001,;
114(3):pp291-304
[13] Philippe Gignoux,
Une Croix de procession de Herat inscrite en pehlevi, Le Museon, 07/2001;
114(3):pp291-304
[14] Shailanand Hemraj,
Pahlavi Text and Imagery Context of the Persian Cross in South India Part I,
Asian Journal of Religious studies, 60/1, Jan- Feb 2015, pp 15-31.
[15] Philippe Gignoux,
Une Croix de procession de Herat inscrite en pehlevi, Le Museon, 07/2001,;
114(3):pp291-304
[16] Philippe Gignoux Une
Croix de procession de Herat inscrite en pehlevi, Le Museon, 07/2001,;
114(3):pp291-304
Front side. Vertically: (top to bottom)
Characters :
[... missing part…]bdk ZY nšyymybwrcly BRE ZY nyšydc
Reading :..]badagiNišem-burzar pus ī nīšēd-iz
Front side Horizontally right arm: (scroll from
right to left):
Characters:
m'lydy ZY gn'ly / yn'ly ZY MN knyšyZY hlydyMNW
Front side horizontally left arm (scroll from right
to left)
Characters :
ZNH ty 'ywlmyh L ZY klssdy
p'ky ZY ZYh'lky ZLN
(yn) P (W) N ŠNTdyk 5 (100) 7/17
Reading : Mārē ī NN ī azkanīšHarē(y) kēdādēnēw-ramīhō
Karisisē ī pāk ī padsāl(īg) 507/517
Front side
translation in French : …badag, fils de
Nišem-burzar, qui (voit/écrit) aussi. Mārē, fils de NN, qui (est) de l’église
de Hérat, qui a donné ce (même) troupeau à Karisisē le saint,…, en l’année 507/517
Back side vertically top to bottom :
Characters:-
[…Missing part…] PWN 'sm'nc L’3'prydgl PWN
Reading :-...pad āsmān-iznēsēāfrīdgar pad
Back side horizontally right arm scroll from right to left:
Characters:-
zmykclywyhplšh 'y YHWWN myyhm (') n
Back side horizontally left arm
scroll from right to left:
Charactes:-
‘L knšyyZYmhw 'mwk
Reading:- zamīg-izrēwīhfrašīh ē bav[ēd] mehmānō
kaniš ī-m hu-ammōg
Translation in French :
[Nous croyons que?] dans le ciel il n'y a pas trois dieux/créateurs, et sur la
terre que la richesse et le bonheur soient le hôtes de l'église de mon bon
enseignement.
[17] Christelle Jullien, Chrétiens d’Iran
entre hagiographie et histoire. Avec une nouvelle proposition sur la croix de
Hérat, Studia Iranica. Cahier 43, p175-192, 2011.
[18] Philippe Gignoux, Une Croix de
procession de Hérat inscrite en pehlevi, Le Muséon, Vol 114, Issue 3-4,
p291-304, 2001
[19]
Glanville Downey, A Processional Cross, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Bulletin, New series, vol 12, No 9, May 1954, pp 276-280.
[20] This is the
'Khandisa Alaha' hymn in Syriac widely
sung in the saint Thomas Christian Churches in Kerala before the
vernacularisation of the Liturgy in the 1960s.
[21] Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Three
Early Byzantine Silver Crosses, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, Studies on Art
and Archeology in Honor of ErnstKitzinger on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday (1987),
pp. 165-179Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291555
[22] Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Three
Early Byzantine Silver Crosses, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, Studies on Art
and Archeology in Honor of ErnstKitzinger on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday (1987),
pp. 167, Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291555
[23] Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Three
Early Byzantine Silver Crosses, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, Studies on Art
and Archeology in Honor of ErnstKitzinger on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday (1987),
pp. 169, Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291555
[24] Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Three
Early Byzantine Silver Crosses, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, Studies on Art
and Archeology in Honor of ErnstKitzinger on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday (1987),
pp. 167, Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291555
[25] Shailanand Hemraj,
Pahlavi Text and Imagery Context of the Persian Cross in South India Part I, Asian
Journal of Religious studies, 60/1, Jan- Feb 2015, p20.
[26] We have tradition of Muthalalis of Kollam and letters
of Patriarch Timothy regarding such marriages.
[27] C P T WINKWORTH, A new interpretation
of the Pahlavi Cross inscriptions of South India, The Journal of
Theological studies, April 1929, cited by T K Joseph, Ed Kerala Society Papers
series 3 p159-166
Read more: http://www.nasrani.net/2014/02/15/alengad-sliva-neglected-jewel-ancient-christian-settlement-alengad-ancient-christian-artefact-malabar/#ixzz3ZlkVreFJ
Read more: http://www.nasrani.net/2014/02/15/alengad-sliva-neglected-jewel-ancient-christian-settlement-alengad-ancient-christian-artefact-malabar/#ixzz3ZlkVreFJ
[28] Glanville Downley, A
Processional Cross, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New series, vol
12, No 9, May 1954, p280
[29] Wikipedia article Pahlavi Scripts,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahlavi_scripts#CITEREFGeigerKuhn2002 accessed on
14 May 2015
[30] A Mingana, Early
Spread of Christianity in Central Asia and the far east, a new document,
Bulletin of John Rylands Library, Manchester, Vol 9, July 1925, no 2 p300.
