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>>/27050/ To the front at the feet of Pantokrator John was planted. On the label SCSIOhS can be read. Sounds like a rough abbrevation. Strange tho, not spelling it with proper H. Or without an N despite the wide enough space. So wide in fact that the craftsman added two round blue thingy with a cross on them to fill it. On the other hand the back "leg" of that h protrudes kinda short, almost looks like an n. An h-n ligature perhaps? To the back - at the head of Jesus - is Jacob, namely SCSIACOBVS. The twelve apostles include two Jacobs, he can be either but one of them is the previously named John's brother. They can also be paired up. On the other hand Jesus' brother was also James, a martyr. Both his and the younger's attribute is a club (among others), what the figure of the icon holds in his right hand can be called a club with a little stretch, no? And why he has dark hair as if he was young, while John looks old? This also might be worthy to take a look. Who surrounds the closest Jesus? Three of those four who were recruited in the first round, the three who were with him at the Transfiguration - if we assume James of the Crown is the older. And the one who wasn't part of the Disciples but was called by Jesus himself from the Heavens. Why he's special I already described. Now comes the one with less visibility - he is covered by Emperor Micheal at the back -, Thomas, according to the label: SCSTHOMAS. This one is also strange the T looks as if it was a t or a combination of a T and an L. The one who doubted Jesus' resurrection. But at least after he got his proofs he believed. This guy is a knower, he has to know before he believes. Anyway why is he on the Crown but not someone else? What's his role - beside to get tortured because Doucas just didn't want to remain his place? Kek, he had to poke Jesus' wound now he was poked with a drillbit and got wounded. Poetic. Am not saying he deserved it tho. But good old Tom and Paul, they also hold a key. Figuratively. The aforementioned researcher, not the "pseudo-scientific" but the legit one (for now he is one, we'll see the future; in case a Hungarian reads this: it's Tóth Endre), who recognized the Doukas icon as a secondary addition, gives new perspecite for the dating of the cross strip. He says these atypical letters, the t in Thomas and u in Pavlus were actually not uncommon on Byzantine coins. Eastern Rome kept minting coins with Latin inscriptions which often contained these type of letters as long as about 1060, when they left Latin behind in favour of Greek. Previously they thought the cross straps were later works, maybe even from the 12th century and were made in western, Italian or German workshop, but it seems as the rim the "graeca" is older than 1074 and Byzantine creation, the straps are older than 1074 (1060) too, and Byzantine. Thanks Thomas and Paulus!