Ka

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. In ancient Egyptian belief, the vital spirit or life force that a person received at birth and that continued to exist after death
2. The non-physical double of a person in ancient Egyptian religion, believed to sustain life and to survive the body after death
3. An essential spiritual energy in ancient Egyptian thought, thought to live on in the afterlife and to need food and offerings

Etymology: In ancient Egyptian religion, every person was thought to have a "ka," a vital essence or spirit that came into being at birth and kept the body alive, and that could continue to exist after death. The word is simply the Egyptian term kꜣ, and English borrowed it directly from that language to name this concept, so the English term carries the original Egyptian sense rather than a later translation. The ka was not a soul in the Christian sense but a life force that needed sustenance. Tombs and offering tables were provided so the ka could eat and drink after death, which is why Egyptologists still discuss ka statues and ka names in funerary contexts. English speakers mostly meet the word in Egyptology texts, where it stays in its original form.