Did christ die on a stake or a cross?

The greek word they use to translate cross is Stauros and through my studies and reliable literature and translators of ancient scripts and writings indicate very much or almost completely that the original context or meaning of this word was just a pole or upright stake. It was much later after the time of the apostles that the word was defined as a stake with a cross piece. Also the Cross has been used as a symbol of religious worship long before christianity in places such as India, Syria, Persia and Egypt. Crosses were used to identify the Babylonian Sun God and were seen on coins of ancient rome with Julius Caesar and Augustus which ruled before Rome adopted christianity. The book "A Short History of -Worship" Notes that "Various figures of crosses are found everywhere on Egyptian monuments and tombs and are considered by many authorities as symbolical either of the phallus [a representation of the male organ] or of coition... In Egyptian tombs the cux ansata [cross with a circle or handle on top] is found side by side with the phallus." So it is fairly clear to me that Christendom adopted this symbol like all the other nations throughout history. There is no way God would find it acceptable to have a symbol that represented another god or a all over a so called place of worship people call church. The only christians I have found who don't believe Christ died on a cross are Jehovah's Witnesses. Why is that?