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Ancient Egypt was a place ruled by magic and religion. According to Egyptian creation stories, the god Atum created the world out of chaos, utilizing his own magic (heka). Because the earth was created with magic, the ancient Egyptians believed that the world was imbued with magic and so was every living thing upon it. When humans were created, that magic took the form of the soul, an eternal force which resided in and with every human being. The concept of the soul and the parts which encompass it has varied from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom, at times changing from one dynasty to another, from five parts to seven to nine. However, most ancient Egyptian funerary texts reference nine different parts to the soul: the khat (physical body), the sahu (spiritual body), the ab or jb (the heart), the ka (double, Coptic kw), the ba (soul), the khaibit(shadow), khu (intelligence), the sekhem (form), the ren (name), the akh (combined, immortal, ba and ka). Rosalie David OBE, an Egyptologist at the University of Manchester, explains the many facets of the soul as follows:
"The Egyptians believed that the human personality had many facets - a concept that was probably developed early in the Old Kingdom. In life, the person was a complete entity, but if he had led a virtuous life, he could also have access to a multiplicity of forms that could be used in the next world. In some instances, these forms could be employed to help those whom the deceased wished to support or, alternately, to take revenge on his enemies"
Khat
The khat, or physical form, had to exist for the soul (ka/ba) to have intelligence or the chance to be judged by the guardians of the underworld. Therefore, it was necessary for the body to be preserved as efficiently and completely as possible and for the burial chamber to be as personalized as it could be, with paintings and statuary showing scenes and triumphs from the deceased's life. In the Old Kingdom, only the pharaoh was granted mummification and, thus, a chance at an eternal and fulfilling afterlife. However, by the middle kingdom, all dead were afforded the opportunity. Herodotus, an ancient Greek scholar, observed that grieving families were given a choice as to the type and or quality of the mummification they preferred: "The best and most expensive kind is said to represent [Osiris], the next best is somewhat inferior and cheaper, while the third is cheapest of all."
Because the state of the body was tied so closely with the quality of the afterlife, by the time of the Middle Kingdom, not only were the burial chambers painted with depictions of favourite pastimes and great accomplishments of the dead, but there were also small figurines (ushabtis) of servants, slaves, and guards (and, in some cases beloved pets) included in the tombs, to serve the deceased in the afterlife. However, an eternal existence in the afterlife was, by no means, assured.
Before a person could be judged by the gods, they had to be "awakened" through a series of ceremonies designed to reanimate their m ummified remains in the afterlife. The main ceremony, the "Ceremony of the Opening the Mouth" is best depicted within Pharaoh Sety I's tomb. All along the walls and statuary inside the tomb, are reliefs and paintings of priests performing the sacred rituals and, below the painted images, the text of the Liturgy of Opening the Mouth for Breathing can be found. This ritual which, presumably, would have been performed during internment, was meant to reanimate each section of the body: brain, head, limbs, etc. so that the spiritual body would be able to move in the afterlife.
Jb
An important part of the Egyptian soul was thought to be the jb (jib), or heart. The heart[1] was believed to be formed from one drop of blood from the heart of the mother's child, taken at conception.[2] To ancient Egyptians, the heart was the seat of emotion, thought, will and intention, evidenced by the many expressions in the Egyptian language which incorporate the word jb. Unlike in English, when ancient Egyptians referenced the heart (jb) they generally meant the physical heart as opposed to a metaphorical heart. However, ancient Egyptians usually made no distinction between the mind and the heart with regard to emotion or thought. The two were synonymous.
In the Egyptian religion, the heart was the key to the afterlife. It was essential to surviving death in the nether world, where it gave evidence for, or against, its possessor. Like the physical body (khat), the heart was a necessary part of judgement in the afterlife and it was to be carefully preserved and stored within the mummified body with a heart scarab carefully secured to the body above it to prevent it from telling tales. According to the Text of the Book of Breathings,
[They drag Osiris in]to the Pool of Khonsu, ... and likewise [the Osirism Hor, justified] born of Taikhebyt, justified ... after he has grasped his heart. They bury ... the Book of Breathings which <Isis> made, which ... is written on both its inside and outside, (wrapped) in royal linen, and it is placed <under> the ... left arm near his heart.[3]
Khu
Very little is written about the Khu, the intelligence and intention part of the soul. It appears in writings from the Old Kingdom, but seems to have been absorbed into the Akh (along with the Ka and Ba) by the Middle Kingdom.
Sekhem
Little is known about the Egyptian interpretation of this portion of the soul. Many scholars define sekhem as the living force or life-force of the soul which exists in the afterlife after all judgement has been passed. However, sekhem is also defined in a Book of the Dead as the "power" and as a place within which Horus and Osiris dwell in the underworld.
