Anatomy of the Ancient Egyptian Soul: The Ka

In this episode Kara and Amber continue their series on the ancient Egyptian anatomy of the self by exploring the ka—often translated as a “life force,” but an element far more complex than that simple phrase suggests. Drawing on textual evidence like the Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts, art, architecture, and funerary practices, Kara and Amber examine how the ka functioned as a sustaining power tied to food offerings, lineage, divine capabilities, and the material world. Their discussion reveals how the ancient Egyptians understood the survival of the ka as something deeply materialistic: a system of bodies, images, offerings, and rituals designed to sustain the ka for eternity.Show NotesAllen, James P. 1988. Genesis in Egypt : The Philosophy of Ancient Egyptian Creation Accounts. Yale Egyptological Seminar, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Graduate School, Yale University.Goebs, Katja. 2008. Crowns in Egyptian funerary literature: royalty, rebirth, and destruction. Griffith Institute Monographs. Oxford: Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum.Lobban, Richard, “A Solution to the Mystery of Was Scepter of Ancient Egypt and Nubia,” KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt (10/3), 1999, 68–77.Lobban, R. A. and M. Sprague, “Bulls and the W3s Sceptre in Ancient Egypt and Sudan,” Anthrozoös 10, 1997, 14-22.Schwabe, Calvin W., Joyce Adams, and Carleton T. Hodge, “Egyptian Beliefs about the Bull’s Spine: An Anatomical Origin for Ankh,” Anthropological Linguistics 24, no. 4 (1982): 445–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30027646. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

What, exactly, makes a person a person? In this episode, Kara and Amber launch a new series exploring the anatomy of the ancient Egyptian soul. They begin with the ba—often translated as “soul,” but far stranger and more powerful than that simple word suggests. The ba is the part of you that moves, that transforms, that survives death. Drawing from art, funerary texts, and literary works like The Dialogue of a Man with His Ba, the Egyptians unpack how the ba functioned as a mobile, solar, and deeply dynamic aspect of the individual.What emerges is an understanding that the ancient Egyptians did not view the self as singular. They saw it as layered and multifaceted—existing everywhere all at once: still and enduring, yet constantly in motion.This episode begins a multipart exploration of the ancient Egyptian individual—from the ba to the ka, the name, the heart, and beyond—asking how this ancient civilization imagined identity, survival, and how the Egyptians sought eternal existence in a world where death is inevitable.NotesAllen, James P. 2011. The debate between a man and his soul: a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian literature. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 44. Leiden: Brill. Janák, Jiří. 2016. Ba. In Jacco Dieleman, Willeke Wendrich (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz002k7g85Lichtheim, Miriam. 1973. Ancient Egyptian literature. A book of readings, volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

