www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Coptic use of the "Ankh"

Does anyone know for sure if the Coptic Christians use the "Ankh" as a legitimate religious symbol in their Church?

Thanks,
Ghazar

Ghazar,

Slava Isusu Christu. I found the below on the internet:

Link is here:
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.showResource/CT/ARTB/k/471


Pre-Christian Crosses

Did the use of the cross as a religious symbol begin with Christianity? Notice this paragraph from The Encyclopedia Britannica:

From its simplicity of form, the cross has been used both as a religious symbol and as an ornament, from the dawn of man's civilization. Various objects, dating from periods long anterior to the Christian era, have been found, marked with crosses of different designs, in almost every part of the old world. India, Syria, Persia and Egypt have all yielded numberless examples, while numerous instances, dating from the later Stone Age to Christian times, have been found in nearly every part of Europe. The use of the cross as a religious symbol in pre-Christian times, and among non-Christian peoples, may probably be regarded as almost universal, and in very many cases it was connected with some form of nature worship. (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., 1910, Vol. 7, pg. 506. Emphasis ours.)

Clearly, long before the coming of Christ, pagans used the cross as a religious symbol. The ancient world used many variations of the form of the cross. Did the ancients use the type of cross that is generally used as a symbol of Christianity?

Two of the forms of the pre-Christian cross which are perhaps most frequently met with are the tau cross, so named from its resemblance to the Greek capital letter T, and the svastika or fylfot, also called "Gammadion" owing to its form being that of four Greek capital letters gamma G placed together. The tau cross is a common Egyptian device, and is indeed often called the Egyptian cross. (ibid.)

Variations of the tau cross were used extensively by nominal Christians in Egypt. "The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol of life�the ankh, a tau cross surmounted by a loop and known as crux ansata�was adopted and extensively used on Coptic Christian monuments." (The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., 1995, Vol. 3, p. 753). The tau form of the cross had been used as a pagan Egyptian symbol and then adopted by "Christians," called Copts, in Egypt. (A Copt is a member of the traditional Monophysite Christian Church originating and centering in Egypt. A Monophysite is one who adheres to a variation of Gnosticism that teaches that Christ is altogether divine and not human, even though He took on an earthly body.)

I hope this helps.

Michael (a sinner)

Interesting history of usage of crosses, but that article/exerpt from the encyclopedia is extremely misinformed about what a monophysite christian is....let alone that Coptic Christians are NOT monophysite, that is a derogatory name for them. They do NOT believe that Christ was fully devine, this is a common misconception that led to schism in the church.Perhaps brother Marduk could chime in here and give us a better explanation of Coptic Christianity...if not I would be more than happy to continue this post at a later time....maybe tomorrow.

In His Name,
Stephen

oops, reading my post (and past the time to edit it...) I said that the Coptic Christians do not believe that Christ was fully devine! LOL, truly that is a mistake! They believe that He was fully devine and fully human, just as we all do, which is why common ground is being gained and the Oriental Orthodox are almost in communion with Eastern Orthodox again. Prais to Jesus for that!

In His Name,
Stephen

Dear Christiansteve,

With all due respect, friend, why are you even quoting from that site here?

That tendentious article is designed to downplay the veneration of the Holy Cross and promote the view that is also that of the Jehovah's Witnesses that Christ was crucified on a stake!

The Ansate Crosss or "ankh" was and is a legitimate Christian Cross.

In fact, when Christian missionaries first came to Egypt, they used the argument that God had ALREADY revealed the coming of His Son, OLGS Jesus Christ, to them through the Ankh - and this helped convert many pagan Egyptians to what is now the Coptic Church.

The circle above the "Tau" Cross was merely used by the pagan Egyptians as a 'handle' by which to carry the Tau in their hands as often as possible.

In fact, the Ethiopian tradition is a carry-over of this as Ethiopian priests are obliged to hold their hand-crosses as often as possible (One Ethiopian priest told me that he MUST take up his hand Cross when he is speaking to people etc. and he also said that his bishop would immediately look to see if he had his cross in his right hand when he met him or came to visit him etc.).

As we know, the Tau cross became the cross of St Anthony of Egypt who marked it on many sites that he visited. St Francis also loved the Tau cross.

I once visited the British Museum in London where I saw large statues of pagan Assyrian kings - all of whom were wearing crosses around their necks!

Alex

Alex,

Slava Isusu Christu.

Thank you for the knowledge you have imparted. I meant no disrespect, only to try to provide Ghazar with what I could find on the internet that appeared to be "semi-legitimate" with references to accepted sources.

Please forgive me.

Mike (a sinner)

Dear Mike,

There is nothing to forgive!

Just one more interesting case in point.

At Chartres in France there is the great Cathedral dedicated to the Mother of God and there are three miraculous images of Our Lady that are particularly venerated there together with the relic of the veil that tradition maintains was used by her to wrap the Baby Jesus.

The site of the cathedral itself was formerly used by the druids as a shrine that depicted, oddly enough, a mother with a child on her lap, enthroned.

The early Christians in the area always considered this shrine to be a Divine revelation to the pagans about the coming Saviour. Indeed, the Marian symbolism of the shrine was used to successfully and quickly convert the pagans.

The conscious veneration of the Mother of God was established at the site and continues to this day. The original icon of the Mother of God of Chartres is still to be seen on the walls of the crypt - worn, but still visible and a beautiful Byzantine-style icon it is!

However, there is also the feast of the Mother of God of Chartres that is dated at "100 BC" that is still observed at the Cathedral!

