The Land of the Pharaohs as I like to call Egypt is filled with incredible tales. Spanning back thousands of years, the Ancient Egyptian civilization left its mark in the history books forever.

Erecting some of the most amazing monuments on the planet, the ancient Egyptians were experts in a number of things ranging from astronomy, medicine, to engineering and writing.

Ancient Egypt’s culture is replete with mythology, and much of their history is a mixture between actually verifiable accounts, and those tucked away in myths, through which the ancient Egyptians tried explaining events that occurred and that were difficult to explain: The reasons for death, diseases, harvests, etc.

Everything we see is related in one way or another to incredible stories, mythologies, and beliefs which is precisely why the ancient Egyptians created countless of symbols through which everything was explained.

In this article, I invite you to travel through time with me, as we explore some of the most important ancient Symbols used by the Egyptian civilization thousands of years ago.

The Ankh

The ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol that was most commonly used in writing and in art to representthe word for “life” and, by extension, as a symbol of life itself. Image source: egyptianmarketplace.com

The Ankh is one of the most recognizable symbols from ancient Egypt, known as “the key of life” or the “cross of life“, and dating from the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 – 2613 BCE). It is a cross with a loop at the top sometimes ornamented with symbols or decorative flourishes but most often simply a plain gold cross. The symbol is an Egyptian hieroglyph for “life” or “breath of life” (`nh = ankh) and, as the Egyptians believed that one’s earthly journey was only part of an eternal life, the ankh symbolizes both mortal existence and the afterlife. It is one of the most ancient symbols of Egypt, often seen with the djed and was symbols, carried by a multitude of the Egyptian gods in tomb paintings and inscriptions and worn by Egyptians as an amulet.

The ankh’s association with the afterlife made it an especially potent symbol for the Coptic Christians of Egypt in the 4th century CE who took it as their own. This use of the ankh as a symbol of Christ’s promise of everlasting life through belief in his sacrifice and resurrection is most probably the origin of the Christian use of the cross as a symbol of faith today. The early Christians of Rome and elsewhere used the fertility symbol of the fish as a sign of their faith. They would not have considered using the image of the cross, a well-known form of execution, any more than someone today would choose to wear an amulet of an electric chair. The ankh, already established as a symbol of eternal life, leant itself easily to assimilation into the early Christian faith and continued as that religion‘s symbol.

The Eye Of Horus

The Eye of Horus is one of several ancient Egyptian symbols instantly recognizable as originating from that advanced civilization which has left the world so many wonders of architecture and learning. The hieroglyphic is named for the god, Horus, one of their most powerful and dominant deitie

The Eye of Horus – Origins of the Name

The origin of the Eye of Horus may be found in the myth of Set and Osiris. The ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris was the king of Egypt and that his brother, Set, desired his throne. Through trickery, Set succeeded in murdering his brother and became the new king. Osiris’ wife Isis, however, managed to bring her husband back to life temporarily through magic and became pregnant with Horus.

Horus is an ancient Egyptian God usually depicted as a falcon. Horus’ right eye was connected with the Sun God Ra.

The Sesen-Lots Flower

An Eye of Horus or Wedjat pendant. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Another ancient Egyptian symbol that represents life, creating, rebirth and the sun is the Sesen. This ancient Egyptian symbol is believed to have appeared during the Early Dynastic Period, although it became most popular from the Old Kingdom onwards. The Sesen is symbolized as a lotus flower which we see widespread in ancient Egyptian art.

The Djed

A scene on the west wall of the Osiris Hall at Abydos shows the raising of the Djed pillar. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

The djed is an ancient Egyptian symbol for stability which features prominently in Egyptian art and architecture throughout the country’s history. `Stability’ should be understood to mean not only a firm footing but immutability and permanance. The symbol is a column with a broad base which narrows as it rises to a capital and is crossed by four parallel lines. The column and the lines are sometimes brightly painted and other times monochrome. The djed first appears in the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000-3150 BCE) and continues through the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BCE), the last dynasty to rule Egyptbefore it became a province of the Roman Empire.

The djed is often overlooked in Egyptian art, and especially in architecture, simply because it is so ubiquitous; the djed is featured on pillars, tomb walls, architraves (the main beam which rests on pillars), palace walls, sheets of painted papyrus, and especially sarcophagi. Once one is aware of the djed and its importance to ancient Egyptian culture it is impossible to miss. It is a potent symbol associated with the god Osiris and his return from the dead. The symbol has been interpreted to represent different objects such as the god Osiris’ backbone, the tamarisk tree which enclosed the god, four pillars rising one behind another, and a fertility pole raised at festivals. `Stability’, however, seems to have been its prime meaning and the one which the ancient Egyptians attached the greatest importance to.

The Scarab

Scarab with Separate Wings, ca. 712-342 B.C.E., 49.28a-c, Brooklyn Museum. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Scarab was an extremely important ancient Egyptian symbol represented in the form of the dung beetle.

The symbol was associated with the divine manifestation of the morning sun Khepri, who was believed to roll the disk of the morning sun over the eastern horizon at daybreak.

The symbol of the Scarab was extremely popular in amulets and impression seals in the ancient Egyptian culture.

Reference used on this article: Britannica

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