Introduction

In the old kingdoms of upper and lower Egypt, in many examples of burial chambers mural paintings depicting significant events, inscribed stelae or tablets have been excavated that show an astonishing proximity to our modern approach to chirality. In Fig. 1.1, an example is given of a stele that exhibits hieroglyphs carved out of stone such that they are mirrored on both sides of the so-called “ankh cross”. This ankh cross plays an important role in Egyptian mythology — it is the symbol for life. The pharaohs firmly believed in life after death, and, accordingly, they wanted to link the symbol for life with their coffins as well as with the mural paintings and stelae of the burial chamber. In addition, the hieroglyphs closely related to the ankh cross appear twice, i.e., in the form of their two mirror images. This ancient interpretation of chirality/life/death is well in line with the modern assumption that life processes, for example, enzymatic transformation processes, are highly enantioselective, but that dead organic matter may also be transformed and in part mineralised by very enantioselective processes. Fig.1.1.Hieroglyphs carved out of stone on a stele outside the Pergamon museum, Berlin, Germany; translation: nsw.t biti ≡ king of upper and lower Egypt; the ankh cross in the centre is the symbol for life (courtesy Erika and Katja Hühnerfuss)