The Concept of the Soul: Ka, Ba, and Akh
The Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul consisted of three parts: the ka, the ba, and the akh.
The ka and ba were spiritual entities that every person possessed, while the akh was a unique entity granted only to those deemed deserving of maat kheru. According to their beliefs, the living had a responsibility to help the deceased on their journey to the Afterlife. It was the duty of the living to assist both those who had passed before them and those who would come after by building and maintaining tombs, which served as the connection between time and eternity. This responsibility also extended to preserving the deceased's body.
The Ka
The ka was considered the person's spiritual double and represented their life force. Upon death, the ka was separated from the body. Elaborate preparations for the body were made to ensure the ka had a proper home in the Afterlife. The living would sometimes offer food, such as bread, beer, oxen, and fowl, to nourish the ka in the Afterlife. They also believed that the body should closely resemble its former self so that the ka could recognize it and the ba could "return" to it each night after spending the day in the sun. The living would provide not only food, but also servants, weapons, jewelry, clothing, and even mummified pets, to accompany the deceased in the Afterlife. Tombs also contained Shabti statues figurines representing servants who would assist the tomb owner in the Afterlife. These statues were inscribed with Chapter 6 of The Book of the Dead, a spell ensuring that if the owner was called upon for labor, the Shabti would perform the task in their place. Tomb inscriptions from the Pyramid Age often included prayers asking for offerings of food and drink for the ka, such as “May this official be given a thousand loaves of bread, a thousand jugs of beer.”
The Ba
The ba was another spiritual component of the soul, depicted as a human-headed bird hovering above or leaving the tomb in hieroglyphics. It was the aspect of the soul capable of traveling between the worlds of the living and the dead. Initially, only the king was believed to possess a ba, but later it was believed that all people had one. The ba required sustenance to survive in the Afterlife, and images in Ramesside Books of the Dead often depict the ba perched on the deceased or clinging to their body like a pet parrot. Small pyramids built over tomb chapels at Deir el Medina featured a niche where the ba could perch, observing the sunrise and the activities in the village where it had once lived.
The Akh
The akh represented the transformed spirit that survived death and became one with the gods. Only those who had lived virtuous lives were granted the akh, while criminals were denied proper burials, and their true names were buried with them. It was believed that criminals could not survive in the Afterlife and could not achieve the status of an akh. An akh was a blessed and transfigured soul, whose deeds had been judged by Osiris and found to be in balance with maat kheru, justice and truth. The akh was a powerful spirit capable of influencing the world, and both the akh and ka needed a preserved body and tomb to continue to exist.
Maat Kheru
Maat, the goddess of Truth, Justice, and Balance, was represented by an ostrich feather. The final judgment of the deceased involved weighing their heart against Maat. If the heart balanced with the feather, the person had lived a good and just life and was permitted to enter the Afterlife. If the heart was found wanting, the Devourer, a monster would consume it. The heart was seen as the center of intelligence, moral judgment, and emotions. The term maat kheru referred to the declaration of innocence and justification, meaning the person was found to be "true of voice" or "justified" in the eyes of the gods.
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