The concept of man in Egypt
Ach, Ba, heart, Ka, body and shade are constituents of the concept of person within the Egyptian religion and are significant for the concept of man in Egyptian culture. Because of the lack of similar concepts within our own cultural heritage there is a need to elucidate their meaning. Although extensive research has been carried out within Egyptology, uncertainties and questions regarding their semantics and lexicography remain. Efforts to impose western terminology on Egyptian concepts - for example, the Christian notion of soul on the Egyptian notion of Ba - have obliterated their meaning. These misconceptions about ideas embedded in Egyptian religion had consequences for the understanding of it both in scientific circles and among the public at large. Such misunderstandings should be counter-balanced with sound information. Therefore it is highly important to gain appropriate knowledge of the way in which the concepts functioned in their proper Egyptian context. The project will be carried out in the context where the concept of person is most prominent, that is, in funerary ritual. This ritual process presents the semantic frame in which the concept of man gains its meaning.
Erika Meyer-Dietrich, Uppsala University
In this study a Middle Kingdom coffin from the Upper Egyptian necropolis of Meir is investigated. The coffin is interpreted as being an object of use in ritual practice. Inscriptions and decorations on the exterior, the joints and the interior of the coffin are analyzed and interpreted with regard to their visibility in ritual actions. Pictures are interpreted as picture acts and texts are read as speech acts that are performed in particular situations that trigger or demand ritual practice. The study focuses on aspects of a person, which are name, Ba, shadow, body, Ka, and Ach. It is shown how these aspects work together to create a person that is conceived as being alive, during its life as well as after death. The close reading of the utterances and the picture acts produce a weave of aspects that relate to the person and are dependent on conceptions of the body. Moreover, the study establishes how the intertwining of the aspects enable the female coffin-owner to attain her existential, ontological, and gender identity. The volume presents photographs of the coffin, translations of the texts, commentaries, and a reconstruction of the entire process of ritualization. The aspects of a person that are brought into play in ritual are compared to their function when employed in literature.