Ankhs In Popular Culture
The ankh symbol is used often in popular culture, throughout various mediums of entertainment, whether in music, literature, media, for example. The emergence of the ankh into pop-culture, some believe, the cause of a film; The Egyptian. The Egyptian premiered in 1954, directed and produced by Michael Curtiz and Darryl F. Zanuck. The film is loosely based on The Story of Sinuhe, an ancient Egyptian piece of literature, basically covering the theoretically fictional aftermath of the death of Pharaoh Amenemhat I, founder of the 12th dynasty of Egypt. The ankh is used throughout the film as jewelry, in artwork, and portrayed as being the “cross of life.” In the film, the ankh is used as a significant symbol for the cult of Atenism that has proto-Christian ideals. This bears some resemblance to the adoption of the ankh by the early Christian churches in Egypt. The film brought the ankh into culture, and afterwards, it began popping up all over the place, in different subcultures, or jewelry, sometimes with a widely accepted symbolism, and to some other with just a personal significance.
The ankh has also been used in social subcultural movements as well, in representation of life and immortality such as the Goth and Hippie subcultures. The ankh also appears to have significance to Neopagan religions and rituals as well. Movies, such as Logan’s Run, or The Hunger contained the ankh symbol, also comic books, such as the very popular Sandman graphic novels. Bands and singers such as Kiss, Elvis Presley, The 69 Eyes, Nile (band), Iced Earth, Earth, Wind and Fire all use the ankh symbol in different ways. The former lead guitarist of KISS, Vinnie Vincent used to paint his face with the symbol of ankh, which was actually inspired by another performer, Paul Stanley. Ankhs are also featured in television shows, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! as well as several popular video games, like Tomb Raider, Ultima, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Ankh. The ankh is also a popular tattoo motif; whether or not it’s been elaborately re-drawn, and concepts added. For example the tattoos of professional wrestlers like Christopher Daniels and Edge, or the neo-soul diva Erykah Badu.