The Ankh: What Does That Funny Cross Mean?
Most people are aware by now that the ankh originated in ancient Egypt, but few fully understand
all the layers of symbolism surrounding this evocative glyph. After all, the ankh has had many meanings imposed on it through the centuries...
The ankh was first a symbol of life among the ancient Egyptians. Egyptian art sometimes
portrays a god holding the ankh near a person's lips, bestowing the "Breath of Life" that is
needed for the after-world. It is sometimes claimed that the ankh represents Osiris' phallus
joining with the vagina of Isis, making the ankh a symbol of sexuality and generation as well
as of life. Whether this is originally an Egyptian idea, or an later interpretation by
European occultists (who were fond of such symbols – the Rosy Cross of the Rosicruscans, for
instance, can be interpreted in essentially the same way), such an interpretation certainly
makes the ankh a useful symbol in the present day.
In addition, the ankh has a strong visual connection to our culture's most ubiquitous death
symbol, the cross. The Coptic Church uses a cross that is precisely similar to the ankh.
(See illustration.) The ankh also resembles an early form of the Hebrew letter Tau, a symbol
of ending and death. The fact that the Tau has the circular womb symbol atop it leads some
to see the ankh as a sign of death and rebirth, or reincarnation. This in turn ties in with the
Isis/ Osiris legend, in which Isis impregnated herself with semen from the corpse of Osiris in
order to give birth to Horus, the sun god. More recently, the ankh has been seen in the
possession of Death herself in the Sandman comics.
The end result of all this is that the ankh is an excellent symbol for today's goth and others of dark persuasion, between
overtones of such weighty matters as life, death, and rebirth, a touch of sex and magick, and
looking pretty cool in silver.
Further Resources:
Keen bat-winged ankh courtesy of The Den of the Flying Fox. Coptic Cross from The Christian Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt site.
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Article copyright 1999 Carrie Laben All rights reserved. In other words, if you want to reproduce this article ask me first you wanker.