The Egyptian Soul: the ka, the ba, and the akh
The Ancient Egyptians believed the soul had threeparts, the ka, the ba, and the akh.
The ka and ba were spiritual entities that everyonepossessed, but the akh was an entityreserved for only the select few that were deserving of maat kheru. Their beliefs were that the living wereresponsible to help the dead journeyinto the Afterlife. “The living had aduty to help those who had gone before them, and to those who would come after,by building and maintaining tombs. Tombswere the interface between time and eternity.”[2] This belief alsoincluded the preservation of the deceased body.
The Ka
“The ka was essentially a person’s double,” it was the lifeforce and at death it was separated from the body.[18,2] The reason for extensive and elaboratepreparation for the body for the after life was to ensure the ka had ahome. The living would sometimes providebread, beer, oxen and fowl to feed the ka for the afterlife. They also believed the deceased body wouldhave to resemble the past living body as much as possible so the ka couldrecognize its body and then the ba would “return to it each night afterspending time in the sunshine.”[18] The living would leave more thanjust food for the deceased if possible.They would also leave servants, weapons, jewelry, clothes, and theirmummified pets, in their tomb—anything that would help them in theirafterlife. The tombs would also housethe Shabti [18,19] statues that representedservants who would help the owner of the tomb in the after life. “The backs of these figurines were inscribedwith Chapter 6 of The Book of the Dead.This spell ensured that if the owner of the shabti was called upon at any timeto do any kind of compulsory labour the shabti would respond and perform theduty instead of its owner.”[19] The tombs from the Age of thePyramids would have inscriptions on the tomb that would read, “May thisofficial be given a thousand loaves of bread, a thousand jugs of beer”, in hopesthis prayer would be enough to feed the ka, if no offerings were available.[2]
The Ba
The ba, another spiritual entity was seen as a human-headedbird hovering over the deceased or exiting the tomb in the hieroglyphics, andwas the part of the soul that could travel between the worlds of the living andthe dead.[18,2] During theAge of the Pyramids, it was believed only the King had a ba. The word ba wassimilar to the word ‘ram’ and was associated with strength and power. In later periods of Egyptian history, it wasbelieved every person had a ba.[18]The ba also required food to move and survive in the afterworld. There are images from Ramesside Books of the Dead that show the ba perched on the arm ofthe decease, or hugged to his body, like a pet parrot. The small pyramids built over the tombchapels at Deir el Medina contained a little niche near the top, where the bacould perch, to watch the sunrise and to observe the goings-on in the villagewhere it had lived.”[2]
The Akh
The akh, another spiritual entity which “was thetransfigured spirit that survived death and mingled with the gods.”[18]One source explained that the akh was only allowed to individuals whose soulswere worthy because they were good people in their past lives. Condemned criminals did not have properburials and their real names were buried with them. So it was believed criminals could notsurvive in the Afterlife and the criminal could not become or have an akh.[2] “An akh is the blessed or ‘transfigured’ soulof a person who died and whose soul had been judged by Osiris and found maatkheru- justified. An akh was aneffective spirit, one could still influence events in this world.”[2] The akh and ka were believed to need apreserved body and tomb in order to exist.
The Maat Kheru
Maat, the goddess of Truth, Justice and Balance [18]took the form of an ostrich feather. The final trial of the deceased would beto have his heart weighed against Maat. If the person had led a good and decentlife, his heart would be in balance and he would pass into the Afterlife. Butif the weight of his heart did not balance with Maat, a monster named the TheDevourer consumed his heart. The heartwas identified as “the seat of intelligence and moral judgement, as well as ofemotions.”[2] The term MaatKheru is identified with the party at the end of a civil trial that would bedeclared innocent and true, or ‘true of voice’ or ‘justified’.[2]
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FAQs
The Egyptian Soul: the ka, the ba, and the akh. The Ancient Egyptians believed the soul had three parts, the ka, the ba, and the akh. The ka and ba were spiritual entities that everyone possessed, but the akh was an entity reserved for only the select few that were deserving of maat kheru.
