The ankh (crux ansata) was an ancient Egyptian T shaped 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 axis from which radiated spatial dimensions of height, length, width, and breadth - as well as the directions of north, east, south, and west.
Ancient Egyptian civilization, of course, surpassed its preliterate beginnings relatively early in the development process. From evidence of dynastic rule dating back to 3200 B.C. (Poulsen, 1968, p. 7), their developed form of writing known as hieroglyphics has been dated as early as 3000 B.C. (Lambelet, Hieroglyphs...