
The Ankh
2500 BCE
Life Written as an Object
As a hieroglyph, the ankh stands for the consonant sequence Ꜥ-n-ḫ, which appears in words related to life and things that sustain it. In temple scenes, the sign is treated as a physical object gods can grasp, stack, or pour out over a king. It appears alongside other symbols such as the was sceptre and djed pillar in dense visual formulas for stability and power.
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As a hieroglyph, the ankh stands for the consonant sequence Ꜥ-n-ḫ, which appears in words related to life and things that sustain it. In temple scenes, the sign is treated as a physical object gods can grasp, stack, or pour out over a king. It appears alongside other symbols such as the was sceptre and djed pillar in dense visual formulas for stability and power.






























































