- Text, Layout, and Medium
- Edited by Davide Amendola, Cristina Carusi, Francesca Maltomini, Emilio Rosamilia
Crossing Abbreviations, Monograms, and Symbols. Preliminary Survey of chi-rho, Staurogram, and stauros in Greek Documentary Papyri from Egypt
- Nicola Reggiani
- © 2024 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.17
Chi-rho ⳩ is universally known as the Christian monogram, consisting of the first two letters of the name Χριϲτόϲ. In ancient times, it coexisted with other common signs, the staurogram ⳨ and stauros ϯ, both connected to the Holy Cross of Jesus. An analysis of the development of these signs in papyrological evidence from Hellenistic, Roman, and Late-Antique Egypt allows us to track the everyday use of these writing strategies from their pre-Christian origins onward. While the staurogram and stauros are extensively employed in late documents to place texts under God’s protection, the chi-rho developed in a distinctive way. It originated in Ptolemaic cursive handwritings as a simple monogram, inconsistently abbreviating words beginning with χρ-, and survived with a similar function in Roman and Byzantine documents, though mostly in other χρ-words and terms characteristically containing those letters (e.g. χειρόγραφον, χαίρειν). A specific field examined is that of medicine, where it indicated the imperative χρῷ “use” in prescriptive texts, and eventually became a graphic symbol in medical recipes and lost its linguistic role. In only one document is the monogram employed to indicate Christ’s name. Possibly, the extensive use of ⳩ in documentary writings prevented the Christian meaning of the monogram from being employed in non-literary papyri. This chapter discusses these complex interactions, attempting to outline the interplay between writing strategies, symbolic thought, and the materiality of written texts from a semiographic point of view.
- Keywords:
- Greek papyri; monograms; abbreviations; chi-rho; medical prescriptions.,
University of Parma, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-9798-9887
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Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Crossing Abbreviations, Monograms, and Symbols. Preliminary Survey of chi-rho, Staurogram, and stauros in Greek Documentary Papyri from Egypt
Authors
Nicola Reggiani
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.17
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Text, Layout, and Medium
Book Subtitle
Documents from the Greco-Roman World between Epigraphy and Papyrology
Editors
Davide Amendola, Cristina Carusi, Francesca Maltomini, Emilio Rosamilia
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
426
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0455-2
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0456-9
Series Title
Edizioni dell’Istituto Papirologico «G. Vitelli»
Series ISSN
2533-2414
Series E-ISSN
2612-7997