There are many examples of how pagan symbols have become Christianized, but this, I think, must surely be a remarkable case!

God bless,

Alex

Alex:"Dear Christiansteve,

With all due respect, friend, why are you even quoting from that site here?"

Alex,
I think that you got me and Mike mixed up! LOL, it is easy to do as we both (interestingly enough) live in the Tampa area. However, I was not the one to post that site. I did however defend the Coptic Christians and other Oriental Orthodox from what is posted on that quote.

Just thought I would clear something up!

In His Name,
Stephen

Dear Friends,

I wanted to share another perspective becuase it is contrary to what is being printed on a lot of websites. This is from a Coptic Christian on another forum. He writes in referrence to the ankh which he calls "keys of life":

"Keys of life are NOT used at all in the Coptic Church, they have no orthodox meaning nor do they have any religious meaning as far as being sanctified by the Coptic Church. It is NOT closely or remotely connected to the dogmas or the Tradition.

"A Coptic Orthodox usually wears a cross, with Christ crucified or just the sign. Many would have a small blue cross tatoo on their wrists for commemorating a historical era outside the scope of our discussion. They would never tatoo a key of life nor would they have neckless of it for religious reason. By the way, wearing a cross around the neck has also a close connection to the persecution eras in Egypt.

"So, having established the fact that the Key of life has NO relation to the Coptic Church as far as dogma, rites, Tradition, prayer, and I repeat NO relation whatsoever, I have to say that many might have one as to represent the Pharaohnic culture and civilization. It is like having a statue of Nefrtari or Tunt Ank Amon in your living room or a "papyrus" paper with some pharaonic letters and drawing on it. Even muslims in Egypt, who are aware of their old egyptian heritage and in whom this roots are not totally dodged by arab culture, would have it. It is more cultural rather than religious."

Dear Ghazar,

Greetings in the Name of Christ our Lord!

The ansate Cross, which is identical to the keys of life symbol, is quite popular in European heraldry. It is an accepted form of the Cross among 285 varieties. Indeed, even the Star of David is considered by Christian heraldry and Christian symbolism to be a form of the Greek Cross!

The Coptic tradition did indeed adopt the ansate Cross in the form of the Tau, but without the circle above it which is incidental to its form i.e. was only a convenient handle by which the Tau was held in the hand and carried about. St Anthony of Egypt loved the Tau which, in and of itself, had ancient pagan roots.

The Cross as we know it in the form of a "+" was likewise worshipped as an amulet and symbol of good fortune and life by pagans for thousands of years before Christ and I've seen the evidence for this myself in the British Museum.

In my Church as well there are those who are scandalized by the fact that so many of our traditions are "pagan carry-overs" that they strain every intellectual muscle to deny the connection.

But why would we want to do this? The Eastern churches even pays a form of honour to the pagan Greek philosophers who are often represented in iconic form on the walls of churches. And stained glass windows of Plato and Aristotle and even of Alexander the Great abound in western European cathedrals.

The point is that the ansate Cross played a significant role in the Christian history of Coptic Egypt and also in Europe. Most forms of the Cross as we know them today are taken from earlier pre-Christian representations.

Let us also remember that Paul the Apostle began the introduction of Christianity among the Areopagites of Athens by beginning his address to them about the altar he had seen earlier in the streets of Athens to th "Unknown God."

It was concerning that God that he had come to speak to them about . . .

God bless,

Alex

Alex,

I have to disagree. The circle or loop (more properly called) is an integral part of the Crux Ansata, Ansate Cross, or Ankh, rather than being merely incidental to its form. The Tau Cross or Cross of Saint Anthony properly has no such appendage attached.

Many years,

Neil

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Orthodox Catholic:
[QB] Let us also remember that Paul, the Apostle began the introduction to Christianity among the Areopagites of Athens by beginning his address to them about the altar he had seen earlier in the streets of Athens to the "Unknown God."

It was concerning that God that he had come to speak to them about . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Great example!


How astute and wise Paul was to use what was familiar to the Areopagites of Athens to direct them to the true God -- the God who was unknown to them. I like that approach. It works.

Blessings,

Mary Jo

Hi,

I certainly remember seeing the Ankh in connection with Coptic Christians. I just do not recall if I actually saw one when I visited a Coptic Catholic parish a few of years ago.

I would really not surprise me, as in Mexico we do a very similar thing with a cross-like symbol called "Ojo de Dios" or "Eye of God".

They come in various shapes and colors, but the basic shape is always a cross with at least a single diamond-shape center.

You can take a look at a pretty typical one here:

http://www.corazonfairtrade.com/huodedi.html

Although its usage for liturgical purposes is very rare, it is not uncommon to use an Eye of God as we would use any other Cross.

Yes it was a Pagan symbol, but now it is a Christian symbol.

Shalom,
Memo.

Right.

Their only 'mistake' was that they saw no need to be forced to adopt Greek terms for thier theology. Or Latin terms for that matter.


>Oriental Orthodox are almost in communion with Eastern Orthodox again
I think it is visa versa - we are almost back into communion with them again. They did nothing wrong.

-ray

Dear Neil,

Yes, the loop in the Christian use of the Ansate Cross is indeed an integral part of its structure - and it gave rise to the later Latin cross.

But I was referring to the pagan use of it, not the adoption of this Cross by the Christians.

The keys of life of the pagan tradition gave rise to the two forms, Ansate and Tau.

I'm a heraldry buff, after all . . .

Alex