**Content and trigger warning: This episode contains images of sex and discussion of sexual themes, sexual abuse and exploitation, incest, and other related topics that might be inappropriate or upsetting to some listeners. Kara and Amber discuss one of the most debated objects from ancient Egypt: the so-called Turin Erotic Papyrus (Turin P. 55001). Often viewed as an example of ancient Egyptian pornography or crass entertainment, this papyrus reveals far more about elite anxiety, dynastic survival, and the ideological machinery of patriarchy. Through close visual analysis and discussion, they explore what is behind the exaggerated and sexualized depictions of bodies and scenes of sexual dominance and performance—not simply as humor, but as expressions of a system of power struggling to reproduce itself and maintain dominance. These images expose an obsession with regeneration, haunted by aging and mortality, and shaped by fear of failing masculinity, in which an aging sun god—and an aging king—must be sexually reborn to keep the cosmos intact.This episode connects sex, death, pornography, religion, ancient harems, and power structures both ancient and modern, asking why patriarchal societies so often turn to sexual control as ideology—and why these ancient images still feel disturbingly familiar today.Show notesMore about the Turin Erotic Papyrus (Museo Egizio)Selected BibliographyBabcock, Jennifer Miyuki , Ancient Egyptian animal fables: tree climbing hippos and ennobled mice (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 128), Leiden; Boston 2022, p. 49–54, 107 e passim.Bresciani, Edda, Sulle rive del Nilo : l’Egitto al tempo dei faraoni(Grandi Opere), Roma 2000, pp. 122–127, 139–141, fig. 13 p. 124-5; fig. 5-6 p. 140.Flores Diane, “The topsy-turvy world”, in Egypt, Israel, and the ancient Mediterranean world. Studies in Honor of Donald B.Redford., 2004, pp. 234–235, 239, 246, 249, fig. pp. [21], [27], [37], [42].Houlihan, Patrick F., Wit & humour in ancient Egypt, London 2001, pp. 67–72, 132–136, fig.. 57, 66, 67, 68, 136, 141-6.Janák, J. And H. Navrátilová, 2008, “People v. P. Turin 55001,” in C. Graves-Brown (ed.) Sex and Gender in Ancient Egypt, ‘Don your wig for a joyful hour,’ The Classical Press of Wales.Manniche, Lise, Sexual life in Ancient Egypt, in -, London 1997, pp. 106–115.Omlin, Joseph A., Der Papyrus 55001 und seine satirisch-erotischen Zeichnungen und Inschriften (Catalogo del Museo Eg. di Torino - Serie I. - Monumenti e testi 3), Torino 1973.Skumsnes, Reinert. 2025. A case study of the Turin Satirical-Erotic papyrus: historical bodies, mundane resistance, and alternative body worlds. In Pedersen, Unn, Marianne Moen, and Lisbeth Skogstrand (eds), Gendering the Nordic past: dialogues between perspectives, 235-250. Turnhout: Brepols. DOI: 10.1484/M.WOP-EB.5.144367.Toivari-Viitala, Jaana-Toivari-Viitala, Jaana, Women at Deir el-Medina : a study of the status and roles of the female inhabitants in the workmen’s community during the Ramesside Period(Egyptologische Uitgaven 15), Leiden 2001, pp. 146–7. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Kara, Jordan, and guest Jason Silvestri delve into the enigmatic history of the Libyans during Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period. Jason shares his academic journey into Egyptology, discusses the discovery of ancient Libyan words in the Qeheq papyrus, and highlights his exciting archeological work at El Hibeh.About our Guest: Jason SilvestriJason Silvestri (BA ’19, Univ. of Toronto; MA ’21 UC Berkeley) is the Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow at Christ’s College, Cambridge and PhD Candidate in Egyptian Archaeology at UC Berkeley’s Dept. of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC), where he is writing a dissertation on the social and political history of the Libyan Period (Dyns. XXI-XXIV). He has also worked extensively on Libyan-Egyptian interconnections, and has published the earliest known evidence of an Ancient Libyan language, the Qeheq Papyrus. In addition to his textual work, he is also an archaeologist, and has worked for several projects in Italy, Greece, and Egypt.Academiahttps://elhibehproject.org/Show Notes* Check out Jason’s article on oldest extant text that possibly preserve the Berber language * Third Intermediate Period * Libyan Period* Egyptian glyph rendering of the term “Libyans”- 𓍿𓅓𓎛𓌙𓀀 or 𓍿𓎛𓈖𓏌𓇋𓇋𓅱* Candelora, Danielle 2019. The eastern Delta as a middle ground for Hyksos identity negotiation. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 75, 77-94.* Hubschmann, C., (2010) “Who Inhabited Dakhleh Oasis? Searching for an Oasis Identity in Pharaonic Egypt”, Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 20(1), 51-66. doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/pia.341* Code Shifting * Use of the term “tribe” within anthropological studies * Banishment Stela * The Amazigh Language Family * Afroasiatic Language Family * Cooper, Julien Charles 2021. Beja and Cushitic languages in Middle Egyptian texts: the etymologies of queen Aashayet and her retainers. Lingua Aegyptia 29, 13-36. DOI: 10.37011/lingaeg.29.02.* Cooper, J. (2020). Egyptian Among Neighboring African Languages. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 1(1). Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2fb8t2pz* El HibehWant to learn more about the Libyan Period? Suggested Readings:* Ritner, R. K. (2009) The Libyan anarchy : inscriptions from Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period / translated with an introduction and notes by Robert K. Ritner ; edited by Edward Wente. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.* Moreno García, J. C. (2014) Invaders or just herders? Libyans in Egypt in the third and second millennia bce. World archaeology. [Online] 46 (4), 610–623.* Broekman, G. (2011) Theban Priestly and Governmental Offices and Titles in the Libyan Period. Zeitschrift für ägyptische sprache und altertumskunde. [Online] 138 (2), 93–115.Ancient/Now is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

