Ankh

"This cross is like a key which allowed a traveler to pass through the Gates of Eternity."

―Lucius telling his son Aquilus about the Ankh, 259 CE.

The Ankh is an artifact believed to be a Piece of Eden, though recent research by Abstergo Industries disputes its authenticity. It was said to have the capability of healing the sick, and temporarily resurrecting the dead. It would also act as a recording device, storing the mannerisms of a living person and being able to return those mannerisms to a corpse.

Initially used by the Egyptian goddess Isis to resurrect her husband Osiris and to help Egyptian pharaohs, the Ankh was later transported to Europe after having been looted from a pyramid. There, during the 3rd century, the artifact was discovered by the Liberalis Circulum, a group of Hidden Ones operating throughout the territories of the Roman Empire. After being transported to Lugdunum, it was briefly stolen by the Order of the Ancients before being recovered by the Hidden One Aquilus. Following Aquilus' death, the Ankh was hidden by his wife Valeria.

During the Middle Ages, the Ankh was rumored to be located in Central Europe, before eventually returning to Egypt during the 19th century, in the possession of the Templar Armen Kazan. Following a skirmish with the Assassins, Kazan's fellow Templar Art Hennighan managed to escape with the Ankh to Paris, though the artifact would be lost again when the Assassin Simeon Price killed the Templar Lebrun, who had been tasked with smuggling it out of the city.

By 2014, the Ankh was rumored to be located in Essen, Germany. The Templar Juhani Otso Berg traveled there to search for it but without any reliable evidence of its existence, he and Violet da Costa dismissed the stories of the Ankh as a hoax perpetuated by the Assassins to send them on a wild goose chase.

Owners

• Isu
• Isis (until c. 75,000 BCE)
• Roman looters (1st century CE)
• Slave trader (1st century CE)
• Lugos (2nd century CE)
• Accipiter (259 CE)
• Aquilus (259 CE)
• Lucius (259 CE)
• Caïus Fulvus Vultur (259 CE)
• Aquilus (259 CE)
• Valeria (259 CE)
• Helena Blavatsky (1868)
• Armen Kazan (1869)
• Art Hennighan (November 1869 – September 1870)
• Lebrun (September 1870)

History

Egypt

The Ankh was originally owned by the Isu Isis, who used its mystical powers to protect the kings of Egypt from harm. After Osiris was murdered by his brother Set, Isis used the Ankh to resurrect him for one more night of intimacy; an act that led to the conception of Isis' son, Horus.

Roman Empire

During the mid-1st century, the Ankh was recovered from a pyramid by Roman looters, who sold it to a slave trader. The Ankh switched hands many times until it ended up in the possession of the Hidden One Lugos, one of the founders of the Liberalis Circulum, during the mid-2nd century. Lugos also managed to retrieve the Scepter of Aset, but while attempting to transport both artifacts back to Rome across the Mediterranean Sea, a storm caused his ship to sink. Before his demise, Lugos recorded a message with the Ankh, detailing the ongoing events and lamenting the failure of his mission.

By 259, the Ankh had somehow ended up in Germania, where it was discovered by Accipiter, an Alemanni general and member of the Liberalis Circulum. He later passed it on to his cousin Aquilus, who brought it back home in Lugdunum and gave it to his father Lucius for safekeeping. Lucius locked the artifact in a box, but that very same day, he was killed by his associate Caïus Fulvus Vultur, a secret Order of the Ancients member, who stole the Ankh for himself.

Valeria holding the Ankh

Aquilus eventually retook the Ankh from Vultur when he assassinated him in Rome. Later, while Aquilus was studying the Ankh with his wife Valeria, they were arrested by Roman soldiers, who took the Ankh from the couple. After an assault on the convoy by Accipiter, Valeria was able to reclaim the Ankh from one of the dead soldiers, though the attack resulted in Aquilus' death. At Accipiter's request, Valeria took the Ankh with her and hid it somewhere safe, due to Accipiter being in the middle of a war and thus unable to look after the artifact.

Germany

During the 14th century, a Templar organization called the Brothers of the Cross traveled across Europe to offer protection from the Black Death. The German Assassin Lukas Zurburg suspected them to be after the Ankh, which was rumored to be located in Central Europe at the time. In 1350, the Brothers of the Cross and Lukas both inexplicably disappeared.

19th century

By 1868, the Ankh had ended up in the hands of the Russian mystic and author Helena Blavatsky. That year, Blavatsky met the British Assassin Simeon Price via an out-of-work opera singer who had attached himself to Blavatsky. Desperate for money, Blavatsky sought to offer her mystic services to Simeon, claiming to have knowledge of the Assassin's prior return of a stolen heirloom to a family, and offered to help him locate things through her supposed connection to the spirit realm. She also offered to give him the Ankh but the next day, Helena's face went white when Simeon mentioned the artifact as someone had stolen it from her.

In 1869, the Ankh was in the possession of the Templar Armen Kazan, who led a group of fellow Templars into a cave at the end of a railroad line made by late Templar Albert Hawkins. Finding a slab matching the Ankh's size, Kazan placed it inside and waited for the artifact to activate. However, Kazan and most of the Templars were killed by the Assassin Pierrette Arnaud, who was subdued and restrained by her former captor Art Hennighan. As Pierrette's fellow Assassins Gamal Sabry, Safiya El-Nadi, and her mentor Simeon Price came to her aid, the Ankh was activated and caused one of the pictures on the cave's wall, that of a horse, to come alive and almost run over Pierrette, Hennighan and Simeon.

After their brief quarrel, Hennighan escaped from the Assassins' grasp, took the Ankh, and chased after the horse. After injuring it, Hennighan grabbed ahold of the horse, restrained it, and escaped with both the horse and the Ankh. By 1870, Hennighan had made his way to Paris and found refuge with French Templar Virgile Donat. However, their plans to use the Ankh with the Engine of History were delayed by the war between France and Prussia. At some point, Hennighan left the Ankh with fellow Templar Lebrun while he fled with other Templars to Tours.

At the advice of Hennighan's former lady, the Austrian Templar and Countess Konstanze von Visler later contacted the French Templar Victoire L'Estocq to tell them to smuggle the Ankh out of Paris as soon as possible. While attempting to flee the city with the artifact via air ballon, Lebrun was killed by Simeon Price, though in the process both the Templar and the Ankh fell from the basket of the air balloon. By 1871, Lebrun's body had been recovered, but the Ankh was nowhere to be found.

Trivia

• The Ankh, also known as the Key of Life or Crux Ansata, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph representing "eternal life". It was often worn by Egyptian gods and pharaohs.
• The Ankh was said to carry the Mark of the Messenger inscribed on it.
• Although the semi-canonical Assassin's Creed comics published by Les Deux Royaumes showed the Ankh emitting a golden light when projecting holographic messages, Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot describes the artifact as emitting a blue artificial light when bringing the horse cave painting to life. This is one of the few instances in the franchise when an artifact is illuminated with a different color than the usual golden associated with Pieces of Eden.

Gallery

• 
  The Ankh and its powers
• 
  Aquilus speaking with his father
• 
  Lucius speaking through the Ankh
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  Vultur attacking Aquilus with the Ankh
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  The Ankh alongside an Apple and a Sword of Eden
• 
  The Ankh among other Pieces of Eden (on the right)

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Discover Your Legacy (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Unity (cameo)
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple (cameo)