DOI issue:
Nr. 1-2
DOI article:Grenfell, Alice: The Ka on scarabs
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12744#0086
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THE KA ON SCARABS
of God, —but no one supposes that Dante thought the angels were real birds. Nei-
ther did the ancient Egyptians think of themselves as real birds after death. In the
vignettes of funerary papy ri the Deceased is figured in the boat of Ra as a man— or
wôman,—wearing bis or lier usual dress. I have only. found one example of a Ba-
bird in the boat of Ra, on a wooden painted Stèle of the XXIInd Dynasty in the
British Muséum, N° 8468. This Ba, praying with uplifted hands to the gods in the
boat, is a symbol of ^ Nesui, in the saine attitude, who is represented
outside the boat (the man for whom the stèle was made).
Doubtless the uneducated populace matérialisée! the Ba into a real bird, but the
initiated knew it was a symbol, and it is the nature of a symbol never to express the
actual, for it does not exist in the région of matter, but is in the mind only.
Scarabs with Ka-designs on them are not at ail common. I do not refer to those
Ka signs on scarabs which are fairly common, as being an ingrédient of a personal
or of a Royal name ; which are especially common as the ingrédient of a Throne-
name ; such as Nefer-ka-Ra ; Kheper-ka-Ra ; Maat-ka-Ra, etc. I do not refer to
thèse, but to those scarab designs where the Ka is a divine entity ; the self which
survives death ; an eschatologically-developed being, but still not regarded exactly
the same as a god.
The Ka is considered a spiritual and invisible being which yet requires food and
protection against the dangers of the Au-delà. It is generally invisible, bat when vi-
sible it is luminous. That great mystic, William Blake, wrote « Everything in Eter-
» nity shines by its own light ».— That the Ka was thought of as luminous or glitter-
ing, like the Augeoides, can be learnt from scarabs, for a Ka scarab in the Blanchard
Collection lias rays of light proceeding from it, (1), Plate I. It will be noticed that
there are two nefers on this scarab. The recumbent nefer is a Symbol of Deceased.—
In the Spoliation of the Tombs Papyrus, British Muséum, the Deceased are written
thus : J ^he Egyptians used the , |, and f , a contraction of |, lies, very
frequently on scarabs as symbols of the Deceased. Those whom we call the Dead
they called « Living Ones »,
Such was their firm belief in another life.
It seems probable that the Egyptians made a distinction between the Ka of a living
person and that of a Deceased. The so-called « Religions of the Lower Culture » dis-
criminate between thèse two Mr. Crawley in the Idea of the Soul writes : « The
» East Indian Islanders hold a sharp distinction between the soul of a living and that
» of a dead man. The former is part of the pantheistic life which fills ail nature, the
» latter alone is individual. It does not come into being until a man is dead. Thèse
» two soûls are never combined. » — This view of thèse Islanders is very like M. Sot-
tas' interprétation of the Egyptian Ka given in Sphinx, April, 1913 ; namely, that the
U of a man only individualised at his death, the Pharaoh being alone provided with
a double in his lifetime, because his nature was divine.
On scarabs of the Middle Kingdom — the fashion went out later — a fréquent ex-
pression used for Deceased's Ka is, ^, Ka nefer. This conclusion is reached from
THE KA ON SCARABS
of God, —but no one supposes that Dante thought the angels were real birds. Nei-
ther did the ancient Egyptians think of themselves as real birds after death. In the
vignettes of funerary papy ri the Deceased is figured in the boat of Ra as a man— or
wôman,—wearing bis or lier usual dress. I have only. found one example of a Ba-
bird in the boat of Ra, on a wooden painted Stèle of the XXIInd Dynasty in the
British Muséum, N° 8468. This Ba, praying with uplifted hands to the gods in the
boat, is a symbol of ^ Nesui, in the saine attitude, who is represented
outside the boat (the man for whom the stèle was made).
Doubtless the uneducated populace matérialisée! the Ba into a real bird, but the
initiated knew it was a symbol, and it is the nature of a symbol never to express the
actual, for it does not exist in the région of matter, but is in the mind only.
Scarabs with Ka-designs on them are not at ail common. I do not refer to those
Ka signs on scarabs which are fairly common, as being an ingrédient of a personal
or of a Royal name ; which are especially common as the ingrédient of a Throne-
name ; such as Nefer-ka-Ra ; Kheper-ka-Ra ; Maat-ka-Ra, etc. I do not refer to
thèse, but to those scarab designs where the Ka is a divine entity ; the self which
survives death ; an eschatologically-developed being, but still not regarded exactly
the same as a god.
The Ka is considered a spiritual and invisible being which yet requires food and
protection against the dangers of the Au-delà. It is generally invisible, bat when vi-
sible it is luminous. That great mystic, William Blake, wrote « Everything in Eter-
» nity shines by its own light ».— That the Ka was thought of as luminous or glitter-
ing, like the Augeoides, can be learnt from scarabs, for a Ka scarab in the Blanchard
Collection lias rays of light proceeding from it, (1), Plate I. It will be noticed that
there are two nefers on this scarab. The recumbent nefer is a Symbol of Deceased.—
In the Spoliation of the Tombs Papyrus, British Muséum, the Deceased are written
thus : J ^he Egyptians used the , |, and f , a contraction of |, lies, very
frequently on scarabs as symbols of the Deceased. Those whom we call the Dead
they called « Living Ones »,
Such was their firm belief in another life.
It seems probable that the Egyptians made a distinction between the Ka of a living
person and that of a Deceased. The so-called « Religions of the Lower Culture » dis-
criminate between thèse two Mr. Crawley in the Idea of the Soul writes : « The
» East Indian Islanders hold a sharp distinction between the soul of a living and that
» of a dead man. The former is part of the pantheistic life which fills ail nature, the
» latter alone is individual. It does not come into being until a man is dead. Thèse
» two soûls are never combined. » — This view of thèse Islanders is very like M. Sot-
tas' interprétation of the Egyptian Ka given in Sphinx, April, 1913 ; namely, that the
U of a man only individualised at his death, the Pharaoh being alone provided with
a double in his lifetime, because his nature was divine.
On scarabs of the Middle Kingdom — the fashion went out later — a fréquent ex-
pression used for Deceased's Ka is, ^, Ka nefer. This conclusion is reached from