The ankh, also known as crux ansata (Latin for “cross with a handle”) is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic ideograph, meaning "life". Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. The ankh appears in hand or in proximity of almost every deity of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, including Pharaohs. The symbol was so prevalent that it has been found in digs as far as Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, and on the seal of the biblical king Hezekiah. Coptic Christians preserved the shape of the ankh by sometimes representing the Christian cross with a circle in place of the upper bar. This is known as the Coptic ankh or crux ansata.