Ancient Egyptian Idea of the Soul

• The soul is made up of 3 parts – Ba, Ka, Akh

• One part of the soul can’t live without the other

• Mummification helped keep all parts alive

Ba

• Looked like a human headed bird

• Represented personality, character, or individuality

• Ba lived inside the tomb and could leave and come back when it wished

• It could visit the land of the living and come back

Ka

• Was the double of the person

• Looked like a human figure with raised arms

• Was an exact physical and emotional copy of the individual that was imprisoned in the human heart and released at death

• Had to stay close to the human body and could never leave the tomb

Ka

• Ka could not live unless the body was preserved

• If the body couldn’t be preserved, then it lived in a picture painted on the tomb wall

• Ka needed the objects and offerings in the tomb

• It required food, drink, and clothing• Friends and family had to leave regular

offerings at the tomb to help Ka survive

Akh

• Represented the immortality of the deceased

• Sometimes looked like a bird

• Akh made the journey to the underworld so it could eventually take its place in the afterlife

Gods and Goddesses

• Took shape in the form of a human body with an animal head

• The animals they took form in were considered sacred

• Monuments and temples were built to honor these major gods

• Every major town worshipped its own set of gods and goddess that helped explain nature’s events

Priests

• Worked in the temples• Job was to cloth, feed, and put to bed the

sculpted images of representing the gods• Had to shave their heads and body hair

and wash their bodies twice a day to remain pure

• Sacred music and dancing were part of the rituals and celebrations conducted by the priests