From the Ankh of Ancient Egypt to the Search for Meaning in 2026
In September 2023, we were walking through the Sahara Desert, a couple of hours outside Cairo. I remember my eyes struggling to adjust to the golden landscape and the direct sunlight reflecting off the sand. After a while, it felt almost blissful, as if everything around me had turned to gold. Even the 40°C heat seemed less like a burden and more like a strange source of euphoria.
In the middle of the desert lies a small oasis, complete with a lake and even tiny waterfalls. It truly felt like another world. To me, it was as if I had left Earth and arrived somewhere else.
As we crossed the lake in a small wooden canoe, dozens of birds suddenly rose from the water and shot into the sky. It was one of those moments that no photograph can fully capture. Everything seemed perfectly still one second and alive the next.
During our journey down the Nile, visiting temples, tombs, and monuments built by rulers thousands of years ago, one symbol appeared again and again: the Ankh, the ancient Egyptian “Key of Life.”
The Ankh resembles a cross with a loop at the top. It symbolized life and came to be associated with eternal existence. Ancient Egyptian art is filled with images of gods and pharaohs holding the symbol, as if they possessed the secret to life itself.
Seeing it repeatedly made me stop and think.
More than 5,000 years ago, people were already searching for answers to the same questions we ask today. What gives life meaning? What makes a life successful? What should we strive for? The Egyptians expressed their answers through a symbol, a “Key of Life” representing not only life on Earth but also life beyond death.
What struck me most was not how different they were from us, but how similar.
One day, I walked into a small jewelry shop that felt more like a traditional bazaar. Among the many souvenirs and ornaments on display was the Ankh, the ancient Key of Life. I picked one up and told our Egyptian guide:
“I’m going to buy this for a friend.”
She replied, “No. You’re going to buy it for yourself.”
When I returned home, I spent some time reading and thinking about what different societies and cultures seemed to regard as the purpose of life. While every era had its own beliefs, a few common themes stood out.
The Egyptians searched for eternal life.
Ancient Greece
What I found particularly impressive was the shift that occurred in Ancient Greece. Following a period in which many cultures looked toward gods, myths, and the afterlife, Greek philosophers turned their attention toward human life itself.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were less concerned with eternal existence and more concerned with how to live well. For them, the key to life was wisdom, virtue, and the pursuit of truth. A meaningful life was one lived with reason, self-control, and moral character.
Plato, in the Apology, records Socrates’ famous statement:
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
More than 2,000 years later, I still believe this is true. If we never stop to question our beliefs, values, and actions, are we really living consciously at all?
The Medieval World
Across much of Europe and the Middle East, faith became the dominant guiding force. Life on Earth was often viewed as preparation for something greater beyond it. Daily actions were judged not only by their consequences in this life, but also by their significance for heaven and hell.
What I find fascinating is that this followed the more rational and human-centered approach of the Greeks. Humanity seemed to swing in a completely different direction.
Instead of searching for truth through reason, many people now searched for salvation through faith. It was a remarkable evolution of what people believed the Key of Life to be.
The Industrial Era
Then came another dramatic change.
The invention of machines, the expansion of science, and the growth of industry transformed societies in ways previous generations could hardly imagine.
Suddenly, progress became the new ideal. Productivity, innovation, economic growth, and scientific breakthroughs became symbols of success. The key to life increasingly appeared to be building a better future through human ingenuity and technological advancement.
For perhaps the first time, people began to believe that tomorrow could be fundamentally better than today.
The Modern World I Get to Live In
It seems to me that every generation creates its own version of the Ankh.
Today, we live in perhaps the most extraordinary period in human history. We possess more knowledge than any generation before us. We can communicate across the planet instantly, travel almost anywhere, and access information that ancient kings could never have dreamed of.
We can each decide which key we want to hold.
For some, the key is love. For others, it is peace. Some seek happiness, success, freedom, health, or purpose.
Others believe the future lies in technological breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, or extending human life itself.
So I bought that Ankh necklace for myself.
As I put it around my neck, I thought about the people who had stood where I was standing more than 5,000 years ago. They looked at the same Nile, walked under the same sun, and dreamed of eternity.
In a way, I suppose I was searching for the same thing.
I guess I also wanted eternity in some way.
Maybe that is why I ended up writing this article.
After all this time, perhaps we are still asking the same question:
What is the Key of Life?
