Touching the Egyptian Ankh at Medinat Habu

A damaged Ankh carving from the chapel of the priestesses of Amun, part of the Medinat Habu complex (the mortuary temple of Ramses III) on the West Bank of Luxor.

Predating the Christian cross by thousands of years, the Egyptian Ankh – or key of life – is a symbol whose many layers of meaning remain uncertain to modern scholars though its essence is clearly related to the concepts of creating life and eternal life.

It was often depicted in Ancient Egyptian art as being given to the pharaohs by the various gods and goddesses or being carried and used by them.