What do the letters on the top of the crucifix mean?
I assume you mean the letters “INRI”. In the Gospel of John (19:1920) the inscription is explained: “Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.” The Latin for “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” is “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum”, and the acronym for this title is INRI. Some Eastern Orthodox depictions of the Crucifix have a slight variation, showing instead the letters INBI, based on the Greek text of the inscription on the cross (Isous o Nazraios o Basileus tn Ioudain), rather than on the Latin text.
