Egyptian funerary religion
Ba
Tirard names the Ba as the soul in a multipart account of the person. It is distinct from the Ka’s continuing residence in the tomb and from the luminous Khu. The human-faced bird depicts the soul’s ability to ascend from the tomb and return to the mummy. Funerary images preserve movement and reunion alongside bodily preservation.
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalTirard names the Ba as the soul in a multipart account of the person. It is distinct from the Ka’s continuing residence in the tomb and from the luminous Khu.
Further detail
TraditionalThe human-faced bird depicts the soul’s ability to ascend from the tomb and return to the mummy. Funerary images preserve movement and reunion alongside bodily preservation.
Context & interpretation
Tirard’s 1910 account interprets selected funerary texts and rituals through the scholarship of her period. Local cults and surviving manuscripts vary; her comparisons and proposed origins are not a modern Egyptological consensus.
Original passages
Source 1
The Book of the Dead
double, the equivalent of our ghost, the Ba or soul, and the Khu or luminous, the equivalent of our spirit. The Kay like ourOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Egyptian funerary religion; active reader leaf 17
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0039-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0039-E001-P0017
- Original scan leaf
- 27
- Recorded leaf number
- 17
- Current Reader position
- 13
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
- Location review
- Original scan location confirmed against the reviewed Reader mapping; the earlier recorded number is retained above.
Source 2
The Book of the Dead
a favourite subject with the Egyptians. The soul is the human-faced bird, for the soul needed wings to ascend out of the tomb, and wings toOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Egyptian funerary religion; active reader leaf 118
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0039-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0039-E001-P0118
- Original scan leaf
- 128
- Recorded leaf number
- 118
- Current Reader position
- 111
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
- Location review
- Original scan location confirmed against the reviewed Reader mapping; the earlier recorded number is retained above.
Continue exploring
Ka
The personal double for whom the tomb remains a dwelling.
Shared source pageKhu
The luminous aspect of the deceased in Tirard’s account, associated with radiance and the company of the glorified dead.
Shared source pageBennu
Solar heron whose identification with the Greek phoenix is questioned.
Same subject and traditionThe Heart in Egyptian Judgment
The organ made witness to a person’s conduct at the balance.