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Pectoral Reliquary Cross

National Institute of Archaeology and Museum–Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia

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Culture: Byzantine
Date: 9th century
Material: Gold, niello
Dimensions: 1a: 4.2 × 3.2 × 0.5 cm; 1b: 4 × 3 cm; 2: 3.7 x 2.7 cm
Inscribed: inscribed: 1a: ΙΗΣΟΥΣ • ΧΡΙΣΤ • ΟΣ (Jesus Christ), ΙΔΕ • Ο • ΥΟΣ[sic][ΣΟΥ] (Here is your son [John 19:26]), ΙΔΟΥ • Η • ΜΗ(ΤΗ)Ρ [ΣΟΥ] (Here is your mother [John 19:27]), ΤΟΠΟΣ • ΚΡΑΝΙΟΥ (The Place of the Skull); 1b: Η • ΑΓΙΑ • ΘΕΟΤ(ΟΧΟΣ) (The Holy Mother of God), Ο ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜ(ΟΣ) (Chrysostom), ΝΙΚΟΛΑ(ΟΣ) (Nicholas), ΒΑΣΗΛΗ(ΟΣ) [sic] (Basil), ΓΡΗΓΟΡ(ΙΟΣ) (Gregory); 2: ΧΕΡΕ(ΤΙΣΜΟΣ) [sic] (Annunciation), Η ΓΕΝΑ [sic] (The Nativity)
Provenance: Archaeological excavations conducted by L. Donceva-Petkova in Pliska, 1973

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