# Ancient Egypt Question: Waht was the "Ankh"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849 "2007-06-21T13:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/1 "2007-06-21T13:34:00Z")
You see this mysterious symbol in ancient Egyptian painyains: the “ank” is a cross-like thing, with a oval loop at the top. It is carried in the right hand, by many gods and goddesses. My question: what does this fetish symbolize? later writers identify the ank as a precourser to the Christain cross-is there any connection? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/2 "2007-06-21T14:22:20Z")
[Wikipedia’s short and useful article on the ankh.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankh) Simply, it was a glyph in Egyptian script corresponding to the sound we know it by, a common element in Egyptian compound words, with the basic meaning of “life” and often the added connotation of “fertileness, living.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/3 "2007-06-21T15:04:04Z")
I remember back in grade school they told us that it was the toe strap from a sandal. That seemed a weird thing to immortalize as a symbol of life. It was years until I learned of the vulva+penis interpretation, which seems more likely. I then learned that there were a LOT of sexual symbols that adults had been lying about, or tiptoeing around. Like the classic “male” and “female” symbols (that double for Mars and Venus). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/4 "2007-06-21T15:07:23Z")
And, knowing the tendency of the average Doper mind, a [Morpork](http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/ruru.html) is a Ruru, _Ninox novaeseelandiae_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/5 "2007-06-21T15:29:21Z")
Darn. Are we that obvious? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/6 "2007-06-21T20:02:05Z")
Was the typo in the subject intentional? I think “waht” is an Egyptian word, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/7 "2007-06-21T20:45:58Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Was the typo in the subject intentional? I think “waht” is an Egyptian word, too. [/QUOTE] It is? I’m going to be Angkored if I find out it’s not! And pshaw, I was going to say that **everyone** knows that the Ankh is the magical item that can teleport you back to the cave entrance, even if you’re falling down the cliff! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/8 "2007-06-21T20:46:12Z")
Simply, it was a glyph in Egyptian script corresponding to the sound we know as the call of the goose. 😉 The goose represents fecundity in reproduction, and, through its prolific droppings, fertility of the soil. Some Egyptologists link the ankh to the “sense that Ra gave to the goose,” but the jury is out on that point. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/9 "2007-06-22T03:13:59Z")
Wikipedia mentions several alternate theories, including one that I’d heard before, that a section of a bull’s vertebra looks like an ankh. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/10 "2007-06-22T04:29:53Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] It is? I’m going to be Angkored if I find out it’s not! And pshaw, I was going to say that **everyone** knows that the Ankh is the magical item that can teleport you back to the cave entrance, even if you’re falling down the cliff! [/QUOTE] And it can also bring your hero back to life if he’s killed 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/11 "2007-06-22T10:23:37Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I remember back in grade school they told us that it was the toe strap from a sandal. That seemed a weird thing to immortalize as a symbol of life. It was years until I learned of the vulva+penis interpretation, which seems more likely. [/QUOTE] Thing is, Egyptian hieroglyphics are a rebus language. That is, you speak the pictures aloud to get the message. In English, suppose you saw a picture of a human eyeball, a tool for cutting wood, and a female sheep. That would obviously convey the message **I saw you**. But someone with no knowledge of English would find the message incomprehensible. The Egyptian words for \*life \*and \*toestrap \* are similar enough to use a toestrap as a symbol of life. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/12 "2007-06-22T11:52:06Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] And pshaw, I was going to say that **everyone** knows that the Ankh is the magical item that can teleport you back to the cave entrance, even if you’re falling down the cliff! [/QUOTE] I came into the thread to warn that there is no sanctuary, possibly in some sort of holographic, high pitched wail. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/13 "2007-06-22T11:57:25Z")
> [@](#): > > The Egyptian words for life and toestrap are similar enough to use a toestrap as a symbol of life. Is this true? Because I’ve never heard it before. What ar the similar-sounding words? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-egypt-question-waht-was-the-ankh/408849/14 "2007-06-22T12:35:51Z")
From what I understand, Egyptologists have been able to deduce the consonant sounds in the ancient Egyptian language, but the vowels are still uncertain, and a matter of speculation. The consonants in the word for Life was NKH. The consonants in word for toestrap was NKH. The vowels are uncertain, and may have been different.