Hoping that the symbols on the cross may be connected with the Mormons, I contacted noted Revised Latter Day Saints researcher Reed M. Holmes, who has written a highly interesting book about the history of the American Colony and its spiritual foundation in the Joseph Smith's visions of the Jews returning to Zion. (http://www.jaffacolony.com/index.html)

Mr. Holmes was highly taken by the unusual cross, but did not find any of the symbols related to particularly Mormon iconography. His conclusions, taken together with Zeldis' previous verdict that the symbols are also definitely not Masonic, appears to close the possibility of an obvious link between this cross and the First Lodge founders or the American Colony. It could still have belonged to one of them, but only as a personal curiosity and not as representing membership in a particular group.

A small bit of further research in another direction however, revealed another group, which indeed had consistently used several of the emblems found on this cross in their logos. And interestingly enough, this group plays a part in various strange conspiracy theories perhaps not less than the Freemasons. This is no other than the famous Order of the Society of Jesus, popularly known as the Jesuit Order, which was founded in 1534 in Spain:

The following is taken from http://info.jesuit.org.au/history/the-ihs-logo.php: "Since its earliest days the Society of Jesus has used the letters 'ihs' as its symbol, or insignia. This is because the letters are the first three letters of the Greek word for Jesus. Other symbols include ... the crown of thorns or the three nails of the cross (to remember Jesus' crucifixion.)"

Several Jesuit emblems are reproduced below, to illustrate the point.

We see the familiar features from our cross - the sunburst with the letters IHS, the Crown of Thorns and the Three Nails. This seems to positively tie it to the Jesuit Order, and that would be our present conclusion at the time of this writing. This is a Jesuit Cross, not a "Templar" one.

A number of questions remain open, however. First, the Jesuits as a group became present in Jerusalem only since 1909, at which time or soon afterwards the Zedekiah Caves and other tunnels beneath the Old City were made not accessible to the public for many years, except by special permission. But our cross is most likely not as recent, as it would've been in better condition. An individual Jesuit traveller could have lost the pendant in the caverns earlier in the 19th Century, but such travellers usually liked to leave accounts of their journeys, and we have found none such as yet. The owner of our cross therefore remains a mystery.

Second, we find no indication that the Jesuits used the Holy Grail as a common symbol, and there is no obvious explanation for its highly prominent presence on this cross. The Grail was not the favorite object in traditional Christian iconography, due to its historical legendary "pagan" associations with various heresies, which the Vatican had tried to suppress over the years. It would be unusual to see such a supposedly "heretical" symbol used by the Jesuits, who were founded as a stringently Catholic sect, the military arm of the Vatican and reputed by some to be the "Modern Inquisition". The "Horn of Plenty", if it indeed is shown on this cross, is a symbol deeply related to the Holy Grail legends.

In the eschatological views of many Christian denominations on the 19th Century, the Lamb with the Seven Seals symbolized the return of the Jews to Zion in the Latter Days, to prepare the way for the prophecies foretold in the book of Revelations and the Second Coming of Jesus. These were mostly Evangelical Protestant groups and their various offshoots, such as the Mormons and the Seventh Day Adventists. The Catholic Jesuits also reportedly came to believe in this vision.

The "Return to Zion" doctrine was born in Scotland and is known as Dispensationalism, and this is not the place to discuss its immense influence on the foundation of modern Israel. But given the recently arisen interest in the Grail's symbolic significance as the womb of Mary Magdalene and the bloodline dynasty of the actual descendants of Jesus Christ, this cross, which depicts both the Grail and the Lamb, is another interesting indication of the beliefs of Israel's "spiritual fore bearers", and possibly even of their plans for these "End Times". We are sure to learn more about this in the near future.

Stay tuned. (Copyright 2006, Sol Aris)