# ꜥnḫ
## Egyptian
### Pronunciation

* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /ɑːnx/
** Conventional anglicization: ankh
* (verb): (reconstructed) IPA: /ˈʕaːnaχ/ → /ˈʕaːnaχ/ → /ˈʕaːnəχ/ → /ˈʕoːnəχ/
* (verb): (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ˈʕaːnaχ/ (infinitive)
* (verb): (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ˈʕaːnaχ/ (infinitive)
* (verb): (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /ˈʕaːnəχ/ (infinitive)
* (verb): (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ˈʕoːnəχ/ (infinitive)
* (noun meaning ‘oath’): (reconstructed) IPA: /ʕaˈnaχ/ → /ʕaˈnaχ/ → /ʕaˈnaχ/ → /ʕaˈnaχ/
* (noun meaning ‘oath’): (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ʕaˈnaχ/
* (noun meaning ‘oath’): (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ʕaˈnaχ/
* (noun meaning ‘oath’): (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /ʕaˈnaχ/
* (noun meaning ‘oath’): (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ʕaˈnaχ/

### Verb

3-lit.
* (intransitive) to live, to be(come) alive
** c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 113–114: m.k nṯr rḏj.n.f ꜥnḫ.k jn.f tw r jw pn n(j) kꜣLook, the god, he has let you live, as he has brought you to this island of the ka.
** (+ m) to subsist or live on (something)
** (+ m) to dwell in (some place)
** (+ ḥr) to occupy (a throne) or dwell in (a foreign land)
* (intransitive, of the dead) to come to life or live again after death in an afterlife
* (intransitive, figuratively) to ‘come to life’ (wake up or regain liveliness) upon the rising of the sun or upon seeing the sun
* (intransitive, figuratively) to ‘come to life’ whenever one’s name is pronounced
* (intransitive, of a name) to still be remembered
* (intransitive, especially of body parts) to be vigorous or full of vitality
* (intransitive, medicine, of food) to be fresh
* (intransitive, as a non-attributive relative/emphatic form) used in introductory formulae for oaths, usually with a king or god as subject: As long as … lives, … [since the Old Kingdom]
* used at the beginning of inscriptions before the names of kings and gods: originally ‘May … live’, later meaningless [meaningless since the 18th Dynasty]

#### Alternative forms

| ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ |
| | | [New Kingdom] | [Late Period, Greco-Roman Period] | [Late Period, Greco-Roman Period] |
| | when used at the start of inscriptions/before divine/royal names |

#### Derived terms

* jmj ꜥnḫk
* jḫt nbt ꜥnḫt
* jtn ꜥnḫ
* ꜥnḫ.s-n-jmn
* ꜥnḫ.tj
* ꜥnḫ.tj ḏt
* ꜥnḫj
* ꜥnḫj mrj wj rꜥ
* ꜥnḫj nj ꜥnḫk nj
* ꜥnḫ wꜣs
* ꜥnḫ wꜣs snb
* ꜥnḫ wḏꜣ snb
* ꜥnḫ mj rꜥ
* ꜥnḫ m whm
* ꜥnḫ mswt
* ꜥnḫ msḫꜥ
* ꜥnḫ nj
* ꜥnḫ nj mrj wj rꜥ
* ꜥnḫ-n-nwt
* ꜥnḫ ḥtp
* ꜥnḫ snb
* ꜥnḫ ḏt
* ꜥnḫ ḏt mj rꜥ
* ꜥnḫ ḏd
* ꜥnḫ ḏd wꜣs
* whm ꜥnḫ
* bꜣ ꜥnḫ
* ḥꜥ ꜥnḫ
* ḥtp m ꜥnḫ
* sꜥnḫ
* snb.t ꜥnḫ.t
* sḫm-ꜥnḫ-jmn
* sqr ꜥnḫ
* kꜣ nswt ꜥnḫ
* twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn
* twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn-ḥqꜣ-jwnw-šmꜥw
* twt-ꜥnḫ-jtn

#### Descendants

* Demotic: ꜥnḫ
** Akhmimic Coptic: ⲱⲛⳉ (ōnx)
** Bohairic Coptic: ⲱⲛϧ (ōnx)
** Fayyumic Coptic: ⲱⲛϩ (ōnh)
** Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲱⲛϩ (ōnh)
** Coptic Dialect P: ⲱⲳϧ (ōnx)
** Sahidic Coptic: ⲱⲛϩ (ōnh)

### Noun

m
* life (the state of being alive)

