ankh

=Ankh= Also known as **key of life**, **the key of the Nile** or **crux ansata**, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life".The //ankh// may represent the life-giving elements of air and water. It was often shown being offered to the king's lips as a symbol of the "breath of life." Anthropomorphic pictures of the //ankh// sometimes show it holding an ostrich-feather fan behind the pharaoh in a variant form of this idea. Similarly, chains of ankhs were shown poured out of water vessels over the king as a symbol of the regenerating power of water. Libation vessels which held the water used in religious ceremonies were themselves sometimes produced in the shape of the //ankh// hieroglyph. Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest.