Ankh

The ankh, the key of life, is a cross surmounted by a loop, and the hieroglyph for 'life'. In temples and tombs, Amun, Ra, Osiris, Isis, Hathor, Ptah, Anubis and Thoth hold it or raise it to the pharaoh's nose to give him the breath of life, a gift that only gods and kings could bestow upon the living. Its origin is uncertain; one theory sees a sandal strap.

It appears in names such as Tutankhamun, 'living image of Amun', and at Amarna the rays of the Aten end in hands that offer it, as in Aten and the Amarna Revolution. Egypt's Coptic Christians later adopted it as a cross.