E01939: Inscribed element of a reliquary cross with labelled depictions of probably *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030), and possibly *Nicholas (bishop of Myra under Constantine, S00520), and *Helena (empress and mother of Constantine, ob. 328, S00185). Reportedly seen in Ḥimṣ/Emesa (northwest Phoenicia). Probably 6th-7th c.

A thin bronze cross-shaped plaque with loops on the upper and lower arms. H. 0.095 m. Thought to be the cover of a reliquary cross. Reportedly seen in Ḥimṣ/Emesa by R.P.N. Karam (probably in an antiquities market) and communicated to René Mouterde in 1934. First published by Mouterde in 1959 with a drawing.

The left hand arm is decorated with an engraving of the bust of a woman holding a small cross in front of her. Next to this image there is an inscription:

Νη̣κ(όλαος) (?)
Ἑλέ-
να.

'Nicholas (?). Helena.'

The right-hand arm bears an image of the bust of a man and the inscription:

ὁ με-
ίσ<ος> Στέ(φανος) (?)

'In the middle Stephen.'

The vertical arm of the cross is occupied by a full-size depiction of a standing man with a nimbus, blessing with his right hand and holding a book in his left hand. Above him there is a bust of a man with a nimbus.