[31] A Mingana, Early Spread of Christianity in Central Asia
and the far east, a new document, Bulletin of John Rylands Library, Manchester,
Vol 9, July 1925, no 2 p300
[32] E Saachu, Syrische
Rechtsbucher III 1914 p 209 A Mingana Early Spread of Christianity in Central
Asia and the far east, a new document, Bulletin of John Rylands Library,
Manchester, Vol 9, July 1925, no 2 p 300-301
[33]
NIU Ruji, Xinjiang University North west minority research centre Xinjiang
University, Urumbqi, 830046, Nestorian
inscriptions in Syriac script found on silk road in China.
[34] Mark Dickens,
Scribal Practices in the Turfan Christian Community, Journal of canadian
Society for Syriac studies, 13, (2013) p5
[35]
Pier Giorgio Borbone, Some Aspects of Turco Mongol Christianity in the light of
Literary and Epigraphic Syriac Sources, JAAS vol 19, no 2 2005 p 17.
[36] James A Montgomery, The History of Yaballaha III Nestorian patriarch
and of his Vicar Bar Sauma, Columbia University Press, 1927, p 44 .
[37] A Practical Grammar for Syriac Aramaic, Dr
Thomas Kalayil CMI p 1-2
J P M Van Der Ploeg O P D S Th., D S Scr. Professor of Old Testament
exegesis, Hebrew and Syriac at Nijmegen University, Introduction to the book
Thomas Arayathinal, M.O.L., Aramaic Grammar, Mannanam 1957pp i-iii,
His Grace the Most Rev.Joseph Cardinal Parecattil, the late
Archbishop of Ernaculam, Sathyadeepam, Vol 31, No 27, FEb 26, 1958.
[38]
http://www.eyeofthetiber.com/2014/08/07/report-some-2nd-century-roman-christians-hated-latin-mass-because-it-was-said-in-the-vernacular/
accesssed on 13 May 2015. This document was part of a
letter written by an anonymous frustrated Christian to a friend in response to
an angry letter about the expanding use of vernacular in Masses in Rome. An excerpt of the letter has been translated by the Office of
Linguistic Studies of the Catholic Church and has been transcribed
below.
Dearest Brother,
Greetings be
upon you, and upon you be greetings. May the peace and grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, from whom all good things come, bless you and your home. From your
dispatch, I have learned the unsettling news that many of our brethren in Rome
are irritated that some are beginning to use vernacular during the Lord’s
Supper. I myself, in common with many others, was full of sorrow when your
dispatch arrived with the unsettling news that the holiness and beauty of
Aramaic has been usurped by Latin; for you have given me sad news that this new
vernacular Mass is doing much dishonor to the traditions that have been passed
down to us by the Lord and the apostles themselves. I, therefore, must admonish
you to stay clear from those that uphold such scandal to the Supper of the
Lord, and in all due diligence must inform you that this new order of the
Lord’s Supper is an abomination at best. Though your private letter to me
contained a somewhat slight expression of your angst, I can assure you that it
gave me pleasure that you were grieved, for, by grievance you have proven
yourself to the Lord. More importantly, you have proven yourself a true
Christian, more Christian than Sixtus, for there is nothing in which I
habitually find greater satisfaction and true holiness than in bitterness and
hostility. I am overjoyed that you propose to write a letter to Sixtus in all
capital letter and with an abundance of exclamation marks. I also write to
inform you that in response to this news, I propose now to make bishop of you,
as well as Alexander, Aurelius, and our beloved Lucias, whose minds I trust are
in accord with our own. This, I shall do without the permission of Sixtus. For
he, it seems, has fallen in to grave sin when he gave ear to a number of Jews
to assist in reforming the Lord’s Supper during his meeting last month with
fellow bishops in his territory. I shall end this letter by telling you
that our new “society” shall ever and always pretentiously look down upon those
that…”
[39] Eusebius, Historia
Ecclesiastica, 1, 13.cited by Samuel Moffett, Christianity in Asia, Vol I
Beginnings to 1500, p 48
[40] Acts of the
Apostles, 2:09-13 The Holy Bible, The new revised standard version, Catholic
Edition, Published by Thomas Nelson, for theological publications, India, Acts
of the Apostles, 2:09-11.Holy Bible from the ancient Eastern Text, Geroge M
Lamsa's translation from the Aramaic of the Peshitta.
