NAM.1965-04-44-1

Processional ‘ Gondar’ Cross, 18th Century. . Openwork flat brass Abyssinian Coptic cross, with pointed arms and domed, cross pieces, with smaller crosses placed at angles, impressed designs and crescent emerging from socket. Reputedly taken from Magdala by Sir Charles Craufurd Fraser who Commandant of the Head Quarters in the Abyssinian Campaign and a prominent figure at the sale of loot alongiside Richard Rivington Holmes of the British Museum. Impressed with depiction of Saints including Saint George and Saint Michael on the cross and the lower part stamped with ‘MAGDALA APRIL 13TH 1868’ G.14.RA Processional crosses would have been regularly used in church ceremonies. This is an example of a Gondar cross likely collected by Tewedros in the Gondor region. As he attempted to take control of Ethiopia through military campaigns he took items from churches with the intention of setting Magdala as the hub of research and learning.

Magdala, Capture of, 1868 (Abyssinia 1867-1868)