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Author Topic: The function of the ba,ka,name and shadow in ancient Kmt
ausar
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The infant,it was believed ,was placed in its mother's womb adter being created on a potter's wheel by the ram headed deity Khnum. But as Khnum formed the body he also fashioned a spirtual copy, resembling the body in every way,with all its needs,desires and expectations. This was the ka,ghostly in apperance and stored in the heart. After death it was forcibly seperate from the body and would inhabit the tomb in a constant effort to be close to the body in which it had spent its life. And since the ka needed everything that the person had needed during life---food,drink,clothing,perfume and shade from the hot sun-----the goods placed inside the tomb were primarily to satisfy its needs. The ka was distinguished from the dead person by being depicted iwth a pair of upraised arms on its head


The ka could be freed form the body during life when a person was asleep or in a comma. A story probably written in the last years of native rule in Egypt,around 800 B.C.,tells of a magician called Sa-Ausar. he read aloud a letter to his king,sent by a prince of Nubia,in which the prince had given permission to his magicians to inflict punishment on the king of Egypt. The ka of the pharoah had thus been summoned to Nubia while the king slept. there,his ka was beaten 500 times with a stick in a public meeting place,when when the king awaoke the next morning,he discovered the marks of the stick upon his bare back.

The ba was not a physical element,but like the body was unique to each person. it is perhaps best described as the non-physical aspects that constitute and individual,when we might call character or personality. The ba was pictured as a humn headed bird. It was thought to have netered the body[described a it's perch''] at birth,together with the breath of life;both left the body at death.

Magical spells were said over the mummy[Chapter 5] to transform it into a form or entity that enabled the dead person to exist in the afterworld. This entity ,the akh,and the gods inhabited the world of the afterlife. All funerary spells had one single aim---to allow the deseaed to become akh,to avoid the potential horror of dying a second death,a death which there is no return.

page 12-13

The shadow and the name

In the Egyptian concept of human existence there were two other elements whose survival was essential . A individual was inseperable from his or her shawdow,which mirrored every movement ,although it was obviously incapable of any act of its own. If any one behaved badly,there was a potential threat of their shawdow being devoured by a demon known as the ''shadow gobbler''. To deprive a living human being os a shadow was to deprive them of existence itself.
But perhaps the most significant aspect of any person was their true essence,the spirit of individuality which distinguishes one being from another. This essence was encapsulated in the name given to the child at birth. So long as one's name was being spoken ,so the Egyptians believed,immortality was being assured. So protection of the name of the deceased was vital. The tomb ,the mummy,the equipment,the paintings and reliefs were all designed to help preserve the name of the individual. The greatest horror was to have your name destoyed,cut out from the wall.

page 12-13

Mummies Myth and Magic
Christine El Mahdy
1989 Thame and Hudson
Isbn# 0-500-27579-3

___Funny how other African groups have these beliefs in their own traditions.


Posts: 8675 | From: Tukuler al~Takruri as Ardo since OCT2014 | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Alsaadawi-4
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**ALL** the traditional Egyptological flawed explanations and imaginary stories about the 'ba', 'ka' , 'akh', etc are just wrong guessing that have been invented by some people who are not able yet to read the simplest Ancient Egyptian alphabets. Unfortunately, that led to nearly absolute falsification of the Ancient Egyptian history.

In our example here, they say:

ka = spirit
ba = spirit
akh = spirit

(see Faulkner pages: 4, 77, 283) and ( Gardiner, under signs: [D28], [G25], [G29])

None of these meanings is correct!! It's ALL guessing.

These three signs are just bilateral phonetic values that could be used to constitute thousands of different Egyptian words with thousands of different meanings. Anyone can just open Budge dictionary and try to read the different words that include these signs and then he gets at once what I mean.

One example only: on Budge EHD p.5a, first entry, we read the following word:

[G1-G29] = ab = father.

Wonderfully it is correct in both phonation and meaning.

Then on p.200b we read the following word:

[D58-G29-D58-G29] = baba

He translated it to 'first born son of Osiris'!! It is here again just guessing! It should mean also 'father' or 'fathers'!

Following the words that include this sign (ba) we read hundreds of words that have different meanings. Where is 'spirit' here?!!

I hope that someday those people will awake up and see the TURUTH, and have mercy on us, we the indigenous and rural Egyptians!!!!

Alsaadawi 4



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ausar
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I agree with you Dr. Alsaadawi,but when are native Egyptians like me and you going to take charge of our history? We need more Egyptian Egyptologist dedicated to documenting survials from the past and correcting the errors of mainstream Egyptologist.

However,I believe that the ancient Egyptians had a similar belief structure to the ba,ka,and akh because the rural Sa3eadi often believe that your soul can wander from you in your sleep. You also see them attend cemeraties on a weekly basis to leave food offerings to their deceased relatives. These items are meant to keep the ka alive nourish and keep it in remeberence.

If Ka,akh,and Ba are not the terms equivalent for soul then what is in anicent Egyptian usage.


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Alsaadawi-4
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Thank you Ausar for your kind words. I think there are some young Egyptian Egyptologists who care now about correcting the vast errors of traditional Egyptology. Their praised efforts will take sometime before it shows up.

>>the rural Sa3eadi often believe that your soul can wander from you in your sleep. You also see them attend ceremonies on a weekly basis to leave food offerings to their deceased relatives<<

Yes, but this has nothing to do with the lingual components (ka, ba and akh).

They simply believe that the martyrs, prophets and saints (awliya2) are always alive even if they passed out. That's why they put their private belongings with them believing that it's the simplest appreciation to them. Also some Egyptian peoples believe that those saints could be good intercessors to fulfill their earthly demands because God usually responds to their prayers, as they believe! The offerings they grant are not for the deceased but they grant it to poor peoples as a charity or alms to receive divine mercy for their deceased.

>> If Ka,akh,and Ba are not the terms equivalent for soul then what is in anicent Egyptian usage<<

The AE word for 'spirit' or 'soul' is **rwH**. Therfore any of the 'Hr' signs or 'wH' signs could be used to indicate the 'spirit' as in the case of:

[G5] = rH = rwH = spirit = Horus.
[D2] = rH = rwH = spirit = human face (front)
[G26] = wH = rwH = spirit = the ibis white bird.

It depends basically on the context and the associated glyphs.

Regards,

Alsaadawi 4


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ausar
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Dr. Alsaadawi said:

''They simply believe that the martyrs, prophets and saints (awliya2) are always alive even if they passed out. That's why they put their private belongings with them believing that it's the simplest appreciation to them. Also some Egyptian peoples believe that those saints could be good intercessors to fulfill their earthly demands because God usually responds to their prayers, as they believe! The offerings they grant are not for the deceased but they grant it to poor peoples as a charity or alms to receive divine mercy for their deceased. ''

Ausar asks: What about the customs of Egyptians spending time with their ancestors and praying to them? In Cairo cemetaries you notice that many times tombs have built on rooms to accompany the relatives of the decased love ones. The feasting pratice also takes place in rural Egypt as well as balady neighboorhoods.



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Alsaadawi-4
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Yes, this is normal in Egypt. On some religious feasts some of the relatives of the deceased, especially women like daughter, mother, sister or wife, used to visit the tomb of the deceased and grant charities to the needy people and rehearse some prayers asking God the mercy and forgiveness to the deceased.
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