The ankh (pronounced ‘ahnk’, symbol ☥) was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that stood for the word ʿnḫ, which means life. Egyptian gods may carry it by the loop, or bear one in each hand crossed over their breast. Latinists interpreted the symbol as a crux ansata, “cross with a handle”.
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What it was intended to represent remains a mystery to Egyptologists, and no single hypothesis has yet been widely accepted.
Some have speculated that it was a stylized womb[citation needed]. 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. Howard Carter speculated it could be a primitive representation of human genitalia.
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 (and linked to the Egyptian belief that semen was created in the spine), thus:
* the Ankh - symbol of life - thoracic vertebrae of a bull (seen in cross section)
* the Djed - symbol of stability - base or sacrum of a bull's spine
* the Was - symbol of power and dominion - a staff made from a dried bull's penis
The original meaning of this Egyptian symbol is also not known. One suggests that it combines the male and female symbols of Osiris (the cross) and Isis (the oval) and therefore signifies the union of heaven and earth[citation needed]. As a hieroglyph, it likely encompassed a range of meanings depending on its associated hieroglyphs but all of these expressions centered around the concept of life or life force.
Over time, the ankh certainly came to symbolize life and immortality, the universe, power and life giving air and water. “Its keylike shape also encouraged the belief it could unlock the gates of death.” The Coptic Christians used it as a symbol of life after death[citation needed]. The ankh has been used in ritual magic.
It also appears to be a ‘cross’ between a crucifix and the ‘christian’ (flat) fish symbol which is also represented as determining a point of origin and a vanishing point by drawing two curves around the three main pyramids[citation needed].
Two ankhs could therefore represent two crossed fishes being a combination of the symbol for Pisces and a crucifix