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The ankh (pronounced 'ahnk') was the Egyptian hieroglyphic
character that stood for the word  ,
which means life. Gods may carry it by the loop, or bear one
in each hand crossed over their breast. Latinists interpreted
the symbol as a crux ansata, "cross with a handle".
What it was intended to represent remains a mystery to Egyptologists.
Some have speculated that it was a stylized womb. Sir Alan
Gardiner speculated that it represented a sandal strap, with
the loop going around the ankle. The word for sandal strap
was also spelled ,
although it may have been pronounced differently. No single
hypothesis has yet been widely accepted.
The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and
other art; it often appears at the fingertips of a god or
goddess in images that represent the deities of the afterlife
conferring the gift of life on the dead person's mummy. The
ankh symbol was often carried by Egyptians as an amulet, either
alone, or in connection with two other hieroglyphs that mean
"strength" and "health." Mirrors were
often made in the shape of an ankh. Sometimes, in art, the
Ankh was shown being touched by a god onto a person, which
usually symbolised conception.
A similar symbol 
was used to represent the Roman goddess Venus. This symbol,
known benignly as Venus' hand-mirror, is much more associated
with a representation of the female womb. In astrology the
same symbol is used to represent the planet Venus, in alchemy
to represent the element copper, and in biology to identify
the female sex.
The importance of the Ankh, and its symbolism to the Egyptians,
lead to it being adopted by the early Christian church in
Egypt (which eventually became the Coptic Church). Elsewhere,
the main christian symbol at the time was a stylised alpha,
resembling a fish, and therefore known as Ichthys, the Greek
word for fish. However, the symbol of a cross eventually spread
throughout Christianity, and the distinct circular part of
the Ankh was kept well into mediaeval times, the Ankh symbol
often being used as a Christian talisman.
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