Processional Cross, 15th - 17th century

Brass openwork sheetmetal, in the shape of a Cross, with latticework, taken from Magdala during the Abyssinian Campaign (1868) associated with Sir Henry Le Guay Geary, Royal Artillery. 

Cross is inscribed with Getis or Ethiopic (Ethiopian  latin). 

Processional crosses would have been regularly used in church ceremonies. This is a rare example of a medieval cross likely collected by Tewedros 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.