In our latest live Q&A with podcast supporters, we discuss Kara’s progress on her latest book (about Nefertiti!!!!), the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the challenges of pronouncing ancient Egyptian words (vocalization is hard and a task we try to avoid), whether or not Cleopatra really committed suicide (short answer: NO), our top-three favorite tombs (Sennefer, Ramose, etc etc and why is Osirisnet down!?), and more. Read more about Kara’s perspective on the death of Cleopatra in her book, When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt. Explore tombs in the Valley of the Kings via the Theban Mapping Project website!Learn more about the Grand Egyptian Museum here. Someday we will visit, but not this day…. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

Kara and Amber return to the royal caches for Part II of their deep dive into the coffins reused for the re-Osirification (!!) of Thutmose III and Ramses II. Building on her new open-access article in Arts, Kara lays out how 20th–21st Dynasty priests “withdrew” value from royal burials during crisis and then ritually “paid it back,” stripping sheet gold but restoring a solar substitute (thin gilding or even just yellow washes of paint), covering coffin interiors with Osirian black resins, adding protective iconography and red paint as apotropaic force fields, and re-adding elements of kingship and human agency. Along the way, Kara and Amber map the politics of reuse within the royal caches of KV35 (the tomb of Amenhotep II in the Valley of the Kings) and TT320 (a reused 18th Dynasty queens tomb at Deir el Bahari used to rebury “preferred” kings and queens and the final resting place of many of the Amen Priesthood). They discuss whether or not the coffin reused for Thutmose III was originally made for him, and consider the material record through feminist and new-materialist lenses, looking at how ritual tries to reconcile scarcity, power, and piety. It’s a practical guide to what Egyptians thought were the essential ritual elements for a king to transform—gold/solar, earth/Osiris, iconography/protection, kingship, and human agency—and why they were significant.Show notesFor a discussion of the ritual repair of mummies from the Deir el Bahri 320 cache, check out Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Episode #88.For more about Thutmose III and the veneration of royal ancestors, check out Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Episode #83.SourcesBrown, Nicholas. 2020. “Raise Me Up and Repel My Weariness! A study of the coffin of Thutmose III (CG 61014).” MDAIK 76/77: 11-35.Cooney, Kathlyn. “Surviving New Kingdom Kings’ Coffins: Restoring the Art That Was.” Arts 2025, 14(3), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030057.Cooney, Kara. 2024. Recycling for Death: Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches. Cairo and New York: The American University in Cairo Press. [Buy it on Amazon or on the AUCP website.] Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

