Crux Ansata depicting male and female genitalia (engraving)

cross with 4 phalli grouped around a circle of vulvae; object found at Sant' Agata de' Goti, near Naples; of uncertain date but from the Christian era, the crux ansata is a symbol originally found in Egypt and is also known as an 'ankh' or 'key of life'; the manufacture in gold indicates that probably it was made for a person of high rank, perhaps an ecclesiastic, and is connected with priapic ceremonies or festivities; illustration from 'The Worship of Priapus' by Richard Payne Knight (1750-1820) published in 1786 for the Dilettanti Society and reprinted with additions in 1865;