 One ancient symbol that consistently appears in wall reliefs across Egypt and indeed other religions of the world is the incredibly important Ankh, the key to light that unlocks the passageway in the journey to the afterlife. The importance of the Ankh was the instant recognition of what the symbol stood for, even those who could not read would have been able to understand the symbolism of objects. The symbol became incredibly important during the reign of Akhenaten. He of course was a new kingdom king and ruled during the mid-1300s BC. His wife Nefertiti and son Tutankhamun, his name meaning living image of Amun are amongst the most famous Egyptians of all time. They held the Ankh and what it represented in great esteem. Akhenaten decided that the other gods of Egypt were but a manifestation of Akhten, the disk of the sun. He created a state religion based upon that hypothesis and belief that the life force energies in all aspects emanated directly from the sun disk. His belief was heretical and unpopular with the priest of Amun, as well as much of the population. The priests who were powerful and ran thieves in a tight theocracy were hostile towards Akhenaten's new religion. Akhenaten eventually moved his capital away from thieves to a spot in the desert and built a new city name Akhenaten, horizon of Aten. He could begin over again, far from the temples of the former state deity Amun. This subculture is called Amarna due to its presence in a location now known as Tel-El-Armana. In many artworks from the Armana period, the royal family is shown beneath the sun, being crest by its rays, each terminating in a hand, some of them holding Ankhs, implying the sun as the giver of life. The most important legacy of the dynastic Egyptians are the symbols they left behind and that we are trying to understand. Though many different civilizations have been affected by the sign of the Ankh and become a symbol of the world, as one of the most remarkable symbols created by one of the great modern human civilizations and over 4000 years before the birth of Christ, they went to incredible lengths to depict this message. In view of the importance of the decorative heritage, many studies have dealt with it in many aspects and in various fields. These studies have focused on the Ankh sign and the associated functional, aesthetic and philosophical aspects of dynastic Egyptian art and conclusion to what this thing is always manifest in the same light, nobody knows. The origin of the Ankh is unknown, but the Egyptologist Sir Alan H. Gardner suggests it may be as simple as sandal strap, with the top loop going around one's ankle and the vertical post attached to a sole at the toes. Gardner came to his conclusion because the Egyptian words for sandal was Ankh, which came from the same root as Ankh and further because the sandal was a daily part of an Egyptians life and the Ankh symbol came to symbolize life. This theory has never gained wide acceptance however. The theory of Egyptologist E. A. Wallace Budge, whose claim it originated from the belt buckle of the goddess Isis, is considered more probable but still not universally accepted. Wallace Budge equated the Ankh with the knot of Isis, a ceremonial girdle thought to represent female genitalia and symbolizing fertility. This theory of the Ankh's origin, stemming from a fertility symbol, is in keeping with its meaning throughout ancient Egyptian history and beyond to the present day. But as clear as it appears on the walls and monuments of Egypt, we simply have nothing concrete to go on. Egyptologist Wolfhard Westendor support Wallace's budgets claim, noting the similarity of the Ankh to Tejet of Isis and the use of both symbols from an earlier date in Egypt's history. The Ankh has always been associated with life, the promise of eternal life, the sun, fertility and light. Society is disputing this but this association with the sun means that the Ankh is traditionally drawn in gold, the color of the sun and never in silver which relates to the moon. Putting aside the complexities of these separate elements, though it's resemblance to a key gives a clue to another meaning of this magical symbol. The Egyptians believe that the afterlife was as meaningful as the present one and the Ankh provided the key to the gates of death and what lay beyond and into the great unknown, an inevitable journey that was feared by everyone. Some researchers and theosophists claim that it actually came from even more ancient times from the lost civilizations of the world from before the cataclysmic flood epic as foretold in many religious teachings. So the cross of the Ankh can be seen as a symbol to hundreds of generations of mysticism and as a secret code that transmits sacred knowledge to all who can penetrate its deep symbolism, those who have the key to understanding the sacred metaphors. The dynastic Egyptians portrayed the mysterious cross on their amulets to prolong life on earth. Egyptians buried their dead with such an amulet to make sure that the dead were waiting for a life in another world because they were convinced that the key that opened the gates to heaven looked exactly like the cross of the Ankh. For this reason the cross of the Ankh was an essential item of the gods and pharaohs. The guardian of the body would place the Ankh key into the pharaoh's mouth which meant that the key must be inside the person because it is connected to breathing. The cross of the Ankh even its form resembles a key and on the level of symbolism it is. It means an instrument which allows you to penetrate beyond the normal human perception so the mystics considered it the key to the gates of paradise. So ancient mystics believed the cross of the Ankh elevated the human to the superhuman to the divine. Those who were initiated into the world of the mystics had to pass through various tests while holding the Ankh on top of their head in order to dispel negative energies. Some say the Ankh is actually a mirror, a magical mirror that could look into other worlds but it is most popularly the representation of something that did physically exist at one point and that has been lost along the way. The association with the mirror was no chance occurrence. The Egyptians believed that the afterlife was a mirror image of life on earth and mirrors were thought to contain magical properties. During the festival of the lanterns of the goddess Nath all of Egypt would burn oil lamps through the night to reflect the stars of the sky and create a mirror image of the heavens on earth. This was done to help part the veil between the living and the dead so one could speak to those friends and loved ones who had passed on to paradise in the fields of reeds. Mirrors were often used for divination purposes from the middle kingdom onwards. Magical symbols frequently stray across into other cultures despite their origins and the Ankh is no exception because it symbolizes immortality and the universe. It was initially borrowed by the 4th century Coptic Christians who used it as a symbol to reinforce Christ's message that there is life after death. The fact it is depicted in reliefs and in hieroglyphics shows that whatever it was it made the beholder more powerful than they were before. What do you guys think about this anyway? Comments below and as always thank you for watching.