#### Derived terms

* jrj ꜥnḫ
* ꜥnḫ-jmj
* ꜥnḫ-wꜣs
* ꜥnḫ mrr
* ꜥnḫ-nṯr
* ꜥnḫ-tꜣwj
* wḏꜣ n ꜥnḫ
* pr-ꜥnḫ
* mr.s-ꜥnḫ
* nb-ꜥnḫ
* nbt-ꜥnḫ
* ḫt n ꜥnḫ
* ḏj ꜥnḫ
* ḏj ꜥnḫ ḏd wꜣs

### Noun

m
* someone who lives, a living person or dweller
** c. 13th Dynasty, Naos of Hori, Kunsthistorisches Museum 186, Vienna:
    j ꜥnḫw tp(j)w tꜣ ẖrw-ḥbt nb wꜥbw nb […]O living ones upon the earth, all lector-priests, all temple-cleaners […]

#### Alternative forms

ꜥnḫ :

#### Derived terms

* ꜥnḫj
* ꜥnḫw tpjw tꜣ
* ꜥnḫ n mšꜥ
* ꜥnḫ n nwt
* ꜥnḫ n ḫꜣ tpj
* ꜥnḫ n ṯt ḥqꜣ
* ꜥnḫt
* ꜥnḫt n nwt
* pr n ꜥnḫw
* nꜣ n ꜥnḫw
* nwt nt ꜥnḫw
* tꜣ n ꜥnḫw

### Noun

m
* The meaning of this term is uncertain. It is a piece of equipment illustrated among coffin offerings, at the foot end of the mummy, and depicted in the hieroglyph used to write its name. Possibilities include:
** A sandal strap
** An elaborate amuletic bow or knot
** A sort of tied belt
* ankh (symbol of life)

#### Alternative forms

ꜥnḫ :

#### Descendants

* → English: ankh

### Noun

m
* (usually with pꜣ in Late Egyptian) oath, vow [since the Middle Kingdom]

#### Alternative forms

| ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ |

#### Derived terms

* jnj ꜥnḫ
* jrj ꜥnḫ n nb
* ꜥnḫ n nb
* ꜥnḫ nṯr
* rdj ꜥnḫ n nb
* ḏd ꜥnḫ

#### Descendants

* Akhmimic Coptic: ⲁⲛⲁⳉ (anax)
* Bohairic Coptic: ⲁⲛⲁϣ (anaš)
* Sahidic Coptic: ⲁⲛⲁϣ (anaš)
* Fayyumic Coptic: ⲁⲛⲉϣ (aneš), ⲁⲛⲏϣ (anēš)

### Verb

3-lit.
* (intransitive) to swear (an oath); (with m) to swear by (someone) [18th Dynasty]

#### Inflection
### Noun

m
* prisoner of war [18th Dynasty]

#### Inflection
### Noun

m
* bouquet or garland of flowers, typically as an offering [since the 18th Dynasty]

#### Alternative forms

| ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ |

### Noun

m
* a kind of beetle [Pyramid Texts]
* an epithet of the sun [Greco-Roman Period]

#### Alternative forms

| ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ |
| [Old Kingdom] |

### Noun

m
* an epithet of the inundation [Greco-Roman Period]

#### Inflection
### Noun

m
* The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: [Middle Kingdom]
** alabaster
** something made from alabaster

#### Inflection
### Noun

m
* mirror [since the Middle Kingdom]
** c. 1295 BCE – 1186 BCE, The Admonitions of Ipuwer (pLeiden I 344 Recto) line 8.5: m.tn jwtt {m} pdsw.s m nbt ꜣtp gmḥt ḥr.s m mw m nbt ꜥnḫLook, she who had no box is the owner of a chest; she who observed her face in the water is the owner of a mirror.

#### Alternative forms

| ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ | ꜥnḫ |
| [Middle Kingdom] | [Middle Kingdom] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] |

#### Derived terms

* ꜥnḫ n mꜣꜣ ḥr

### Noun

m
* a vessel in the form of an ankh, from which the gods pour life

#### Inflection
### Noun

m
* a door leaf [Greco-Roman Period]

#### Inflection
### Noun

m
* a kind of document [20th Dynasty]

#### Inflection
### Noun

m
* sustenance, livelihood [since the 18th Dynasty]

#### Alternative forms

ꜥnḫ :

### Noun

m
* billy-goat$^?$ [19th Dynasty]

#### Derived terms

* ꜥnḫt
* nꜣ ꜥnḫ

### See also

* 𓋹

### References

* Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
* Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 193.2–201.4, 202.3–203.5, 204.2–204.5, 204.7–204.17, 205.8, 205.13–205.14
* Atiya, Aziz Suryal, editor (1991), “Protodialect”, in The Coptic Encyclopedia‎, New York: Macmillan, →ISBN
* James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 386.
* ↑ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 58
* ↑ Gardiner, Alan (1909) The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage from a Hieratic Papyrus in Leiden (Pap. Leiden 344 Recto), page 62 and plate 8