What is the BA ka in the Egyptian afterlife? ›
To ensure the continued well-being of the deceased in the afterlife, offerings of food and provisions were made in their tombs to nourish their Ka. The Ba, on the other hand, was considered to be the aspect of the soul that represented an individual's personality and personal attributes.
What is the ka in Egyptian art? ›
In ancient Egyptian belief, the spirit or life-force of an individual that lives on after death. The hieroglyph for the ka was shoulders and arms, with the arms bent upwards at the elbow, similar to the touchdown signal in American football.
What does akh mean in Egypt? ›
akh, in Egyptian religion, the spirit of a deceased person and, with the ka and the ba, a principal aspect of the soul.
What is the ka Egyptian life force? ›
Egyptians believed that even after death, one's spirit would live on because the life force was a separate entity that could detach itself from the body. This life force was named the Ka, and was considered to be one part of what the Egyptian believed to be the immortal soul.
What's the difference between ka and ba? ›
Ba or the "personality" Ka or the "double" or "vital essence"
What does the ka symbol mean? ›
The ka was represented as a pair of open arms, held upwards. These arms symbolized the transmittance of the ka force from father to son, god to man, king to man.
What is the ka and why is it so important to the Egyptians? ›
“The ka was essentially a person's double,” it was the life force and at death it was separated from the body. The reason for extensive and elaborate preparation for the body for the after life was to ensure the ka had a home.
What does ka mean to Egyptians? ›
The untranslatable word ka was used by the ancient Egyptians to refer to that aspect of men and gods that is connected with the creative life force. The ka is the aspect that differentiates a living person from a dead one.
What is the ka symbol of the soul? ›
There are three elements to the Egyptian concept of the Soul: Ka, Ba, and Akh. Ka is the life force or spiritual double of the person. The royal Ka symbolised a pharaoh's right to rule, a universal force that passed from one pharaoh to the next.
ba, in ancient Egyptian religion, with the ka and the akh, a principal aspect of the soul; the ba appears in bird form, thus expressing the mobility of the soul after death.
What is the akh symbol in Egypt? ›
The ankh symbol—sometimes referred to as the key of life or the key of the nile—is representative of eternal life in Ancient Egypt.
What is the Egyptian afterlife called? ›
The Duat (Ancient Egyptian: dwꜣt, Egyptological pronunciation "do-aht", Coptic: ⲧⲏ, also appearing as Tuat, Tuaut or Akert, Amenthes, Amenti, or Neter-khertet) is the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology. It has been represented in hieroglyphs as a star-in-circle: 𓇽.
What is Egyptian ka in English? ›
Ka is one of the five parts of the Egyptian idea of the soul. The Ka was the life force and left the body during death. Ka was believed to be in food and drink and was placed with the dead for offerings.
What is the kemetic meaning of ka? ›
(kah) is another word with multiple meanings; its most common meanings are "soul" or "vital energy". The ka is the part of us that composes our personality, our self.
What is the Egyptian symbol for soul? ›
The ancient Egyptian symbol of the ka means spirit and soul as it was believed to represent the souls of the newly born and resurrected in the afterlife.
What are the Egyptian symbols of the afterlife? ›
Additionally, ankhs were traditionally placed in sarcophagi to ensure life after death. While the ankh is a widely known hieroglyph, its origins are somewhat unclear. Because the ankh shows similarities to the Knot of Isis, some speculate that the ankh and the Knot of Isis represent the same thing: an intricate bow.
Who is the BA god? ›
ba, in ancient Egyptian religion, with the ka and the akh, a principal aspect of the soul; the ba appears in bird form, thus expressing the mobility of the soul after death.
What did the BA do in Egypt? ›
Thee ba was often shown as a bird, whose duty was to feed the deceased. The ba was so closely linked with the physical body that it needed food and drink. The ba depended upon the corpse with which it had to be reunited each night. The wooden ba-bird in the tomb of Tutankhamun is probably the earliest of its type.
What is the BA bird in ancient Egypt? ›
The ba is most often depicted as a human-headed bird. A person's ba was considered important in the afterlife, where it could visit the world of the living during the day and return to the world of the deceased at night.
