The Akh (meaning shiner), was a concept that varied over the long history of ancient Egyptian belief. It is besides Ka and Ba one of the central elements, aspects of immortal personality, even after the death of the physical body. In this sense, it was a sort of
ghost. In later belief, the Ka was considered to change into the Akh and Ba after death, rather than uniting with the Ba to become the Akh. At this stage, it was believed that the Akh spent some time dwelling in the underworld before returning and being reincarnated as a Ka, gaining a new Ba. The separation of Akh / unification of Ka and Ba was created after death, by having the proper offerings made and knowing the proper efficacious spell, but there was an attendant risk of dying again. Egyptian funerary literature (such as the
Coffin Texts and the
Book of the Dead) were intended to aid the deceased in "not dying a second time" and becoming an akh.
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[Egyptian] The Akh is one of the five constituents of the human personality; the others being Ka, Ba, Name and Shadow. It has been referred to as a kind of glorified being of light (spirit). There seem to be two variations of the relationship between the Ba, Ka and Akh: The Akh is the result of the Ka and Ba being reunited in the after life; once reunited the Akh is unchanged for all eternity. The Akh was the form in which the deceased occupied the afterlife, once he had became an Akh, the deceased would become a part of the Akh-Akh (Starry sky) along with the other deceased, gods and birds. The Akh was an entity that co-existed with the Ka and Ba, it could have a positive or negative affect on the living world, in which it still bore responsibilities. When someone died their Ka split into two, the Akh and the Ba. The Akh, in the form of a bird flew to the afterlife where it turned back into the Ka. While the Ba remained on earth, inhabiting the physical body of the deceased. The physical f...
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