Ankh

For the book of H. G. Wells, see Crux Ansata. For other uses, see Ankh (disambiguation).
Ankh
Ankh

The ankh (/ˈæŋk/ or /ˈɑːŋk/; Egyptian: IPA: [ʕaːnax]; U+2625 ☥ or U+132F9 𓋹), also known as breath of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata (Latin meaning "cross with a handle"), was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "life", a triliteral sign for the consonants Ayin-Nun-Het.

It represents the concept of life, which is the general meaning of the symbol. The Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. The ankh appears in hand or in proximity of almost every deity in the Egyptian pantheon (including Pharaohs). Thus it is fairly and widely understood as a symbol of early religious pluralism: all sects believed in a common story of eternal life, and this is the literal meaning of the symbol. This rationale contributed to the adoption of the ankh by New Age mysticism in the 1960s.

The ankh symbol was so prevalent that it has been found in digs as far as Mesopotamia and Persia, and even on the seal of the biblical king Hezekiah.[1]

Origin

Ankh
in hieroglyphs
 
or
 
[2]

The origin of the symbol remains a mystery to Egyptologists, and no single hypothesis has been widely accepted. One of the earliest suggestions is that of Thomas Inman, first published in 1869:

It is by Egyptologists called the symbol of life. It is also called the "handled cross", or crux ansata. It represents the male triad and the female unit, under a decent form. There are few symbols more commonly met with in Egyptian art. In some sculptures, where the sun's rays are represented as terminating in hands, the offerings which these bring are many a crux ansata, emblematic of the truth that a fruitful union is a gift from the deity.[3]

E. A. Wallis Budge postulated that the symbol originated as the belt buckle of the mother goddess Isis,[4] an idea joined by Wolfhart Westendorf with the notion that both the ankh and the knot of Isis were used in many ceremonies. Sir Alan Gardiner speculated that it depicts a sandal strap, which is also written with the ankh hieroglyph.[5]

Merenptah offering an ankh, djed, and was to Ptah
An ankh-shaped mirror case

In their 2004 book The Quick and the Dead,[6] Andrew Hunt 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, during the reign of Hatshepsut (1508–1458 BC), from the Royal Ontario Museum

History

The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of a god or goddess in images that represent the deities of the afterlife conferring the gift of life on the dead person's mummy; this is thought to symbolize the act of conception. Additionally, an ankh was often carried by Egyptians as an amulet, either alone, or in connection with two other hieroglyphs that mean "strength" and "health" (see explication of djed and was, above). Mirrors of beaten metal were also often made in the shape of an ankh, either for decorative reasons or to symbolize a perceived view into another world.

A symbol similar to the ankh appears frequently in Minoan and Mycenaean sites. This is a combination of the sacral knot (symbol of holiness) with the double-edged axe (symbol of matriarchy)[7] but it can be better compared with the Egyptian tyet which is similar. This symbol can be recognized on the two famous figurines of the chthonian Snake Goddess discovered in the palace of Knossos. Both snake goddesses have a knot with a projecting loop cord between their breasts.[8] In the Linear B (Mycenean Greek) script, ankh is the phonetic sign za.[9]

Crux ansata in Codex Glazier

The ankh also appeared frequently in coins from ancient Cyprus and Asia Minor (particularly the city of Mallus in Cilicia).[10] In some cases, especially with the early coinage of King Euelthon of Salamis, the letter ku, from the Cypriot syllabary, appeared within the circle ankh, representing Ku(prion) (Cypriots). To this day, the ankh is also used to represent the planet Venus (the namesake of which, the goddess Venus or Aphrodite, was chiefly worshipped on the island) and the metal copper (the heavy mining of which gave Cyprus its name).[11]

Coptic Christians preserved the shape of the ankh by sometimes representing the Christian cross with a circle in place of the upper bar. This is known as the Coptic ankh or crux ansata.[12][13]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "King Hezekiah in the Bible: Royal Seal of Hezekiah Comes to Light". Biblical Archaeology Society.
  2. ↑ Collier, Mark and Manley, Bill. How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Revised Edition pg 23. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
  3. ↑ Inman, Thomas. Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism, Second Edition. New York: J. W. Bouton, 706 Broadway. Published 1875. Page 44. ISBN 978-1-4209-2987-4.
  4. ↑ A Guide to the Third and Fourth Rooms of the British Museum (London: s.n.: 1904), 210.
  5. ↑ Gardiner, Alan. Egyptian Grammar, Third Edition. Cambridge University Press. 1957. p. 508.
  6. ↑ Gordon, Andrew Hunt; Schwabe, Calvin W (2004). The Quick and the Dead: Biomedical Theory in Ancient Egypt First Edition. Brill/Styx. ISBN 90-04-12391-1.
  7. ↑ F. Schachermeyer. (1964) "Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta" pp. 161, 163–164
  8. ↑ Cristopher L.C.E Witcombe. "Minoan snake goddess". 9: Snake charmers
  9. ↑ M. Ventris, J. Chadwick
  10. ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge University Press; AsiaMinorCoins.com
  11. ↑ Fisher, Fred H., Cyprus: Our New Colony And What We Know About It, London: George Routledge and Sons 1878, pp. 13–14.
  12. ↑ "Egyptian Religion", David P. Silverman, p. 135, Oxford University Press US, 2003, ISBN 0-19-521952-X
  13. ↑ "Ankh – Ancient Symbol of Life". Retrieved 4 November 2012.

Bibliography

External links

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