The ankh (symbol ☥) was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "life". Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. It is also known as the Egyptian Cross, the key of life, the key of the Nile, or as crux ansata, Latin for "cross with a handle".
Origins
| Ankh in hieroglyphs | |||||
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The precise origin of the symbol remains a mystery to Egyptologists, and no single hypothesis has been widely accepted. E. A. Wallis Budge thought it might have originated as the belt-buckle of the mother goddess Isis, an idea joined by Wolfhart Westendorf with the notion that both the ankh and the knot of Isis were used as ties on ceremonial girdles. Sir Alan Gardiner speculated that it represented a sandal strap, with the loop going around the ankle. The word for sandal strap was also spelled ʿnḫ, although it may have been pronounced differently.
Still other theories include the notion that the ankh represents the sun crowning over the horizon,[2] the path of the sun from east to west (with the loop representing the Nile), a stylized person, or that it is a combination of the male and female symbols of Osiris (the cross) and Isis (the oval) respectively, and therefore signifies the union of heaven and earth. [3]
In their 2004 book "The Quick and the Dead", Andrew H. Gordon and Calvin W. Schwabe speculated that the ankh, djed and was symbols have a biological basis derived from ancient cattle culture (linked to the Egyptian belief that semen was created in the spine), thus:
- the Ankh - symbol of life - thoracic vertebra of a bull (seen in cross section)
- the Djed - symbol of stability - base on sacrum of a bull's spine
- the Was - symbol of power and dominion - a staff featuring the head and tail of the god Set, "great of strength"
Over time, the ankh has come to symbolize life and immortality, the universe, power and life-giving air and water. Its keylike shape has also encouraged the belief it could unlock the gates of death, and it is viewed this way by the modern Rosicrucians and other hermetic orders. The Coptic Christians have used it as a symbol of life after death.[4]The design for the pin symbolizing membership in Wolf's Head Society, Yale University, sets a wolf's head on an inverted ankh.[5]
by Wikimania 2008
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