There is no country in the world that matches Ethiopia in the number of forms and types of crosses. Ever since the conversion in Ethiopia to Christianity (around 330 A.D.), the omnipresence of the cross has appeared almost universal, not only as a liturgical instrument in churches and monasteries, but also in common devotion and in daily life.

This volume examines a multiplicity of crosses highlighting a plurality of types as well as the relationship between one cross and another with the aim of discerning a common origin.This without any claim to draw up a comprehensive register of the various forms which would certainly appear over-ambitious even if limited solely to the field of crosses made or represented in Ethiopia.

From the cross stamped on the Aksumite coins, depicted in architecture, and illustrated in the ancient illuminated codices to the astylar, manual or pectoral crosses made and forged respectively for liturgical functions, the author illustrates the developments in the iconography of the cross that has appeared over the centuries.