by vision-master » Mon 04 May 2009, 09:24:50
The Ankh and the Cross
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The long standing importance of the Ankh, and its deep symbolism to the dynastic Egyptians, lead to it being gradually adopted by the very early Christian church in Egypt (which eventually became the Coptic Church). This is highly significant, as it is almost certainly the genesis of the cross, as the central thematic symbol of the Christian religion.
A kind of cross, the ankh, had long been a central religous symbol. It was non-anthropormorphic, not even animal-like. The gods had all been animal faced-human figures. Anknaton's benevolent sun, was the only other symbol that was so esoteric.
This cross implied all the "god ideas" that are very infinite in nature. As monotheism is at the core of Christian beleif, the ankh seemed a good choice to symbolize the belief in one all powerful God. Over time, the idea that his son had died on a kind of cross, made it seem, all the more appropriate. To other Christians, outside of the ankh's influence, the image the roman cross of execution was 'shameful" in the manner that a hanging noose would be, or headsman's ax.
The association in Egypt of the ankh cross with both God the Father, and Jesus the Son, felt right. Elsewhere, the main christian symbol at the time had been a stylised alpha, resembling a fish, and therefore known as Ichthys, the Greek word for fish. However, the new "more positive" symbol of a cross eventually spread throughout the Christianized Empire. The distinct circular or "gothic arch-like" upper part of the Ankh was kept well into mediaeval times.
The Ankh symbol often was being used as a Christian talisman. The illustration, here, of a Christian 3th Century bust with a transitional "ankh becoming a cross", was found in the 1960s in the Fayuom ,Egypt, acheological region. It was often worn as an amulet to extend one's life and placed on the mummy to energize the resurrected spirit.