Nov 22, 2009

THE ANKH AS A SYMBOL OF ETERNAL LIFE. IN MEMORIAM


Las Justas del Madrigal wants to join the sorrow of Mrs. Florence Temko's family and the whole origami community for her pass away, last November 13th in her house at La Jolla, California. Mrs. Temko dedicated her whole life to the spreading pf the origami all around United States of America and her models, that are hundreds of them fill a big bibliography. In her web page you could leave a message for her family but also her spectacular pieces of art:
http://bloominxpressions.com/origami.htm

Nicolas Gajardo from Chile has dedicated her his model named The Ankh and I dedicate her the following article about the meaning of the Ankh.

The Ankh(ˁnḫ)

Essentially the Ankh is a very ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs shown in many of their artistic expressions, both in the decoration of the burial chambers as in the papyri, especially in the Book of the Dead that has been preserved till our days.




The Ankh hieroglyph meaning "life" and more specifically the "life after death." It is why the gods are shown carrying the ankh in their hands, thus indicating his power over life and death, and their control over the lives of human beings.



The ankh represents the human desire for immortality and while this was restricted to the pharaohs, during the New Kingdom the religious concept was extend to all Egyptians, as is indicated in the Book of the Dead.



The Ankh appears in many of the names of the pharaohs and, undoubtedly, the best known is the case of Tut-Ankh-Amun with the meaning of "Living Image of Amun".

This image shows a highly stylized Ankh with the sophisticated art of this pharaoh.
Because of its link with the eternal life, the Ankh was taken as a symbol by the Egyptian Christian churches, especially the Coptic church.



Many other meanings have been given to the Ankh, but for the purpose of these jousting this little article helps us to insert ourselves in Ancient Egypt.p>

Eric Madrigal

Herald.

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