is significantly different from what we have in the earliest evidence of Christian use of the device, in which it appears within texts and as part of a special writing of words that refer to Jesus’ cross/crucifixion. Used as a freestanding symbol, without such a context, a device such as the tau-rho invites, perhaps requires, some imaginative interpretation such as Ephraem offered. But used in the way that we have the device employed in 𝔓66, 𝔓75, and 𝔓45, the tau-rho takes its Christian meaning