Introduction
Egyptian afterlife system
gods & goddesses of the afterlife
shabti & goods
Ka
old kingdom
middle kingdom
Ba
old kingdom
middle kingdom
Islam
Islam in Egypt
Integration of Ba into Islam
Conclusion
Modern view of afterlife and the soul
Primary Sources:
- The Book of the Dead
Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Book of the Dead. Facsimiles of the Papyri of Hunefer, Anhai, Kerasher and Netchemet. London: Sold at the British Museum; and by Longmans, 1899.
2. The Egyptian Heaven & Hell: Being the Book of Am-Tuat, the Shorter Form of the Book of Am-Tuat, the Book of the Gates and the COntents of the Book of the Other World
Budge, Ernest Alfred Wallis. The Egyptian Heaven & Hell: Being the Book of Am-Tuat, the Shorter Form of the Book of Am-Tuat, the Book of the Gates and the Contents of the Book of the Other World. London: Martin Hopkinson, 1925.
Secondary Sources:
Books
- Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt
David, Rosalie. Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt. Penguin books, 2003.
This book was a bibliographical source for an article listed below. It can be found on Amazon.com.
All of life in ancient Egypt was steeped in religion and magic. People consulted the gods on everything from matters of the heart to crop rotation and funerary rites. With this much saturation of everyday life, it is no surprise that matters of the soul and the afterlife should be steeped in religion and magic (and the gods), as well.
2. Hidden Futures: Death and Immortality in Ancient Egypt, Anatolia, the Classical, Biblical and Ancient Islamic World.
Bremer, Hout, Peters, Bremer, Jan Maarten, Hout, P. J. Van Den, and Peters, Rudolph. Hidden Futures : Death and Immortality in Ancient Egypt, Anatolia, the Classical, Biblical and Arabic-Islamic World. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1994.
This book was located in the Cline Library stacks and was found during a basic search.
Articles
- The Soul in Ancient Egypt
Located in the Ancient History Encyclopedia. Bibliography provided other sources.
2. Journey to the Resurrection. Chapter 105 of the Book of the Dead in the New Kingdom
Jiri Janak. 2003. “Journey to the Resurrection. Chapter 105 of the Book of the Dead in the New Kingdom.” Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur 31: 193–210. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152890.
Located on JSTOR.
3. The Hereafter: Ancient Egyptian Beliefs with Special References to the Amduat.
Binder, Suzanne. "The Hereafter: Ancient Egyptian Beliefs with Special References to the Amduat." 1995. Accessed April 05, 2018. http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:48123.
Located utilising Web of Science Cited Reference Source (search for Budge, W*)
4. Book Review: Book Review - The Two Brothers: Death and the Afterlife in Middle Kingdom Egypt by Rosalie David
Reeder, Gregory. "Book Review - The Two Brothers: Death and the Afterlife in Middle Kingdom Egypt by Rosalie David." https://www.academia.edu/3289108/Book_Review_-_The_Two_Brothers_Death_and_the_Afterlife_in_Middle_Kingdom_Egypt_by_Rosalie_David.
Located on Academia.com.
5. Breaking Bread with the Dead: Katumuwa's Stele, Hosea 9:4, and the Early History of the Soul
Suriano, Matthew J. "Breaking Bread with the Dead: Katumuwa's Stele, Hosea 9:4, and the Early History of TheSoul." Journal of the American Oriental Society134, no. 3 (2014): 385-405. Accessed March 10, 2018. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7817/jameroriesoci.134.3.385.
Located on JSTOR.
Contains multiple early accounts on the soul from several different countries and societies.
6. "My Beloved Son, Come and Rest in Me": Job's Return to His Mother's WOmb (Job 1:21a) in Light of Egyptian Mythology.
Hays, Christopher B. ""My Beloved Son, Come and Rest in Me": Job's Return to His Mother's Womb (Job 1:21a) in Light of Egyptian Mythology." Vetus Testamentum62, no. 4 (2012): 607-21. Accessed March 10, 2018. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23496681.
Located on JSTOR.
A discussion on Job's burial and afterlife from the perspective of Egyptian mythology and concept of the soul.
Images
Ba Amulet located on Wikimedia Commons
Ba Amulet. Ba being the concept of the soul in ancient Egypt.
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Shabti located on Wikimedia Commons
Shabti located on Wikimedia Commons
The Egyptian Book of the Dead located on Wikimedia Commons
Relief of Pe and Nekhen's souls as helpers in the afterlife; located on Wikimedia Commons
- ^ "Ib | ancient Egyptian religion". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
- ^ Slider, Ab, Egyptian heart and soul conception
- ^ Rhodes, Michael (2015). Translation of the Book of Breathings. Brigham young University.