THE STORY BEHIND ANKH

THE STORY BEHIND ANKH

THE NAME OF THE FRAGRANCE

The Ankh symbol was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that stood for “life”. The gods of Egypt were often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. Its other names include the Egyptian Cross, the key of life, or “handled cross” from the Latin crux ansata.

Ankh is based on the known formula of Kyphi, the thrice-burnt incense of Egypt. It was fired at dawn to welcome the sun God Amen, at midday to mark its highest point and at eventide to remind the sun god to return.

In ancient times perfumes and incense, which energised people, were known as “givers of life”. So it is appropriate that this fine fragrance based on the best of Egyptian formulae and found on the walls of the appropriately named Laboratory Room located in the Temple’s Great Hall at Edfu (between Aswan and Luxor), should be named Ankh.

The Greek historian Plutarch mentions in one of his books that Egyptian priests burned incense three times a day; Frankincense at dawn, myrrh at mid-day, and Kyphi at dusk. Others claim that Kyphi was the only incense sacred to the sun.”

COLOUR

The Golden colour of the pack reflects the treasure mask of Tutankhamen.

“The incense comes, the incense comes, the scent is over thee, the scent of the eye of Horus is over thee, the perfume of the goddess Nekbet. Which comes forth from the town of Nekheb It cleanses thee, it adorns thee, It makes its place upon thy two hands. Hail to thee oh incense! Take to thyself the eye of Horus. Its perfume is over thee”

All life is grass, and the sun is the giver of life to our planet. It seems appropriate therefore that this fragrance, based as it is on the plant life of Earth, bears Ankh as its name.

HOW ANKH WAS REDISCOVERED AND RE-CREATED

The death of the young king Tutankhamen has always remained a mystery, and conspiracy theories abound. These were further compounded by what happened to his widow, who wrote to the Hittite King Suppiluliuma for help after Tutankhamen’s early demise;

“I am Ankesenamen, wife of Tutankhamen. Pharaoh of Egypt, which you call the land of Misra. My husband is dead and I have no son. People tell me that you have many sons. If you send me one of your sons he will become my husband, for it is repugnant to me to take one of my servants as my husband. Please respond with haste, as time is of the essence. It is two moons to my husband’s entombment. I am very much afraid”

And after some time…

“I am Ankesenamen, wife of Tutankhamen. Why do you say “They are deceiving me?” If I had a son would I write to a foreigner to publish my distress and that of my country? You have insulted me by speaking thus. My husband is dead and being readied for burial. I have no son. I will never take one of my subjects and marry him. I have written to no one but you. Everyone says you have many sons; give me one of them that he may become my husband.”

The prince – son whom Suppiluliuma eventually sent was murdered at the frontier and Ankesenamen was seemingly forced to marry Ay, a high official of the Egyptian court.

On November 1, 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter’s team began digging for his final season in the Valley of the Kings and three days later unearthed the staircase to Tutankhamen’s tomb. After excavation down to the plaster blocks of the tomb, at four in the afternoon on November 26, 1922, Howard Carter broke through and saw “wondrous things.”

The treasure of Tutankhamen had been discovered after centuries, but some of the boy-king’s most precious treasures had already been taken. Here are Carter’s own words from his diary: “The oils and unctuous materials were stored in thirty-four alabaster (calcite) vessels and one of serpentine, which are remarkable for their diversified shapes and sizes. The ten alabaster jars of similar kind found lying on the floor in the antechamber, emptied and abandoned, in all probability came from this hoard in the annexe. With rare exception the lids and stoppers of all these vessels had been forcibly removed, thrown aside, and their contents poured out and stolen, leaving but a small amount of residue in each vessel. On the inner walls of some of the vessels that contained viscous substances, the finger marks of the predatory hand that scooped out the precious material are as clear today as when the theft was perpetrated…….

……..when the metal robbers made their first incursion, it is evident that they crept under the Theuris-couch in the Antechamber, forced their way through the sealed doorway of the annexe, ransacked its entire contents for portable metal objects, and were, no doubt, responsible for a great deal of the disorder found in that chamber.

Subsequently – it is impossible to say when – a second robbery took place. The objective in this case was the costly oils and unguents contained in the alabaster jars. This last robbery had been carefully thought out. The stone vessels being far too heavy and cumbersome to carry away bodily, the thieves came provided with more convenient receptacles, such as leather bags or water skins, to take away the spoil. There was not a stopper of a jar that had not been removed, nor a jar that had not been emptied. On the interior walls of some of the vessels that contained viscous ointments, the fingermarks of the thieves are visible today.”

But in their hurry to melt into the night with their hoard, thieves dropped some of the incense and unguents, where they were duly found and catalogued by Carter 32 (t) Four incense balls. These were about 2.2 in diameter. Probably made of a paste of gum resin. Burns freely with smoky flame and gives out pleasant aromatic odour. Yellowish in colour.

Analysis

A few tiny fragments from a broken ball were tested in the preliminary way that alone was possible with such a small amount of material. The material was of a yellowish-brown colour, brittle, slightly resinous-looking, burned with a smoky flame and gave out a pleasant aromatic odour. Solubility in alcohol = 83% approx. and in water after alcohol 21% approx. It was therefore a gum-resin and hence could not be either Labdanum or Storax; from the colour it was probably not myrrh and altogether was suggestive of frankincense.

The incense balls from over three thousand years ago are now in the Egyptian museum in Cairo, and their formulae form the basis of the male scent Ankh.