The ankh, also known as key 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. Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest.
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 remarkable 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. 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.
The Ankh cross looks like a person standing with outstretched arms, it is a looped Tau Cross and an old Egyptian hieroglyph meaning life. It sometimes goes by the exotic name Key of the Nile. (For a different type of Looped Cross, see Carolingian Cross.)
There are several theories about the origin of this design. One suggestion is that the symbol looks like the posts that aligned the banks of the Nile River to indicate the high-water mark of floods. Since the floods bring new and fertile soil, this became the symbol of renewed life.
Another theory to connect this hieroglyph to life, is from the symbolic representation of a sandal's thong with a loop going around the ankle. In old Egyptian, sandal thong and life had the same pronunciation (homophony). Deciding on a hieroglyph for sandal thong was relatively easy; they simply drew what they saw. But deciding on something for the less tangible life, was a challenge. So they used the hieroglyph that had the same sound. This occurs frequently in non-phonetic languages and is known as the Rebus Principle. (The English word ankle is derived from Indo-European ank.)
Ankh symbol, seen in the centre of this ancient Egyptian relief. And yet another theory goes that the Ankh symbol is a sketch of the womb, in addition to being a sketch of the sexual union of male and female genitalia. By extension, we imagine zest, energy, reproduction, regeneration, and immortality.
Clearly that Ankh is a pagan emblem, whose ancient meaning was "life." the top of the perpendicular bar was looped, the ends centered at the junction of the sidearms. Later the Christians made it a symbol of supernatural life that Christ merited by his cross. The Ankh Cross represents life (immortality) and death, male and female, balance. It can also represent zest, joy of life, and energy. It's closely related to the looped cross that can mean fertility and life.
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