The Coptic Cross

The original Coptic Cross as opposed to the modern Coptic Orthodox Cross are so dissimilar that it’s hard to believe that one was actually derived from the other. The only noticeable similarities in most forms of the many variations of the Coptic Cross is the circle either outside or inside the borders of the cross. The ankh was adopted by the earliest Egyptian Gnostic Christian religious cults, and it gradually evolved into different versions of the Coptic Cross. The most well-known of historical figures to adopt the Coptic Cross was Valentinus of Alexandria, Egypt. The Gnostic Christian movement was mainly begun by Mark the Evangelist, in the mid-1st century AD.

The first version of the Coptic Cross was closer to the ankh; it was a full circle atop the traditional modern cross, that contained another smaller cross made from the already intersecting line of the original design. Basically, imagine drawing the modern Christian cross. Then draw a full circle, (not the ankh oval shape) on the top portion, encompassing the top portion of the vertical line. Then just draw a straight horizontal line midway through the vertical line. This symbol was the original Coptic Cross, as it was derived from the Egyptian ankh symbol. The circle was representative of Christ’s neverending love, and the cross inside the circle was symbolic of the Gnostic understanding of Christianity. The full Coptic Cross represented Christ’s resurrection and crucifixion.  However, before the Christians came and bastardised the symbol of the ankh, the sun god was depicted within the circular section of the ankh.

The Occitan Cross, the symbol of Occitania, and popular coat of arms in Provence, has been speculated to have derived from the Coptic Cross according to more recent research. Most likely because of the inclusion of spherical and hollowed out depiction. However, there are other theories as to where the Occitan Cross originated, and this is just one of many. In The Book of Signs, Rudolf Koch identified another version of the Coptic Cross, which features a small circle in the center where the lines would have intersected.