n=the circuiteer; (4) by a stone=aner, also by
hair=anem; (5) by two arms spread outwards, recalling the position of the
front legs of quadrupeds; (6) by a spear whose shaft is inserted in a
double stand; which sign recurs in the name of the city Annu, expressed by
the an=spear, the vase=nu and the nut determinative for city or capital
(7). It is extremely interesting to compare, at this point, the Greek
polus=a pole or axis, and polis=city or capital, and to realize that, in
Egypt and Greece alike, the names for capital are associated with the idea
of centrifugal power and rule.

The signification of all the above "an" signs becomes intensified when it
is realized that they conveyed also the first two letters of the word
ankh=life, which was usually expressed by the familiar symbol expressing
the union of the dualities of nature (8).

[Illustration.]

Figure 68.

Amongst the many surprises received during the course of this
investigation, few have given me as much satisfaction and light, as the
observation of the fact that the Egyptian name for flower, ankh (9), was
the same as that for "life." The full significance of the lotus blossom as
a symbol became clear to me, and my attention having been called by a
friend to Mr. William H. Goodyear's admirable work "The Grammar of the
Lotus," London, 1891, I was able to obtain from it the series of Egyptian
symbols which I now present and shall proceed to interpret according to
the method set forth in the preceding pages. The interesting observation
was by Mr. Goodyear that "the ankh was the exact counterpart of the lotus
as regards solar association" and in his work, on pl. LXV and elsewhere,
this close observer publishes several instances illustrating this view. Of
these I reproduce but two, which suffice, feeling convinced that Mr.
Goodyear will be as interested as I was to hear that the ankh and lotus
were homonyms of ankh=life. This fact of itself fully explains why the
lotus flower was employed by the ancient Egyptians, as Mr. Goodyear
states, as the "symbol of life, immortality and of renaissance and
resurrection and of fecundity."

[Illustration.]

Figure 69.

In fig. 69, 1, two (ka) fishes (khepanen or an) hold the lotus, ankh, and
thus constitute a sacred rebus, the profound meaning of which can be
surmised by studying the preceding pa