Bread stamps have been used in the Western world since the dawn of time, to score bread with small markings that indicate the origin, manufacturer or quality. They may represent a landscape, an animal, an object that is typical of a particular region or culture, or just geometric shapes. Bread stamps may also have religious connotations, as is the case with this early 20th-century Greek bread stamp made of wood. It identifies the bread as an element of Orthodox Communion, where the loaf is called a 'prosphoron'. Such bread comprises two layers of dough placed one on top of the other and cooked together, symbolising the two aspects of Jesus Christ, both human and divine. The various motifs on this stamp mark out the different parts of the loaf that the priest cuts into pieces, and then consecrates during Holy Communion. The central segment is the most important as it represents the Lamb of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, indicated by the Greek letters ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙ ΚΑ (Ιησούς Χριστός Νικά, Jesus Christ victorious). The priest cuts this part of the loaf off first and places it in the middle of the paten (communion plate). The other segments represent the Virgin Mary (with the letters ΜΗΤΗΡ ΘΕΟΥ on the left, Mother of God), the nine orders of the hierarchy of angels (one triangle per order, on the right), and two additional ‘lambs’ (at the top and bottom) for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts performed on the weekdays of Great Lent. The handle of this bread stamp has also been engraved and is used to mark smaller prosphora.