Ankh
The ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph shaped like a looped cross, symbolizing life and often held by deities in Egyptian art.
Egyptian mythology: The religious stories, deities, and cosmologies of ancient Egypt. The ankh’s life symbolism took shape within Egypt’s religious world.
Book of the Dead: A collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells intended to help the deceased in the afterlife. Its illustrated spells include scenes where gods grant life with the ankh.
Egyptian hieroglyphs: The writing system of ancient Egypt, using signs that represent sounds, words, or ideas. The ankh was both a recognizable image and a hieroglyphic sign.
Was-scepter: An ancient Egyptian staff-shaped emblem associated with dominion and power. Unlike the ankh’s life, the was-scepter chiefly signifies authority.
Coptic Christianity: The Christian tradition rooted in Egypt and associated with the Coptic Church. The ankh’s form is sometimes compared with crosses in Egyptian Christian contexts.
Ancient Egyptian religion: The beliefs, rituals, and institutions through which ancient Egyptians related to their gods and the dead. Religious practice gave the sign its associations with divine and mortal life.
Amarna art: The distinctive artistic style developed under Akhenaten in ancient Egypt. Amarna scenes make the ankh’s connection to divine life especially visible.
Egyptian language: The language recorded in ancient Egyptian writing systems, including hieroglyphs. The ankh sign could write the Egyptian word for life.
Djed: An ancient Egyptian symbol, often interpreted as a pillar, associated with stability and Osiris. The djed conveys stability rather than the ankh’s life-giving meaning.
Egyptomania: A fascination with ancient Egyptian culture that has shaped art, design, and popular culture. Modern revivals made the ankh a widely reproduced emblem beyond its original setting.