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The Egyptian Book of the Dead

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Author Topic: The Egyptian Book of the Dead  (Read 8058 times)
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Josie Linde
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« Reply #15 on: December 21, 2008, 10:13:41 pm »

The khaibit or shadow.

In connection with the ka and ba must be mentioned the khaibit or shadow of the man, which the Egyptians regarded as a part of the human economy. It may be compared with the {Greek skia'} and umbra of the Greeks and Romans. It was supposed to have an entirely independent existence and to be able to separate itself from the body; it was free to move wherever it pleased, and, like the ka and ba, it partook of the funeral offerings in the tomb, which it visited at will. The mention of the shade, whether of a god or man, in the pyramid texts is unfrequent, and it is not easy to ascertain what views were held concerning it; but from the passage in the text of Unas,[2] where it is mentioned together with the souls and spirits and bones of the gods, it is evident that already at that early date its position in relation to man was well defined. From the collection of illustrations which Dr. Birch appended to his paper On the Shade or Shadow of the Dead,[3] it is quite clear that in later times at least the shadow was always associated with the soul and was believed to be always near it; and this view is

[1. Recueil de Travaux, t. v., p. 184 (l. 168).

2. Recueil de Travaux, p.62 (l. 523).

3. See Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. viii., p. 386-97.]

{p. lxvii}

supported by a passage in the XCIInd Chapter of the Book of the Dead,[1] where it is said:--

em xena ba-a sauti xaibit-a un uat

Let not be shut in my soul, let not be fettered my shadow, let be opened the way

en ba-d en xaibit-a maa-f neter aa

for my soul and for my shadow, may it see the great god.

And again, in the LXXXIXth Chapter the deceased says:--

maa-a ba-a xaibit-a

May I look upon my soul and my shadow.[2]

the khu or intelligence.

Another important and apparently eternal part of man was the khu, which, judging from the meaning of the word, may be defined as a "shining" or translucent, intangible casing or covering of the body, which is frequently depicted in the form of a mummy. For want of a better word khu has often been translated "shining one," "glorious," "intelligence," and the like, but in certain cases it may be tolerably well rendered by "spirit." The pyramid texts show us that the khu's of the gods lived in heaven, and thither wended the khu of a man as soon as ever the prayers said over the dead body enabled it to do so. Thus it is said, "Unas standeth with the khu's,"[3] and one of the gods is asked to "give him his sceptre among the khu's; "[4] when the souls of the gods enter into Unas, their khu's are with and round about him.[6] To king Teta it is said:--

[1. Naville, Todtenbuch, Bd. I., Bl. 104, ll. 7, 8.

2. Ibid., Bd. I., Bl. 101.

3. Recueil de Travaux, t. iii., p. x 88 (1. 71).

4. Ibid., t. iii., p. 215 (l. 274).

5. Ibid., t iv., p. 61 (1. 522).]

{p. lxviii}

nehem-nef maat-f maf er ta-nef nek seba-k

He[1] hath plucked his eye from himself, he hath given it unto thee to strengthen thee

am-s sexem-k am-s xent xu

therewith, that thou mayest prevail with it among the khu's.[2]

And again, when the god Khent-mennut-f has transported the king to heaven, the god Seb, who rejoices to meet him, is said to give him both hands and welcome him as a brother and to nurse him and to place him among the imperishable khu's.[1] In the XCIInd Chapter the deceased is made to pray for the liberation of his soul, shadow, and khu from the bondage of the tomb, and for deliverance from those "whose dwellings are hidden, who fetter the souls, who fetter souls and khu's cc and who shut in the shadows of the dead";[4] and in the XC Ist Chapter[5] is a formula specially prepared to enable the khu to pass from the tomb to the domains where Ra and Hathor dwell.

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