'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.' On Adam, Hades, and Nubian Triumphal Crosses

Large ornamental crosses belong to the most impressive compositions in the painted decoration of Nubian churches. Whereas most cross types in Nubian ornamental programmes are familiar to the Christian world around the Mediterranean, some designs or elements of crosses are characteristic for the Middle Nile Valley, the territory of Nubia. This study explores an often-neglected element of a group of Nubian crosses: the bearded head, impaled under the foot of the cross. The head is often interpreted as the Skull of Adam, referring to Golgotha, the place of crucifixion, where, according to tradition, Adam had been buried. Christ, the second Adam, had redeemed the sins of the first Adam thereby redeeming mankind. This study argues that, as the speared head under Nubian crosses is not a skull but a head with white hair and beard, it represents Hades, the underworld, death himself: the last enemy to be defeated by the victorious cross, as a symbol of life over death.