death-afterlifeWe're still mapping where this idea was first discussed. Key passages and related ideas below.
The Ka — Life-Force
A spirit-double born with you that still needs feeding after you die.
Egyptians did not think of a person as a single soul but as several parts. The ka was the life-force or spirit-double, present from birth, that needed nourishment to continue — which is why the dead were given food offerings, 'for the ka of' the deceased. To 'go to one's ka' was a way of saying one had died. The ka had to be sustained for the dead to flourish.
Key passages(1)
The Pyramid Texts · 2350 BCE
High