Ethiopian processional outlet cross, Orthodox church cross, Ethiopian christian cross, Ethiopian hand craft cross, Made from Nickel, Africa art

Ethiopian Coptic Processional Cross, Hand Crafted Orthodox Church

This is a handcrafted Ethiopian Coptic cross from the region of Ethiopia. The cross has played a central role in the Ethiopian Orthodox church from the earliest days of Christianity in Ethiopia. There are three basic outlet types of crosses used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. These are professional, hand, and pendant crosses. The history of pendant crosses in Ethiopia goes back several centuries when wood crosses were given at the time of one's baptism and hereafter worn as a symbol of faith.

Ethiopian cross designs are usually very elaborate and sophisticated and differ from region to region. One common feature of Ethiopian crosses (with the exception of modern-day Western-influenced ones) is that they usually have no corpus, or figure of Christ, and the design often incorporates numerous smaller crosses.