On Bread Stamps —

This practice of bread stampings goes farther back in time than the Roman period. As far back as the Neolithic Age, archaeologists have found evidence of the practice.[2] Again, there was more than one reason to stamp a loaf. It could be done purely for the sake of decoration, adding some beauty to what was otherwise a laborious task. It could also be done superstitiously, stamping on messages of health, protection and petitions to various gods. In this same vein, stamped bread was often used in pagan religions. Special cakes and loaves would be stamped with the name of gods and goddesses, sometimes first formed into the shape of a more expensive offering like an animal, and then stamped. This ritualistic bread would often be blessed by the pagan priests and distributed to the revellers to enjoy.

This brings us to stamped Jewish and Christian bread. In Judaism stamped bread had an added benefit of labelling kosher food, and the practice of stamping special bread for Biblical festivals may have been adopted. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, bread stamping is still apart of celebrating the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper), and other special feasts. This practice may have developed quite naturally in the early church. By the 2nd century it was common practice for the body of believers in a city to receive bread given to them by the area’s bishop for a weekly Holy Communion celebration.[3] In a world where there was no common church building, this shared bread represented the unity of believers within their diversity. Since the practice of stamping bread was thoroughly entrenched in Roman society, it would not take a huge leap for someone to start stamping this shared bread to mark out its special importance. All the more so because it held unique religious value.