Image has significances

Baboon (ian)
Appearance:

Only two species of primate were known in Egypt: the cercopith and the dog-faced baboon (Papio hamadryas). The latter was sacred in Egypt. Probably a native of Nubia, it was brought into Egypt in pre-dynastic times.
Baboons were very popular in Egypt, and sometimes kept as pets. Many tomb scenes show the animal led on a leash, or playing with the children of the household. It is believed that some baboons were trained by their owners to pick figs in the trees for them.
The baboon was also very admired in Egypt for its intelligence and also for its sexual lustfulness. Baboon feces was an ingredient in Egyptian aphrodisiac ointments.
Meaning:
The baboon held several positions in Egyptian mythology. The name of the baboon god Baba, who was worshipped in Pre-Dynastic times, may be the origin of the animal's name.
By the time of the Old Kingdom, the baboon was closely associated with the god of wisdom, science and measurement, Thoth. As Thoth's sacred animal, the baboon was often shown directing scribes in their task. As Thoth was a god of the moon, his baboons were often shown wearing the crescent moon on their head (as shown in the statue above). Baboons carried out Thoth's duties as the god of measurement when they were portrayed at the spout of water clocks, and on the scales which weighed the heart of the deceased in the judgement of the dead.
The baboon had several other funerary roles. Baboons were said to guard the first gate of the underworld in the Book of That Which is in the Underworld. In Chapter 155 of the Book of the Dead, four baboons were described as sitting as the corners of a pool of fire in the Afterlife. One of the Four Sons of Horus, Hapy, had the head of a baboon and protected the lungs of the deceased.
As mentioned earlier, the baboon was associated with the moon due to his connection with Thoth. However, the baboon was more often considered a solar animal by the ancient Egyptians. This may be due to the animals habit of screeching at daybreak or because of their practice of warming themselves in the early morning sun. The ancient Egyptians believed these were signs that the baboon worshipped the sun. Baboons were often portrayed in art with their arms raised in worship of the sun. They were also shown holding the Udjat, a solar symbol or shown riding in the day boat of the sun-god Re.

Adoration (dua)

Appearance: The figure shown with outstretched and upraised arms represents the pose of worship and adoration adopted by the ancient Egyptians. The gesture was made before all images of the gods as well as by people approaching the king.
In painted scenes, figures are shown in exactly the same manner as in the hieroglyph with apparently one arm held further forward than the other. However, in statues it can be seen that the correct pose is to hold both arms the same distance from the body.
Meaning: The dua hieroglyph portrayed the concept of praise, worship, adoration and respect.

AKH (akh)

The akh was depicted as a crested ibis. However, there is probably only a phonetic relationship between the bird and the concept.
Meaning:
In the world of the living, the akh most commonly referred to the "effectiveness" of kings or officials, who operated on behalf of their gods or kings (respectively). Anyone though could be akh-effective or do akhu-effective deeds. These deeds did not need to be glorious or useful, but simply concrete acts that affected eternity and helped maintain ma'at. For example, when Pharoah Senwosret I in his role as Horus, the son of Osiris, he built monuments to his divine father and made offerings. He wrote that he was "doing that which is akh-effective." Oudjahorresne performed akhu-acts for his townspeople by defending the weak, saving the troubled and protecting them as he would protect his children.
In the realm of the Afterworld, akh was the deceased who became an effective being by being supplied with all of the necessary offerings and who knew the necessary spells. One became an akh through a ritual appropriately titled, "Cause One to Become an Akh." This ritual was performed by a priest called the "akh-seeker" (skhen-akh). Those deceased who have become akhu can still act for or against the living, and exist with them in a reciprocal relationship. If the living care and maintain the deceased, the deceased can care and protect the living.


Ankh (ankh)

Appearance: The ankh is one of the most familiar of Egyptian hieroglyphs. It resembles the Christian cross, with a loop above the transverse bar. Theories on its origins are numerous and varied; ranging from sexual symbolism to the common sandal strap. Like the Knot of Isis, which it resembles, it is most likely depicts some kind of elaborate bow. Detailed representations of the ankh show that the lower section is actually comprised of two parts - the ends of the bow. Early examples of the ankh actually show the ends separated.
Originally, the ankh may have been a knot with some specific religious or mythical significance.
Meaning: While the origins of the ankh may be obscure, the meaning is certainly clear - "life". It is with this basic connotation that the sign is carried in the hands of many Egyptian deities.

The ankh may represent the life-giving elements of air and water. It was often shown being offered to the king's lips as a symbol of the "breath of life." Anthropomorphic pictures of the ankh sometimes show it holding an ostrich-feather fan behind the pharaoh in a variant form of this idea. Similarly, chains of ankhs were shown poured out of water vessels over the king as a symbol of the regenerating power of water. Libation vessels which held the water used in religious ceremonies were themselves sometimes produced in the shape of the ankh hieroglyph.
The popularity of the ankh is evident in the numerous and varied types of everyday objects which were shaped in the form of the ankh. In Tutankhamun's tomb, a gilded mirror case was found in the shape of the ankh (see above left). The artist clearly was enjoying a play on words, as the Egyptian word for "mirror" was also, "ankh." Other objects such as spoons and sistrums were constructed in this familiar shape.
The ankh was popular throughout Egyptian history and due to its cruciform shape remained so into the Coptic period. It entered Christian iconography as the crux ansata, the handled or "eyed" cross.

