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The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) · 49 of 357 · tr. E.A. Wallis Budge

Chapter 6 (part 5)

nuk sah em ba-f I am a sah with his soul.[3] In the late edition of the Book of the Dead published by Lepsius the deceased is said to " look upon his body and to rest upon his sahu ,"[4] and souls are said "to enter into their sahu ";[5] and a passage extant both in this and the older Theban edition makes the deceased to receive the sahu of the god Osiris.[6] But that Egyptian writers at times confused the khat with the sahu is clear from a passage in the Book of Respirations, where it is said, "Hail Osiris, thy name endureth, thy body is stablished, thy sahu germinateth";[7] in other texts the word "germinate" is applied only to the natural body. The ab or heart. In close connection with the natural and spiritual bodies stood the heart, or rather that part of it which was the seat of the power of life and the fountain of good and evil thoughts. And in addition to the natural and spiritual bodies, man also bad an abstract individuality or personality endowed with all his characteristic attributes. This abstract personality had an absolutely independent existence. It could move freely from place to place, separating itself from, or uniting itself to, [1. Recueil de Travaux , t. v., p. 59 (l. 384). 2. Ibid., t. iv., p. 61 (1. 521). 3. Book of the Dead, Chapter I.XXVIII., 1. 14. 4. ###. Chapter LXXXIX., 1. 6. 5. Ibid., 1. 5. 6. ###. Chapter CXXX., 1. 38 (ed. Naville). 7. ###. See Brugsch, Liber Metempsychosis , p. 15.] {p. lxii} The ka or double. the body at will, and also enjoying life with the gods in heaven.This was the ka ,[1] a word which at times conveys the meanings of its Coptic equivalent {Coptic kw }, and of {Greek ei?'dwlon }, image, genius, double, character, disposition, and mental attributes. The funeral offerings of meat, cakes, ale, wine, unguents, etc. , were intended for the ka ; the scent of the burnt incense was grateful to it. The ka dwelt in the man's statue just as the ka of a god inhabited the statue of the god. In this respect the ka seems to be identical with the sekhem or image. In the remotest times the tombs had special chambers wherein the ka was worshipped and received offerings. The priesthood numbered among its body an order of men who bore the name of "priests of the ka and who performed services in honour of the ka in the " ka chapel". In the text of Unas the deceased is said to be "happy with his ka"[2] in the next world, and his ka is joined unto his body in "the great dwelling"; [3] his body [1. The first scholar who seriously examined the meaning of the word was Dr. Birch, who collected several examples of the use and discussed them in his Mèmoire sur une Patère Égyptienne du Musée du Louvre , Paris, 1858, p. 59 ff. (Extrait du t. xxiv. des Mémoires de la Société impériale des Antiquaires de France ). Dr. Birch translated the word by être, personne, emblème, divin, génie, principe, esprit. In September, 1878, V.
Themes
Theurgypraxis

Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.

The text describes priests performing services in honor of the ka and making material offerings (meat, incense) to sustain the spiritual double, engaging divine powers through ritual action.

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Funerary Navigationpraxis

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

[auto] The passage explicitly discusses the Book of the Dead and describes the state and movement of the deceased soul in the afterlife.

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Tripartite Soulanthropology

Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).

[auto] The text delineates multiple components of human existence including the natural body, spiritual body, heart, and abstract personality.

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Related passages · 3 parallels
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 12 (part 1)
p. 242 CHAPTER XII. REDEMPTION. "God lives also in man. Therefore if we are but seeking and loving our own (true) self, we then love God. That which we do to each other we are doing to God. He who seeks and finds his brother and siste…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a spiritual or abstract aspect of the human being that exists independently of the physical body. The Egyptian Book of the Dead describes the 'ka' and 'sahu' as spiritual components, while Jacob Boehme's text discusses the 'inner man' and the 'divine state of consciousness' that needs to be regained.
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 13 (part 1)
p. 263 CHAPTER XIII. REGENERATION. "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not of those things?" — John iii. 10. "Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."— Luke ix. 23. No man c…”
Both passages discuss the concept of a spiritual or abstract aspect of the human being that exists beyond the physical body. The Egyptian Book of the Dead describes the 'sahu' and 'ka' as spiritual components, while Boehme discusses the spiritual regeneration and the divine Spirit within man.
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 392 (part 1)
Section 8 8. E. (13) We come to the doctrine of the Entelechy, and must enquire how it is applied to soul. It is thought that in the Conjoint of body and soul the soul holds the rank of Form to the Matter which here is the ensouled body-…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the soul and its relationship to the body, exploring the idea of an abstract individuality or personality that exists independently of the physical form. They both delve into the concept of a spiritual or non-physical aspect of a person that can exist and function separately from the corporeal body.