The Ankh is one of the most important, enduring and popular symbols of the ancient world. The word means “life” in the language of the Nile region. Ankhs were carried as amulets against sickness, danger and death. Ankhs were used in Egyptian art in all sorts of ways. Pictures of the sun were made with ankhs at the end of the sunbeams. Ankhs were combined with scarabs, pictures of the Gods, and were made into household objects, some of which survive up to this day. Tutankhamen’s tomb held a box in the shape of an ankh . The Ankh was life, and all invocations, prayers, and ceremonies used the ankh to lend power to their thoughts. Thoughts that were intended to heal , nurture and protect. The meanings of the ankh are too numerous to be summed up; but one thing is certain: the ankh is one of the oldest symbols in the world, and time only seems to increase its popularity.