Ba (ba) (1)

Appearance:
The ba was always portrayed as a human-headed bird, usually a human-headed falcon. The ba bird was often shown hovering over the deceased's mummy or leaving or entering the tomb at will.
Meaning:
The word ba is usually translated as "soul" or "spirit". However, ba is probably better translated as "spiritual manifestation."
The ba is one of the specific components of the human being as understood in Egyptian thought. In the New Kingdom, the ba was a spiritual aspect of the human being which survived - or came into being - at death. It was endowed with the person's individuality and personality. The ba occasionally revisited the tomb of the deceased, for the dead body was its rightful home

How Obelisks were produced in Ancient Egypt.

The huge 'Unfinished Obelisk' in Aswan provides us with a valuable insight into how the Ancient Egyptians produced the Obelisks we see today in the historical sites within Egypt and in many places around the world. It shows us just how much hard work by skilled craftsmen it would have taken to end up with a 'Perfect' monument.

The Aswan obelisk failed, not due to anything the workmen did but to an unexpected and unseen fault in the granite they were using.
It must have been totally heart-breaking for the craftsmen to have had to abandon that particular piece of rock after all of the time and hard work they had already invested in trying to shape it, but their 'failure' teaches us valuable lessons today about the methods they used.

The 'Unfinished Obelisk' can still be seen lying in its quarry and it is detached from the rock surrounding it on all sides except its lower side. If the granite had not cracked and the obelisk had been completed as planned it would have been a magnificent monument standing at 41.75 metres high with a base of about 4.2 metres on each side and weighing 1168 tons, the heaviest single piece of stone ever handled by the ancient Egyptians.

Finding the right section of the quarry from which to obtain the perfect

piece of granite for the obelisk must have been a difficult task. Workers would move around the quarry testing the quality of the rock by making 'test shafts' in the area to be used. If the rock was considered to be good and flawless then work on carving out the obelisk would begin and the 'test shafts' would be included in the trenches made around the obelisk to detach it on the north and south from the main body of the rock.

Once the 'perfect' piece of granite had been found, the first task was to

remove the uneven surface of the rock. This was done by placing bricks on the surface which was to be removed, heating them to a hot temperature and then pouring cold water over them. This caused the surface of the rock to fracture and it could then be easily removed leaving the surface underneath reasonably smooth.
Then began the most delicate stage of work, the shaping and detachment of the two sides of the obelisk. We are not completely certain about how this was done but large balls of Dolerite, a very hard volcanic rock, each weighing about 5.5 kilograms and measuring 15 to 30 centimetres, were found near the obelisk. Countless numbers of these balls were brought from the valleys in the Eastern Desert where they occur naturally. It is believed that the balls were attached to 'rammers' and then used to strike the rock with great force in a vertically downward movement, therefore 'bashing out' the shape of the obelisk. There is evidence in the features of the trench
surrounding the obelisk that everything was rounded and without corners so it is believed that the only tools which could have produced this effect were the dolerite balls. One can imagine the scene of the workers arranged in groups of three around the outside of the obelisk, two of them standing to hold and raise the rammer and the third squatting and directing the ball to make sure that it strikes exactly the right spot.

We are not completely certain how long it would have taken to complete the work on the obelisk but on the base of another obelisk still standing in Karnak Temple, Queen Hatshepsut recorded that it was quarried and completed within seven months.

If the Unfinished obelisk had been flawless and therefore completed the lower side would have been detached from the main body of rock by pounding. Long grooves would have been dug out underneath the obelisk and

planks of wood would have been inserted until the whole lower side of the obelisk was completely detached. Once the obelisk was free from the rock the workers would insert wooden levers and other packing materials into the trench to lift it. Handling ropes could then be attached to the levers and with a backwards and forwards rocking movement the workers would gradually raise the base of the obelisk to about 2.43 metres above its present level. The rock in the area in front of the base of the obelisk would be removed and a path cleared so that the obelisk could be dragged down the slope by ropes to the river and transported by barge to its final destination. Near the Unfinished obelisk two embankments were found over which heavy blocks had been pulled.
The exact point at where the obelisks arrived at the river is not known and there has been no indication on how the obelisk could have been loaded onto the barge, although suggestions have been made that this could have been done by bringing the barge as close as possible to the bank, building an embankment around and over it, pulling the obelisk directly over the barge and letting it down into place by removing the filler from around the barge. The obelisk could then begin its journey to Thebes.

One very delicate task still remained to be done – the erection of the

obelisk in its final destination. To complete this, a ramp of earth or sand had to extended from the river to the place where the obelisk was to stand. The obelisk was then dragged to that location and the work began to erect it.
There have been many theories about how this was done and one of these is that a chamber would have been built at the spot where the obelisk was to stand and sand would have been taken through a hole in the bottom. The obelisk would then have been slid onto the surface of the sand until it rested at an angle of 34 degrees. At this point the obelisk would have been pulled up to a vertical position by means of ropes and the remaining sand removed at the bottom.

The successful erection of monuments such as obelisks would certainly not have been an easy task because of their great weight and slim, fragile shape.