[41] David Wilmhurst, The
Martyred Church, A History of the Church of the East, East and West Publishing
Ltd 2011, p8
[42] Michael Nazir- Ali,
Christianity in Iran, a brief survey, International Journal for the study of
ChristianChurch, vol 9, no 1, February 2009, p 32-33
Iran, Iranian Studies,
31:3-4, 615-624, DOI: 10.1080/00210869808701936
[44] A Christian van
Gorder, Christianity in Persia and the status of non Muslims in Iran, lexington
Books, p24
[45] A Christian van
Gorder, Christianity in Persia and the status of non Muslims in Iran, lexington
Books, p25
[46] A Christian van
Gorder, Christianity in Persia and the status of non Muslims in Iran, lexington
Books, p25
[47] A Christian van
Gorder, Christianity in Persia and the status of non Muslims in Iran, lexington
Books p30
[48] David Wilmhurst opus
cit p11-12
[49] David Wilmhurst,
opus cit p 12
[50]
Wilhelm Baum and Dietmar W Winkler, The Church of the East, a Concise History,
Routledge Curzon London and New York, p165.
(51)Joel Thomas Walker, The Legend of Mar
Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq, University of California press, 2006, p102
[52] Earica Hunter, opus
cit, p133.
[53] Erica Hunter, opus
cit p 134
[54] P Malekkandathil,
Sassanids and Maritime trade of India during early medieval period - Maritime
India: Trade religion and polity in the indian ocean p3
[55] Christopher Buch
opus cit 59.
[56] Joseph Elders, The
lost churches of the Arabian Gulf: recent discoveries on the islands of Sir
Bani Yas and Marawah, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates, Proceedings of
the Seminar for Arabian Studies, Vol. 31, Papers from the thirty-fourth meeting
of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held in London, 20-22 July 2000 (2001), pp.
47-57 Published by: Archaeopress, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41223670
Accessed: 04-05-2015 10:45 UTC
[57] Glanville Downey, A Processional
Cross, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 12, No. 9 (May, 1954), pp.276-280
[58] John A Cotsonis,
Byzentine Figural processional Crosses, Catalogue of an exhibition at Dumbarton oaks 23 September 1994 through
29 January 1995, Dumbarton Oaks Byzentine collection publication no 10, p 28
[59] Charles Payngott C M
I, The Cross, its place in the Hudra and its sign in baptism and Eucharist,
Doctoral dissertation submitted to Pontificium Institutum Orientalium
Studiorum, Facultas Scientarum Ecclesiasticarum orientalium Roma 1971 Directed
by Rev Alphons Raes S J , p 67-68
[60] M T Antony,
Muttuchira Sliva and Lithic inscriptions- Landmark Monuments of saint Thomas
Christians of India, www.nasrani.net,
http://www.nasrani.net/muttuchira+church+sliva+lithic+inscriptions
[61] Henry Hosten,
Antiquities of Sam Thome and Mailappore, 1936, p 346
[62]
Mr T.K.Joseph, the Secretary of the
Kerala Society founded modelled on the Royal Asiatic Society and a famous
Historian, letter dated 03/10/1926 cited by H Hosten, opus cit p 346, also note
foot note 2 p 346.
[63]Ancient Churches,
Stone Crosses of Kerala-Saint Thomas Cross, Nazraney Sthambams, and other Persian Crosses,
http://www.nasrani.net/2007/01/16/ancient-stone-crosses-of-kerala-saint-thomas-cross-nazraney-sthambams-persian-crosses/
[64] H. Hosten, opus
cit, p 552
[65] A Mingana, The early
Spread of Christianity in Central Asia and the far east, A new document, p
431-42.
[66] John Kesson, of the
British Museaum, Cross and the Dragonor the fortunes of Christianity in China
with notices of the Christian Missions and Missionaries and some accounts of
the Chinese secret societies, Smith, Elder and Co Cornhill, AD 1854 p 10
[67] Dale A Johnson,
Searching for Jesus on the Silk Road, p 23
http://old.ut.uz/eng/kaleidoscope/new_archeological_finding_discovered_in_samarkand.mgr
accessed on 02 May 2015.
[69] Charles Payngott
CMI, The Cross, its place in the Hudra and its sign in baptism and Eucharist,
Doctoral dissertation submitted to Pontificium Institutum Orientalium
Studiorum, Facultas Scientarum Ecclesiasticarum orientalium Roma 1971 Directed
by Rev Alphons Raes S J p 40-41
[70] Paul Bedjan, III 304, line 2 f cited by
Charles Payngott CMI The Cross, its place in the Hudra and its sign in
baptism and Eucharist, Doctoral dissertation submitted to Pontificium
Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, Facultas Scientarum Ecclesiasticarum
orientalium Roma 1971 Directed by Rev Alphons Raes S J p 41 foot note 13
[71] Charles Payngott,
opus cit pp 47-48, 52-54
[72] Charles Payngott,
opus cit p60.
[73]
Charles Payngott, opus cit p 67.
[74] George Menacherry,
Ed. Thomapedia, the Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, plate 4
[75]Wilhem Baum, Dietmer Winker, The Church of the East, A
concise History, Routledge Curzon, 2003, preface.
