The Ancient Egyptian Akh [3 essentials]

What is a “akh”? In ancient Egypt, the akh was one of the parts of a person that came into being in the ancient Egyptian afterlife. Because the akh could live after death and could contact the living, sometimes you will hear that the akh was a ghost. But the akh was really not like how western idea of a ghost – so what was it really? In this video, you’ll learn the 3 things that you need to know to understand the ancient Egyptian akh.



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☥☥ RECOMMENDED BOOKS☥☥

(Note: the following links are affiliate links, which means that I receive a small commission [at no cost to you] when you make a purchase using one of these links. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make educational videos like this one. Thank you for your support!)


This book by Salima Ikram is my favorite general introduction to death, burial, and afterlife beliefs and practices in ancient Egypt. It is a great introduction to a variety of topics related to the afterlife, including the parts of the person, such as the akh. I like it so much that I use it as the main text in one of my courses:

☥Ikram, Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt - https://amzn.to/2wXo6BS



If you’re looking for an introduction to the wider subject of ancient Egyptian religion, this book by Teeter is one I love to use when teaching ancient Egyptian religion. It covers many aspects of ancient Egyptian belief and ritual and devotes an entire chapter to communication between the living and the dead:

☥Teeter, Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt - http://amzn.to/2BhmiZs



If you want to dive deeper and read a bunch of letters to the dead for yourself, you should check out this book by Wente. It also includes ancient Egyptian letters on many different topics from a wide variety of time periods:

☥Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt - https://amzn.to/2CAEHA5



☥☥QUOTES☥☥

☥ Letter from a husband to his wife (Papyrus Leiden I 371) –
Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt, p. 216 (Letter #352) - https://amzn.to/2CAEHA5


☥ Chicago Jar Stand (“let a healthy son be born”) –
Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt, p. 213 (Letter #345) - https://amzn.to/2CAEHA5

☥ First Intermediate Period letter on a stela (“fighting on my behalf”) –

Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt, p. 215 (Letter #349) - https://amzn.to/2CAEHA5


Many of these letters are also partially quoted in Teeter, Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt, p. 58 - http://amzn.to/2BhmiZs



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☥☥PHOTO CREDITS☥☥
All photos used in this video are licensed for non-commercial and commercial use. Credits included when attribution is required:

Thumbnail credits:
Mummy icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com
Ancestor bust (Ancestor Bust MMA 66.99.45.jpg): https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collect... (Metropolitan Museum of Art: in the public domain)

Video credits:
Ancestor bust (Ancestor Bust MMA 66.99.45.jpg): https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collect... (Metropolitan Museum of Art: in the public domain)
Ba Bird: Wikimedia user Jeff Dahl (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...)
Weighing of the heart from papyrus of Ani photo © Trustees of the British Museum
Stela of Wahibre (BM-EA8464_Ptolemaic wooden stela of Wahibra w-solar barque.jpg): http://britishmuseum.org/research/col... (© Trustees of the British Museum; CC 4.0 Copy, distribute, display and perform our copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if you give us credit in the way we request: © Trustees of the British Museum.)
Pyramidal stelae of akh iqr n ra Khamwy and Pen-nebu (BM-EA359_Akh_stelae.jpg): http://britishmuseum.org/research/col... (© Trustees of the British Museum; CC 4.0 Copy, distribute, display and perform our copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if you give us credit in the way we request: © Trustees of the British Museum.)
Pistachio, asparagus, chives, steak turkey, lettuce, leg of fowl, broccoli, baguette, and leg of meat icons made by Smashicons [https://www.flaticon.com/authors/smas...] from www.flaticon.com



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Demystifying the words and lives of ancient Egyptians through animated videos. http://www.voicesofancientegypt.com