ꜥnḫ

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑːnx/
  • Conventional anglicization: ankh

For the verb:

For the noun ‘oath’:

 3-lit.

1. (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) kꜣ

     Look, the god, he has let you live, as he has brought you to this island of the ka.

   1. (+ m) to subsist or live on (something)
   2. (+ m) to dwell in (some place)
   3. (+ ḥr) to occupy (a throne) or dwell in (a foreign land)
2. (intransitive, of the dead) to come to life or live again after death in an afterlife
3. (intransitive, figuratively) to ‘come to life’ (wake up or regain liveliness) upon the rising of the sun or upon seeing the sun
4. (intransitive, figuratively) to ‘come to life’ whenever one’s name is pronounced
5. (intransitive, of a name) to still be remembered
6. (intransitive, especially of body parts) to be vigorous or full of vitality
7. (intransitive, medicine, of food) to be fresh
8. (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]
9. used at the beginning of inscriptions before the names of kings and gods: originally ‘May … live’, later meaningless [meaningless since the 18th Dynasty]

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

 m

1. life (the state of being alive)

 m

1. 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 […]

 m

1. 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:
   1. A sandal strap
   2. An elaborate amuletic bow or knot
   3. A sort of tied belt
2. ankh (symbol of life)

• → English: ankh

 m

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

• Coptic:
  • Sahidic and Bohairic: ⲁⲛⲁϣ (anaš)
  • Akhmimic: ⲁⲛⲁⳉ (anax)

 3-lit.

1. (intransitive) to swear (an oath); (with m) to swear by (someone) [18th Dynasty]

 m

1. prisoner of war [18th Dynasty]

 m

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

 m

1. a kind of beetle [Pyramid Texts]
2. an epithet of the sun [Greco-Roman Period]

 m

1. an epithet of the inundation [Greco-Roman Period]

 m

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

 m

1. mirror [since the Middle Kingdom]
   • c. 1295 BCE – 1186 BCE, The Admonitions of Ipuwer (pLeiden I 344 Recto) line 8.5:[2]

     m.tn jwtt {m} pdsw.s m nbt ꜣtp gmḥt ḥr.s m mw m nbt ꜥnḫ

     Look, 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.

 m

1. a vessel in the form of an ankh, from which the gods pour life

 m

1. a door leaf [Greco-Roman Period]

 m

1. a kind of document [20th Dynasty]

 m

1. sustenance, livelihood [since the 18th Dynasty]

 m

1. billy-goat^? [19th Dynasty]

• 𓋹

• Faulkner, Raymond (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, page 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.