Soul and Spirit in Ancient Egyptian Religion.

An Anthropological Approach

Renata Tatomir

Egyptologists have focused for long on the puzzling topic of the immortal nature of the human being. The ancient counterparts of our modern concepts of soul and spirit, the Egyptian k3, b3, and 3kh – or even the corpse, the shadow (šwjt), the name (rn), the heart (jb), or hka, the last one generally understood as the magic power –, are some of the most discussed terms. Studies have been made thoroughly, in order to explain their individual nature and features.

The Egyptians did not think of the distinction between material and spiritual as clearly as we do. For the man’s nature, they used several kinds of words, sometimes with a corporeal connotation, sometimes with an immaterial one[1]. Both in life and in death, the human being might assume different shapes[2], which are less “parts” of its nature than shifting “modes of existence”[3]. These look naturally if one keeps in mind that the Egyptians have always been concerned with the main cause that makes a person or an animal to be alive, and with the manner of reanimating a person after death[4]. The loss of one of the parts of the human being complex composite meant the loss of all. Many of these parts were presumed to exist while the person was still alive, but others appeared or only assumed importance after death[5]. Therefore, since the dawn of Egyptology, much research has been conducted on metaphysical aspects of the individual[6].

Among all these concepts, the k3, the b3, and the 3kh are definitely the most astonishing ones. While both the k3 and the b3 have been for long considered almost synonymous, and have usually been translated as “soul”, the 3kh was generally understood as “spirit”. Their etymology is, however, more complex and difficult to explain through the concepts of our time. Thus, the connotations related to their roots cast much light upon their true nature.

For example, the k3 – whose main hieroglyph figures two arms in an embrace gesture[7],    – appears already in the earliest inscriptions[8]. Its roots indicate the generative force[9].

3kh functioned both as an adjective and a verb, with the dual sense of “(to be) effective”/“useful”, and “(to be) resplendent” / “glorious”[10]. Due to her brilliant feathers, the ibis comata bird-sign, , functioned like hieroglyph of 3kh[11], mostly because this bird was related to the apparitions of the dead[12]. Therefore, 3kh very much implies two ideas:

– Firstly, some sort of utility power of divine nature, which is possessed by each being all around the universe (gods, divine entities, dead, king, and ordinary people as well), acting by herself in them. This power is acting not only from above to below, but also in a quid pro quo relationship, being at the same time given and received instead of. That is to say, it involves an exchange of 3kh energies on all levels[13] (its force varied in accordance with the nature of the being who released the 3kh).

– Secondly, his luminous, brilliant aspect seems to be displayed only into the realm of the afterlife. There, it always becomes associated with dead and divine beings, with celestial forms of visible effectiveness such as the Circumpolar Stars, and, most notably, the sun[14].

A bird, probably a stork[15], , was used to write the b3, and even the Egyptians themselves did not always agree about its nature[16]. Usually, the b3 took the shape of a human headed bird[17], , which always accompanied the person when he/she passed away. The b3 was born with the body and still lived on after its death[18].

In order to point out what scholars have supposed to be common for these three spiritual elements of the human being, it is important to note that all the expressions “go to the k3” / “go to the 3kh”, and presumably, “go to the b3” have been explained as euphemisms for “to die”[19]. Since the Egyptians have always considered death to be a transition from an earthly existence to an eternal and spiritual one, these expressions must be rather translated: “to be reborn” / “to awake” / “to live forever”. The Pyramid Texts clearly state:

“O Osiris the King, you have gone, but you will return, you have slept, [but you will awake], you have died, but you will live”[20].

However, the Egyptians saw the k3, the 3kh, and the b3 not only as qualities that a being possesses, but also as entities that a being is tranformed to. That is why one often finds the term b3, qualified by an appositive or an epithet, used as an equivalent for a god. This indicates that the god is in a state in which its power is manifest[21].