Whats the difference between the ankh and the cross. which one came first and which one came out of the other?

Question

Whats the difference between the ankh and the cross. which one came first and which one came out of the other?

Answer 1

The ankh predates the crucifix, the latter being introduced following the death of christ, and the ankh dates from at least several hundred years before then. Take the name 'Tutankhamun' you'll notice the word '-ankh-' contained within it. To the egyptians it meant eternal life, and was often used in funerary inscriptions to bring the dead into the afterlife.

btw - I believe it is 'Akhenaten' although I may be mistaken if it is an alternate egyptian spelling that has been used!

It is my opinion that the cross was used because it is so closely related to the egyptian ankh, also the norse Thor's hammer, and the Hindu swastika, as the all have a cross based shape. It would be easy to adopt a symbol that wasn't dissimilar to those already in existence. This last paragraph is just my opinion though.

Answer 2

The Ankh came first. It was an Egyptian symbol for fertility and life. The two main parts (ovular top part and bottom shaft) represent the reproductive organs of male and female. Hence fertility and life.

Answer 3

The ankh symbolizes the key of life.

It was around before the cross. Ancient Egyptians used  it in their hieroglyphics.

The cross is a a representation of the division of the world into four elements (Chevalier, 1997) (or cardinal points), or alternately as the union of the concepts of divinity, the vertical line, and the world, the horizontal line (Koch, 1955).

Pre-Christian cross symbols

Another symbol that has been connected with the cross is the ansated cross (ankh or crux ansata) of the ancient Egyptians, which often appears as a symbolic sign in the hands of the goddess Sekhet, and appears as a hieroglyphic sign of life or of the living.[4] In later times the Egyptian Christians (Copts), attracted by its form, and perhaps by its symbolism, adopted it as the emblem of the cross (Gayet, "Les monuments coptes du Musée de Boulaq" in "Mémoires de le mission française du Caire", VIII, fasc. III, 1889, p. 18, pl. XXXI–XXXII & LXX–LXXI).

Answer 4

The ankh was created by the Pharoh Antanankhan, he was the father of King Tut, and the husband of Nerfertiti.  He started a new religion called monotheism, it was the worship of the Aten, otherwise, the Sun.  The cross has been around much longer than the ankh, the top of the ankh is a partial symbol for infinity.

Answer 5

The 'Ankh' was First it came from the Egyptians... about 2, 300BC.....Anknaton (sp?) was the Pharaoh who Believed in "ONE God",  "Ra" or "AmunRa".

The Cross/Crucifix came long that, AFTER the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ!