A cross with a loop at the top: the ancient Egyptian sign for ‘life’. Gods are shown holding it. Much later the Coptic Church took it up, and Coptic and other communities still use it today.
Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.
Britannica describes the ankh as the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for ‘life’. Images of the gods show them holding it, and Egyptians also used it as an amulet: in their belief, a sign that gave life. Our files give no date for the first ankh.
To verify: The date of the earliest known ankh; our files give none; Britannica’s own words on the ankh as an amulet
Britannica notes that the Coptic Church, the Christian church of Egypt, later took up the ankh as well. It is still used today by Coptic Christians and by other communities, among them people of African descent, so it is a living sign as well as an old one.
To verify: A source for its use today by Coptic and African-descended communities
Online charts of ‘spiritual symbols’ call the ankh the key of the soul. We found no early record of that idea: the record says ‘life’. We draw the ankh as the Egyptian sign for life, and make no promise about health.
