What is the meaning of the ankh symbol?

We begin with some truths relating to life, a matter of supreme importance to the ancient Egyptians. The gods are represented as not only beings, but living beings to whom life essentially or by self-right belongs. Each is portrayed as holding the mystic symbol of life, the circle and the ??, that is the sign ???. Thus what pertains solely to the living God, these gods of Egypt, as we know them by their representations, all professed to have of themselves, and the living God was thereby supplanted.

The O standing by itself is a sign of life, but when combined with the ??, the symbol had a peculiarly sacred character; the mystic ??? signifying divine life. May not the ?? be an emblem of three yet one, and hence the tau, in combination with the circle, be the symbol of life pertaining to deity?

These deities were represented not only as possessors of life, but as givers of life. The deities communicated it to man. They are frequently represented as touching the human subject with the sacred ???, and thus, as giving life "to the nostrils." We have already shown the ray of the sun having a hand attached to it emanating from the "sun-god," and thus the god communicating life to the nostrils of man. In the plainest manner, therefore, the Creator's prerogative was placed by Egyptian paganism in the hands of its gods.

But a divine truth still deeper in its relation to man lay within their beliefs. The fact of its presence in their religion evidences how closely their original belief followed the divine model. They not only believed in man's eternal existence, but that, in bliss after this life, he would enjoy divine life in the presence of the gods. Covered over as it was with monstrous notions and degrading ideas about man in bliss being like the mythological cat, the ape, or the egg, yet under all this folly lay the profound reality, that man received divine life, which fitted him for the company of the divine — "He eats what the gods eat, he drinks what they drink, he lives as they live, and he dwells where they dwell."* When Scripture teaches of eternal life it unfolds very much more than a continuous existence — an endless life — it unfolds also the fact that God gives a new and divine life to man, by means of which man may enjoy Him, and dwell forever in His presence in glory; "The gift of God is eternal life" (Rom. 6:23.) "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." (John 17:3.)

The monuments of Egypt introduce to us the Pharaohs and their manner of life. A Pharaoh was king indeed, supreme in power, head of the kingdom, whether in judgment or in war, and chief among the priests. The king was also equal in certain respects to the deities, and as far as words and pictures go, he was himself deified. Here is a king and his god. The god is presenting to the king life, the sign of which he holds. Both persons grasp the other's hand as do friends; the god is no bigger than the deified king, each being on a royal equality with the other. In other pictures we see goddesses embracing kings.

The adjoining illustration, with its eye-teaching, is too suggestive to be omitted. The peculiar form of sun-worship which it celebrates was not that in vogue at the time of the plague; however, life emanating from the sun was none the less a belief in that period. And there are monuments extant in Thebes analogous to this taken from Tell Amarna. The disc and the rays of the sun are portrayed, and at the ends of the rays are hands, and in some of these is the symbol of life, which is placed under the nostrils of the human being!

This familiar picture expresses their faith in the fact of the spirit of the person living after the body is dead. The body lies still in death, the spirit hovers over it. In either hand it holds an emblem of life the one a sail, betokening the life's brevity, and the other the sacred figure of life in its perpetuity. The spirit is looking upon the body as if bidding it a farewell, and saying, "Whither shall I go; where shall I spend my future?"

In the plainest and most emphatic manner the religious pictures of the Egyptians taught that divine life was necessary to enable a man to live in company with the deities. The life of the god must be communicated to the human subject, if he was eventually to dwell in the company of the god. In other words, man must needs be a "partaker of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4) in order to enable him to enjoy the divine presence. It is quite true that their religious teaching on the subject was not emphatic, as were their religious pictures, neither was it definite; further, the teaching underwent changes. The pictures preserved their ancient form through many centuries, while the verbal teaching varied with the centuries. The symbols remained hallowed by antiquity, the meaning of the symbols became altered to suit the "new light," which arose with near generations. But if a man "lives as" the gods "live and dwells where they dwell," having received from them the divine life inherent to them, it is obvious that he has partaken of their nature by their gift. What then was the character of the Egyptian gods? What was their moral nature? What sort of beings were they? for they obviously lived, and thought, and acted, according to the moral nature of the "divine" life which they inherently possessed. To comprehend what these ancient pagans meant by divine life we must know what, according to their belief, was the nature of their gods.

May we not indeed say, that the teaching as to life in Ancient Egypt was in the serpent's mouth, and that even as the serpent is here represented, it may be summed up? Was it the life, which is in God Himself? or the life which the Creator bestows upon His creature? or the eternal life which God gives in Christ to His people? The truth, however viewed, was turned to the service of Satan. (John 8:44.)

In Egypt the pure doctrine of eternal life was so surrounded and obscured by traditions as to be of no effect among the people; over the chief part of Christendom the doctrine is now hidden. The fundamental principle respecting life is, that it is inherent to the living God and the eternal Son of God, of whom it is written," In Him was life," (John 1:4) and who declared "I am… the Life" (John 11:25). The eternal life is bestowed upon men by the gift of God, (Rom. 6:23.) — "I give unto them eternal life" (John 10:28); "This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). Further, as to those who receive it, the words are plain — "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life." (John 5:24.) In the minds of millions in Christendom, educated and directed by their religious teachers, the Scripture teaching in reference to eternal life has no place whatever, religious evolution having as completely covered it up, as the swiftly accumulating peat has buried the relics of former generations over which it has spread itself.

The word "mark" in the Hebrew is "Tav," the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Its literal meaning is "cross." This letter "T" was a cross in the older Hebrew script as well as in the Phoenician and Samaritan. The Egyptians also used a cross in their language, with them it was a sign of life. Ancient Jewish tradition gives the information that the blood sprinkled in Egypt on the doorpost (Exodus 12:23) was in the form of a cross. All this is interesting. To this we may add that in Gen. 4:15, the mark set upon Cain, an entirely different word is used.

In the third illustration we have added some emblems which occur in various representations of the subject — the dog-headed ape, to whom prayers arose from the purgatorial fires, is there, and the serpent standing erect — attitude emblematic of life.