December 30, 2022

Where did Ankh originate ?

We do not know the exact origin of the Ankh cross.

It was used by the Egyptians from the beginning of the dynastic period from 3150 to 2613 B.C. It accompanied all ritual ceremonies and served as a protective talisman.

The appearance of the Ankh cross

It is certain that the ânkh sign appeared as early as the 1st dynasty: a palette preserved in New York and in the shape of an ânkh cross proves it. It dates from the reign of King Den.

Under Pharaoh Sahure, the cross is found in the hands of a genie from the province of Coptos. This scene is illustrated in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York.

In the reliefs of the funerary temple of Sahure in Abusir (south of Cairo), a spirit wears several ânkh crosses on his forearm and his body is covered with undulations symbolizing water, the flood of the Nile.

The annealed cross could therefore be a "charm", a symbol to facilitate vegetation, agrarian renewal (at each flood, editor's note). But, for us, agrarian fertility and human fertility were very closely linked, even confused.

Original Ankh Necklace

Traces in East Africa

There is a people in the Horn of Africa whose origins go back to time immemorial. This people called AFAR estimated at more than 5 million, includes a tribe which is called ANKHALLA or ANKHALLI (which literally means who possesses the ANKH).

There are disturbing similarities between ancient Egypt and this people of semi-nomadic pastoralists, similarities detected and brought to light by some researchers without deepening the links existing between this two world.

There is reason to wonder about the relationship between the ANKH (cross of life) of ancient Egypt and this small Afar tribe of the horn.

In Afar language ANKA means a mark that is affixed to the camels to identify them, this mark has approximately the shape of a cross. Qasa Ankha = red cross, in addition, in Afar language ANKAL means creation and ANKAALE means mating of a cow.

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