Human life takes place in a world of symbols. They accompany us from the vest, embroidered with amulets, to the cross and candles on the grave. Emblems and signs are present in our holidays and traditions, in art and religion. The first symbols were known to ancient civilizations, but even today their significance is difficult to overestimate.
The religion of the ancient Egyptians was a complex ramified system of deities that could be embodied in different forms. The symbols of Egypt are far from being as simple as it seems to souvenir sellers. In the article we will dwell in more detail on one of the most important signs of ancient civilization.
Egyptian cross
The basis of the religious beliefs of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt was the belief in the victory over death, resurrection and rebirth for eternal life. Priests used special images to indicate divine truths. The hieroglyph Ankh - the Egyptian cross became a symbol of eternal life, immortality.
It should be noted that Egyptologists can interpret the meaning of the ancient sign in different ways. The main interpretations are as follows:
- A symbol is a combination of two ancient signs - a circle (personification of eternity) and a cross (personification of life).
- Ankh symbolizes Egypt (the oval is the Nile Delta, the cross is the river itself, giving life to the inhabitants of the country).
- A cross with a loop means the unity of opposites, the union of heaven and earth, water and air, life and death, the union of the male (Osiris 'cross) and the female (Isis' oval) principles leading to the birth of a new life.
- The Egyptian cross is a symbol of the rising sun, the birth of a new day.
- Ankh is the key that opens secret knowledge, the gates of death and eternal life (in Christianity it was used as a symbol of the keys to the gates of Paradise in the hands of the Apostle Peter).
In a broad sense, the sign symbolizes life in all its manifestations: the existence of a separate individual, all of humanity, gods; birth of a child; resurrection and life after death; immortality. Hence the widespread use of Ankh in art, magic, rituals, everyday life. To promote health and longevity, to protect against natural disasters, the Egyptian cross was painted on amulets and temples, placed on the walls of irrigation canals.
In various images, the gods held the "key of the Nile" in their right hand or in their mouths, often held it out to people, as if "blowing" a particle of a divine spark, eternal life. According to the myth, Isis used the Ankh to make the “glued” of pieces and the animated Osiris immortal. The crux ansata (“cross with a loop”) shape was given to jugs for liquids, offerings for the souls of the deceased (bread, lotus and papyrus bouquets). They also placed the amulet in sarcophagi so that the gods would give the deceased an afterlife.
Sorceresses and magicians at all times used the Ankh in their rituals for fortune telling, witchcraft and healing. Moreover, it is believed that his magic can be directed only to good deeds: the shape of a cross with a loop does not direct energy to people around him, but upward to God, and then downward to Earth. Thus, the acting power of the spell is the will of the Almighty, and not the thoughts of man.
It is interesting that crux ansata is also found in the culture of other peoples: a symbol of water among the North American Indians, personification of immortality among the Scandinavians, a sign of youth and freedom from physical suffering among the Mayan peoples. Incredibly, the "keys of life" are found even on the famous statues from the distant Easter Island. In the religion of the Copts (Egyptian Christians), the Ankh began to be used as a traditional Christian cross. For hippies, he symbolized peace and truth.
At the end of the twentieth century, ancient Egyptian signs suddenly became popular again. After the release of the movie “Hunger” in 1983, in which vampires hunted their victims using scissors hidden in pendants in the shape of ankhs, ancient crosses with a noose suddenly became the main attributes of the ready-made subculture. Thus, the life of old characters continues and even plays with new faces.