• the Ankh, symbol of life,
thoracic vertebra of a bull (seen in cross section)
• the Died, 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"
Egyptian academics, in particular those
at the University of Cairo, aver that the ankh has been over-interpreted and
that it is representative of the pivotal role of the Nile in the
country[citation needed]. The oval head is said to represent the Nile delta,
with the vertical mark representing the path of the river and the East and West
arms representing the two sides of the country and their unification[citation
needed].
It's actually spelled Ankh. It's also
known as the Ansata Cross and the Egyptian Cross.
The Ankh Cross is a looped Tau Cross and
an old Egyptian hieroglyph meaning life. It sometimes goes by the exotic name
Key of the Nile.
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 ancient 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.
For many civilizations using this symbol,
the loop represented the sun and it was held by many gods including Atum, the
sun-god of Heliopolis. The loop is also a perfect symbol that has neither
beginning nor end, so it represents the eternal soul.
The entire symbol is also a key, to
unlock hidden mysteries in the Kingdom of the Dead and was often used in
funeral rites. The symbol also represents the Tree of Life, with its trunk and
foliage.
An Osiris Pillar of Senusret I from the 12th Dynasty.
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