SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Walking through Beckett Street Cemetery the other dayI spotted a broken cross propped up against the rest of the monument.In the centre of the cross was a symbol which looked at first sight like a dollar sign but had 3 vertical strokes through a letter S instead of the usual 2.From the Gravesecrets website : -The Letters IHS interwoven with each other to form what appears to be a dollar sign are often found on many headstones.There are two thoughts of the meaning for this symbol.The first is that it means 'Independent Sons of Honor'The second and probably the most likely - IHS looks like dollar sign if letters are superimposed.Iota, epsilon and sigma were first three letters of `Jesus' in Greek.`In hoc signo' was Latin for `in this sign you will conquer'.Today it means `Jesus Hominum Salvator' (Jesus Saviour of Men)Another puts the origin as an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Jesus Hojminum Salvator (Jesus, Savior of Men)........................Many other graves also had IHS on them,some totally separate,some linked together and the dollar style.Attached(hopefully)is a photo from my phone.

dogduke wrote: Walking through Beckett Street Cemetery the other dayI spotted a broken cross propped up against the rest of the monument.In the centre of the cross was a symbol which looked at first sight like a dollar sign but had 3 vertical strokes through a letter S instead of the usual 2. Wiki ""IHS" is sometimes interpreted as meaning Iesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus, Savior of men" in Latin) or connected with In Hoc Signo. Such interpretations are known as backronyms. Used in Latin since the seventh century, the first use of IHS in an English document dates from the fourteenth century, in The vision of William"

Thanks dogduke/Parksider.....interesting contributions there.Didn't know much about this kind of thing.