Turning an Axe on Its Head

A dark-green Neolithic axe head housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts later, tenth-century carvings—on one side, the Crucifixion, and on the other, the chariot of Elijah. These later incisions reconfigure the object into one that expresses concepts belonging to a Christian worldview, with a specific focus on the moment of ascension and on life after death. Exegetical writings by early Church Fathers can clarify the connections between the two sides of the stone, especially drawing attention to the importance of discipleship. The inverse inscriptions on the object create a unique relationship with the owner because the inscriptions are only correctly viewed from the point of view of the wearer. The intimate relationship between owner and object heightens the Christian meanings while preserving resonances of its past role as an amulet, a "thunderstone," in its Neolithic existence.