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

ligature Ligature may refer to: Language * Ligature (writing), a combination of two or more letters into a single symbol (typography and calligraphy) * Ligature (grammar), a morpheme that links two words Medicine * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture us ...

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 BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as we ...

tau Tau (; uppercase Τ, lowercase τ or \boldsymbol\tau; ) is the nineteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless alveolar plosive, voiceless dental or alveolar plosive . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 300 ...

(Τ) and

rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...

(Ρ).

Early occurrence and significance

The symbol is of pre-Christian origin. It is found on copper coins minted by Herod I 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'' (), the Greek word for

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

, in very early New Testament manuscripts such as , and , almost like a nomen sacrum, and may visually have represented Jesus on the cross.

Monogram of Christ

The Tau-Rho as a Christian symbol outside its function as nomen sacrum in biblical manuscripts appears from 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 the Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters—chi (letter), chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek (Romanization of ...

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

In combination with alpha and omega

Ephrem the Syrian Ephrem the Syrian (; ), also known as Ephraem the Deacon, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ — ''Mâr Aphrêm Sûryâyâ)'' was a prominent Christian theology, Christian theologian and Christian literat ...

(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 Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

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, represented by Rho as a

Greek numeral Greek numerals, also known as Ionic, Ionian, Milesian, or Alexandrian numerals, is 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 Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

ossuaries.

Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

(''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 (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

, taken as a symbol of the Messiah, generated

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

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 or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

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; ) 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 an operator ...

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

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Greek ligatures Christian crosses Monograms