Early Christian Symbols in the Catacombs
Early Christian Symbols in the Catacombs
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Easter week of 2002 I visited the Catacombs of St.
Callixtus in Rome, burial place of tens of thousands of early
Christians. Our group descended from the warm air above, down a
steep stairway into the cool and musty catacombs several levels
beneath the surface. Here were thousands of niches hollowed out in
the walls, used for burial from about 150 – 410 AD. Violent
persecution of Christians came from time to time. Here lay also the
revered tombs of the martyrs.
This underground funereal labyrinth contains some of the very earliest
artifacts of Christianity we have. Here
Christians mourning their loved ones would express their faith in
Christ and his promises. Much of this is done in symbols — first
in words and crude drawings inscribed into soft marble tombstones,
later in colorful fresco paintings that adorned special areas.
From the fourth century you can see a few elaborately carved
sarcophagi commissioned by wealthy believers.
I was fascinated to learn that the symbol of the
cross itself was only rarely used in the catacombs. Rather,
other symbols are inscribed into thousands of marble tombstones as
a testimony to the early Christians’ faith in Christ their
Savior.
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Chi-Rho symbol from the first two letters of |
Chi-Rho. Chi and Rho are the first two letters (ΧΡ)
of “Christ” in Greek ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ.
(Christos). Sometimes it is called the Monogram of Christ,
Chrismon, or Labarum. It was used very early by persecuted
Christians in the catacombs. Later, when Constantine was struggling to
become emperor, he lifted this symbol at the front of his
victorious armies. Sometimes the Chi-Rho appears with the first
and last Greek letters, Alpha (Αα)
and Omega (Ωω), a symbol of eternal
life in Christ, who is the first and the last, the beginning and
the end (Revelation 1:11). The
IHS
symbol appears very rarely in the catacombs.
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Fish Symbol . Another common symbol was the fish.
Sometimes it depicts men who have been caught by Christ and his
apostles (“I will make you fishers of men,” Matthew
4:19). But the fish (Greek ichthus), through a
Greek acrostic, also became a symbol of Jesus himself, each
letter standing for a word that explains who he is. So far in my
perusal of catacomb pictures, all the fish seem to have scales,
unlike the simple ichthus fish widely used in our day.
Anchor Symbol. A third common item in catacomb symbology is
a boat anchor. It expresses the firm expectation of eternal life
that we Christians enjoy: “We have this hope as an anchor for the
soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19). The anchor also
was used as a disguised cross in a day when the cross itself was
seldom used for fear of persecution. The crosspiece or “stock” at
the top of the anchor reminded Christians of the cross on which
Jesus died.
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Good Shepherd Symbol. Also very popular is the Good
Shepherd, a symbol of Christ’s care for his sheep (“I am the Good
Shepherd,” John 10:11). Sometimes the shepherd is seen carrying a
sheep over his shoulders; occasionally the sheep is by his side.
Orante or Praying Figure. A fifth common symbol is of a
Christian with arms lifted in prayer and praise, expressing the
soul at peace in paradise.
Dove Symbol. Finally, a dove with an olive branch in its
mouth appears as a symbol of the peace and happiness of the soul.
The olive branch comes from the story of Noah, who after the
flood dispatched a dove to find dry land; it finally returned
with an olive branch in its mouth as a sign of returning
vegetation in a habitable
land (Genesis 8:11). Only occasionally in catacomb
art does the dove represent as the Holy Spirit, though in later
Christian symbology, that is the chief meaning of the dove.
Other symbols appear but not as frequently —
The
cross became the prominent symbol of the faith from the fifth
century and beyond, but the catacomb figures described above mark the
very earliest symbols of Christianity. You
can see many examples of these symbols from the catacombs in my
website, Early
Christian
Symbols from the Catacombs
(www.jesuswalk.com/christian-symbols/).
Copyright
2006, Ralph F. Wilson
<pastor@joyfulheart.com>. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2021, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor
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