As a result of the laborious collation of your "database" (especially the Latin and Greek inscriptions) I stand corrected on the late 6th/7th century chronology for the appearance of the full names of "IS" = "Jesus" and that "XS" = "Christos". These appear to explode into a statistical significance far earlier - during the 4th century with perhaps some outliers in the 3rd.So for your OP to be valid we have to logically assume that an underground (not necessarily secret) Christian education system was operative between the century of Christian origins (or the century when the ligatures were first commissioned if different) and the 6th/7th century during which time the early Christian teachers taught the early Christian students that "IS" = "Jesus" and that "XS" = "Christos". Do you agree with this?
We could say that everyone knew what the nomina sacra were in the 4th century. It's obvious that imperial involvement hastened this acquisition of knowledge. But this still does not answer my main question concerning the "mystery" of their invention and origin. Nevertheless I am grateful to say that (via your database exercise) I have learnt something new and quite pivotal. Thanks.
Statistics: Posted by Leucius Charinus — Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:52 pm