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Ankh

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Description

The hieroglyph that gods hold to the nose

The ankh is the writing-sign for "life." From the Old Kingdom onward, temple reliefs show gods offering it to the king's nose — the breath of life. Book of the Dead vignettes and faience amulets multiply it. Modern guesses (sandal-strap, union of sexes, mirror) are Egyptological, not Egyptian myth. It is not a unique named object with one owner. Isis, Osiris, Ra, and others all carry it. Treat it as script and offering in stone, not as a quest-relic with a biography of manufacture.

Primary Sources

“Gods hold the ankh to the nose of the king, giving him life, stability, and dominion, in temple relief and Book of the Dead vignettes.”
Egyptian temple iconography / Book of the Dead(Old Kingdom through Late Period)

Powers & Abilities

Life BestowalImmortalityDivine BreathResurrection