What wood was the cross of Jesus made from?

There are some who believe that Olive Wood or Cedar of Lebanon was used. Others suggest perhaps it was Cypress or Planetree Wood. Some even suggest Dogwood was used; however there aren’t any Biblical references to the Dogwood tree, only legends.

Some clues are available from published works outside of the Scriptures. There are fragment relics out there that many claim are of the True Cross. Some skeptics joke that there are enough of these fragments to build a battleship out of the pieces.

In 1870, Rohault de Fleury published “Mémoire sur les instruments de la Passion” in which he attempted to catalog all of the known fragments. The author determined that, at that time, if all of the relic pieces were put together, they would not even amount to one-third of the Cross which is said to have stood four meters in height, with a traverse branch of two meters. The author further claims that upon “A microscopic examination of the fragments of the Cross, scattered through the world in the form of relics, reveals the fact that it was made from a pine tree.”

If the Cross was indeed made from a pine tree, that raises the question as to what species of pine. There are hundreds of species of pine spread throughout the world. But, only a few were common in the Holy Land at the time of the Crucifixion. The most common pine species in the area is pinus halepensis, or what’s commonly known today as Aleppo Pine, and apinus pinea (Stone Pine).