Death in Ancient Egypt was a journey into eternity rather than an ending. The Ancient Egyptians believed the body contained three souls, ‘ka’, ‘ba’ and ‘akh’ which would be reunited in the next world if the physical body remained intact. The dead could only fully appreciate eternity, it was thought, if they remained corporally complete.

A process of embalming preserved the corpse by extracting the organs, filling the shell with salt and linen, and wrapping it in bandages and amulets. The aim was not to maintain the body as it was in life, but to create a new body that could survive forever. The priest would finally perform the ritual of ‘opening of the mouth’ to magically imbue the deceased with the power of speech, movement, and the ability to eat, when he was ‘reborn’ in the afterlife.

The next life, Ancient Egyptians believed, would be an enhancement of this one. The dead would need to be sustained and amused, so their tombs were filled with food and drink, instructive texts, games, and jewellery. Texts, written on the tombs were also thought to help the inhabitant to thrive.

Model figures, called Shabti were also buried with the dead between the Middle Kingdom (3500 - 4000 years ago) and the Ptolemaic Period (2300 years ago). They provided friendship for the deceased, and acted as their labourers. Many Shabtis hold tools for agricultural work since rich Egyptians hoped they would be servants for them if required for communal work. The figures were often inscribed with a ‘Shabti Spell’ which required the figure to answer ‘Here I am’ when the owner required it to do work in the land of the dead.

The tripartite soul is understood as integral to the next life. The ‘ka’ was the ‘life force’ sustained by food and drink left for the dead at burial sites, or depicted on tomb walls. The ‘ba’ could move out of the body and travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. The ‘ba’ had to return to its body to survive, so mummies were externally decorated to resemble their owners to ease recognition. The ‘akh’ was the part of the soul which enabled the person to be effective in the next life.

Before the dead reached the next world, Ancient Egyptian belief said they were led to a judgment hall by Anubis, the god of mummification. Their heart, containing evidence of their behaviour in life, was then weighed against a feather. If their heart outweighed the feather it was heavy with the guilt of a life badly lived and was then eaten by Ammit, the creature combined of a crocodile, a lion, and hippopotamus. If the feather weighed more than the heart, the heart was thought to be pure and the owner made their way into the next life.

Death and the afterlife in other religions:

Christians believe that at the end of time, as envisioned in the Book of Revelation, those who have trusted Jesus’s death for the forgiveness of their sins in this life, will on the day of Judgment go to dwell in ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ for eternity. Unlike the Ancient Egyptians they do not believe you can take things with you when you go, but do believe they will have new bodies in Heaven.

On the Last Day, or day of standing up, Muslims believe Allah will judge them for the good and bad things they have done. There will be bodily resurrection and those who have been judged to have done good deeds on earth will go to Paradise, and those who have acted badly will go to Hell.

Jews believe in the eternal life of the soul and the judgment of deeds in this life as a measure of what happens to you when you die.

Buddhists believe souls undergo birth and rebirth until they reach a state of nirvana or enlightenment. The belief in Karma holds that every action in life affects the form in which the soul is reborn.

Hindus believe that the soul never dies, but is reborn either as a human or an animal each time the body dies. Karmic beliefs say that every act affects how the soul will be reborn. The cycle continues until the soul reaches spiritual perfection and is united with the supreme being.

Sikhs believe in a Karmic cycle of rebirths that end in the union of each human spirit with God.

Baha’is believe the soul does not die upon bodily death but enters a higher plane of existence where unions such a marriage are recognised.

Egypt Travel

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