Cross Symbolism

The ankh (crux ansata) was an ancient Egyptian Tshaped cross surmounted with a loop. It symbolized the creative energies of the male and female and - most importantly to a civilization obsessed with the afterlife - the essence of life. In this paper, the ankh will be examined in terms of its general place in the history of art and symbols and as it fit in specifically with the art and hieroglyphic symbology of the ancient Egyptians.

As noted above, the ankh has the essential form of a cross. The cross is among the oldest and most universal of symbols. In preliterate societies it often represented a conjunction of dualities, or - as the symbol would quite frequently be viewed literally - as an intersection of two worlds: the human and the divine. These symbols could be quite elaborate, but basically break down into two categories, and it is interesting to see how they are grouped. The horizontal arm of a cross was associated with the terrestrial, the feminine, temporal, and destructive elements, with negative and passive qualities linked to death. The vertical arm, by contrast, connoted the celestial and the spiritual, the masculine and eternal elements of existence, with creative and positive qualities linked to life.

There are other general aspects of cross symbolism, of which the ankh certainly shares some. The four extensions of a cross, for example, are often symbolic of the elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. A cross was also perceived as the cosmic

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imals, but as the abodes of gods (Budge, 1969, p. 2f). At this point it begins to become apparent how the concept of "ankh" - living, life, existence - played a major role in the ancient Egyptian world. There is, they believed, an eternal spirit, or ka, in all things human and divine - the ka inhabits specific "abodes" throughout its existence. Hence there is always a certain duality: one lives in a body, but that body is only an "abode," the reality of "being" is the process of living. Ankh is that process of living. In practical terms the Egyptians found it almost impossible to separate the process from the abode - at least until death replaced one abode with another as the ka travels to the afterworld. In terms of art and symbol, the connection between abode and being was also a duality: symbols were abodes of meaning for real things and ideas - but, again in practical terms (i.e., as the Egyptians viewed them), symbols almost were the things they represented (Katan & Mintz, 1981, p. 20). The most familiar manifestation of this duality was the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification and burial. Once dead, the person's body was treated to preserve it, then buried with objects that represented what would be needed

Category: Philosophy - C