Egyptian Dreams

[anneke]

This discussion/exploration I've been engaged in elsewhere so I thought I would share it and see what you think.

What does the Ankh sign depict?

Egyptologists do not have a commonly agreed upon theory about the origins of the ankh. Over the years several theories have been put forth. Below is a list of some of the proposed origins of the ankh:

A union of the male and female. (Thoman Inman, 1869)
The belt buckle of the mother goddess Isis. Similar to the Tyet symbol (also known as the Isis Knot). (Sir Wallis Budge, and later Westendorf)
A sandal strap where the loop is the part wrapping around the ankle. (Sir Alan Gardiner)
The sun crowning over the horizon.
The path of the sun from east to west (with the loop representing the Nile)
A stylized person
A combination of the male and female symbols of Osiris (the cross) and Isis (the oval) respectively, and therefore signifies the union of heaven and Earth.
(Pulled from wikipedia)

________________________________

Separately Philip G. (owner of pr kmt forum - Dutch language) suggested the following:
Winfred Blackman observed the following in the rural areas of Upper-Egypte in ca 1925. In her book ‘The Fellahin of Upper Egypt’ she writes p. 64: ‘Others [mothers of newborns] – and this is a very common traditions – take a piece of the umbilical cord and sow it into a piece of cotton; this is then hung around the neck of the child with a piece of cord.” On p. 79 there's a picture of such an umbilical cord wrapped in cotton, both ends tied together so that a circle is formed and so that this could even be worn around the neck of the child.

Considering the meaning of the word ankh, life, and this afore mentioned tradition that may reach back to Pharaonic times, it would not surprise me if the ankh represented the umbilical cord that would have originally been hung around the child's neck or waist to protect it and give it further life. (Idea originally communicated by Phillipe G., owner of the Dutch forum pr kmt and translated here.)

__________________________________

And Nick suggested - based on visual interpretation - that the loop represents the trace the sun makes as it travels through the sky, the horizontal bars represent the horizon and the vertical bar represents the reflection of the sun in the water. Thereby having the ankh combine some of the very basic components of egyptian beliefs: water, the sun, and the land itself.


Any thoughts? Which theories seem likely? Unlikely?
_________________
Math and Art: http://mathematicsaroundus.blogspot.com/

[Kiya]

I'm feeling it's the first one - the union of the male and female.
_________________

[Daughter_Of_SETI]

I always go with the sandal strap.
_________________


In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this - Terry Pratchett.

[Gerard.]

The path of the sun from east to west (with the loop representing the delta) Life needs sun and water.

[Osiris II]

I think the idea of Occam's Razor would apply here.
I agree--sandal strap.

[anneke]

I'm not sure why the sandal strap would be a case of Occam's Razor here. The idea from linguistics that there has to be a connection between the sandal and life because their words sound similar is a rather outdated one. That line of reasoning is no longer accepted by linguists.

I'm not sure why a sandal would represent life? I guess that off all the theories listed I personally find that one the least likely.

The stylized person or the umbilical cord theory makes much more sense to me. Or even the sun rising over the horizon for that matter.
_________________
Math and Art: http://mathematicsaroundus.blogspot.com/

[neseret]

[anneke]

Thanks for adding those neseret. I had not heard of any of those, but I can see why people would pose these theories.
_________________
Math and Art: http://mathematicsaroundus.blogspot.com/

[freeTinker]

Just to add another possibility... (although all ideas and theories can be valid)

The association of the Ankh with Life or Lifeforce on numerous levels (think Osiris as the 'green' vegitation/regenerative 'energy') may indicate the Ankh as being a physical representation of an actual SEED PLANTER

Given the great value placed on grain, crop and land-use individual grains planted at specified depths, specific distances apart might be seen as a 'life-giving' efficiency - this ancient key (agricultural tool) could then have passed through the ages to become a representation of the lifeforce itself

Of course, this 'tool' could then have been seen as a representation (due to shape etc.,) of the sun and its course through the heavens, ie; multiple levels of understanding

Just wanted to add the thought to the body of thinking...

[dzama923]

I have heard it was the symbol of eternal life.

I have also heard that it had to do with water, and it was literally the balance of water. This makes sense to me because there is a hieroglyph of Horus and Thoth pouring out ankhs onto the pharaoh. Something associated with water makes sense in this usage. The term described by Mark Lehner is asgat nefer, balance of water, this heiroglyph is found in the temple of Maya.

Actually that was my broken understanding of what I remembered to have read. It says actually that the ankh was life, and that water was important to life. Asgat Nefer was a key principle. The hieroglpyh for asgat nefer were three combined... A bowl above, and a calf with a knee water spout beneath and to the left, and beneath and to the right was the sign for goodness, a sort of standing oval with a cross coming up. That was asgat nefer.

reference: The Land of Osiris Stephen S. Mehler.

[Lutz]

[Lutz]

" Mark Lehner, Egyptologist " (Tour Egypt - Jimmy Dunn)

[dzama923]

Sorry about that... There is a mistake in my earlier post. What I said was

[Lutz]

Are there no vacancies in the local mental hospitals?
_________________
Ägyptologie - Forum (German)

[dzama923]

It seems to me, also, that it doesn't necessarily have to mean just one thing. Egyptian hieroglpyhs are unique in that way, that symbols can mean a multiplicity of things, and combine to mean other things.

The ankh seems to me, to be some sort of tool. I see it most commonly carried by the gods, and being fed to the Gods and pharaohs in the temple wall inscriptions.

I do not see why it could not mean sandal strap, also. Sandals were a symbol of culture, having tamed the natural forces and created a civilized life.

The symbol itself appears time and again, in the natural world. Which is why I see that it could have meant the sun over the horizon, or the path of the Sun from east to west.

It is even depicted as a stylized person in the papyri of "the Book of the Dead" by Raymond O'Faulkner, where the ankh has arms holding up the sun disk.