May the force be with you: Soul of Egypt 'Ka' (1)

Ani's soul, represented by a bird with a human head, observes as Anubis weighs Ani's heart against the feather of Maat, the goddess of balance and justice.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRITISH MUSEUM, SCALA, FLORENCE

Does the soul really exist? The soul is based on the belief that there will be a world after death, that is, after death. Also, people who believe in the soul think that one person will have one soul.
However, in ancient Egypt, they had different thoughts and beliefs about the soul from modern people. They believed that man was formed of several souls, or energy forces like Star Wars. It was from this belief that the ancient Egyptians preserved the body by making mummies. So how did the custom of 'mummy production' begin in this belief?

Ka Ancestors of Hor, 13th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom

In ancient Egypt, the number of souls a person has can be classified into about six. And there are two of the most important souls. It's "ka" and "ba."

<Ka>

(Image Source: GlobalEgyptianMuseum.org )

"Ka" can be seen as the most important soul of the six souls and the starting point of this belief. And this has its roots in Egypt's Heliopolis creation myth.
Heliopolis, which the Greeks called the "City of the Sun," or "Iunu" in ancient Egypt, means a pillar or hill rising from the primitive sea, is a part of himself or a hill that came to mind when Atum, the sun god, first created the sun. And the first pair of gods that Atum created were "Shu," the god of air, and " Tefnut," the god of moisture, and Atum wrapped them in his arms and distributed creative energy. This very creative energy was called "Ka." 'Ka' is a hieroglyphic character:

It seems to have seen from above that his arms are spread out and his hands are raised or wrapped in both arms. It was believed that the creative energy given by Atum, the sun god, was transmitted from Shu and Tefnut to humans for generations. For ancient Egyptians, ka was the most important and essential soul that their ancestors, families, and broadly all communities had to share and protect, just as our DNA contained countless genetic information.

(Image Source: Tumblr)
The importance of ka to gods, pharaohs, and humans can also be found in the funeral culture of ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians, who valued ancestral rites, were the progenitors of the tradition of preparing food and performing ancestral rites on holidays or anniversaries. Pharaoh made an ancestor in the shape of a "Ka" in the tomb, placed it in a place where a car is enshrined, prepared food, and held a memorial service. Instead of writing down the date of birth and death of the dead, the phrase "a memorial service for someone's Ka" was engraved. Like the Star Wars line "May the force be with you," ancient Egypt used the phrase "for your Ka."

<Ka Fact>
1. It is given at the moment of birth = Soul power of family and community
2. As soon as a person dies, he or she can stay in the grave and eat and drink ancestral food prepared by his or her descendants on behalf of the living body.
3. In the afterlife, you meet a soul called " Ba" and turn it into one complete soul, "Arc."