English: Silver ear cleaner in the form of an equilateral cross with flaring arms and pierced cross forms in the center of each arm. At the top is a ring for suspension. The ear cleaner, in the shape of a very tiny spoon, has been welded to the inferior finial, or arm. The cross has incised decoration on both ides. Condition: Good, some corrosion on the interior bowl part of the spoon.

English: Ethiopian Crosses Christianity most likely arrived in Ethiopia in the first century. The conversion of King Ezana in 330 c.e. led to its official acceptance and the minting of coins bearing one of the earliest uses of the cross as a Christian symbol. Although the silver pendant crosses in the Museum's collection are from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, their forms have a considerably longer history, as the much older copper, wood, and iron crosses here demonstrate. Hand crosses, which are used by priests, are either hand-held or suspended from a cord around the neck. They are kissed by the faithful to receive a blessing. Processional crosses are carried on long poles in religious processions. Prayer staffs are used to mark rhythms during sacred dances and as supports to lean on while standing for long hours during Orthodox church services. Together, all of these crosses are emblems of the Ethiopian Orthodox church's ongoing authority.