CW// self-harm and suicideKara and Amber take on the most famous death in all of antiquity—Cleopatra VII’s—and ask what “honor” really means when the sources are Roman, i.e. biased AF, and the stakes are imperial, that is Octavian is using Cleopatra’s fall to condense all power into the hands of one person, his own. Starting with a timeline of events, Kara and Amber unpack Octavian’s propaganda about Cleopatra’s death by suicide, and Kara argues that the suicide story serves Rome far more than it serves Egypt’s last queen. Using David Graeber’s Debt as a lens, they consider the ways in which honor, debt, and violence travel together in patriarchal systems—and how those rules are gendered. Antony’s suicide reads as “honorable,” while Cleopatra’s is framed as hysterical and selfish and maternal abandonment—all the worst things a woman within patriarchy could do. They probe the politics of narratives about “honor” that trap women who rule (with nods to Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Zenobia). The result is a sharp, feminist read of Cleopatra’s end.Or, as Kara likes to say: Suicide my ass… he straight up killed her and lied about it.Fight me. :)Show notesDavid Graeber’s DebtCheck out our other episodes on Cleopatra:Episode #57 – Reception, Ownership, and Race: Netflix’s “Queen Cleopatra”Episode #60 – Part II: Reception, Ownership, and Race: Netflix’s “Queen Cleopatra”Episode #82 – The Death of Cleopatra: Murder or Suicide? Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

Kara and Amber unpack what Kara has described as perhaps the most consequential object of her career: the coffin used to (re)bury Thutmose III. The story behind this king’s coffin spans centuries—running from the height of the 18th Dynasty—when it was first made—through the Late Ramesside turmoil—when it was first exhumed—and into the 20th–21st Dynasties—when the coffin was opened, closed, and reopened to source gold and use the body of the king as a kind of talisman for power. This coffin provides an excellent case study to help us understand how royal burials—and royal corpses—were manipulated, remade, and redeployed as tools that manufactured social power. Kara walks us through the forensic clues on the object itself—two uraeus holes (think vulture and cobra on the mask of Tutankhamun!), layers of plaster (that means redecoration!) tool marks (scraping away all that gilding!), traces of gilding (regilding a thin layer after taking a thick layer), and multiple sets of mortise-and-tenons (as the case and lid sides get thinner and thinner!)—to show at least two major interventions before the coffin was finally cached in Deir el-Bahri 320, stripped of just about all its precious materials. During this discussion, Kara and Amber explore some of the reasons Thutmose III was resurrected as a divine ancestor by later generations of warlords (like Payankh and Herihor!), how “caretaking” and commodification coexisted, and what these acts can tell us about civil conflict, migration, and elite replacement in the late Bronze Age. This is a forensic case study that reveals object stratigraphy as power politics. Show notesFor a discussion of the ritual repair of mummies from the Deir el Bahri 320 cache, check out Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Episode #88.For more about Thutmose III and the veneration of royal ancestors, check out Afterlives of Ancient Egypt, Episode #83.SourcesBrown, Nicholas. 2020. “Raise Me Up and Repel My Weariness! A study of the coffin of Thutmose III (CG 61014).” MDAIK 76/77: 11-35.Cooney, Kathlyn. “Surviving New Kingdom Kings’ Coffins: Restoring the Art That Was.” Arts 2025, 14(3), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030057.Cooney, Kara. 2024. Recycling for Death: Coffin Reuse in Ancient Egypt and the Theban Royal Caches. Cairo and New York: The American University in Cairo Press. [Buy it on Amazon or on the AUCP website.] Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe

Akhenaten physically manifested his cult to the sun, building a capital city at a break in the cliffs that created the perfect sunrise hieroglyph on the east bank, a city filled with open air temples into which the sun’s rays could reach directly. He created no statues to represent divine solar power, no intercessor between god and king; the sun’s warmth and light could not be contained in a cult statue. To honor the sun god, Akhenaten created a simple and literal system of giving back what the sun god had given to his people: his Aten temples contained thousands of altars filled to overflowing with the bounty of his people’s produce—joints of beef, oxen heads, ducks and geese, bread loaves in all shapes and sizes, onions, garlic, beer and wine. In this episode, Kara Cooney and Amber Myers Wells dive into the overwhelming scale of the offering tables from Akhenaten’s reign and what they reveal about ritual, power, and ideology in the Amarna period. Why did Akhenaten commission thousands of offering tables for the Aten, who filled them, where did the food come from, and what does this short-lived practice tell us about the king’s vision of divine connection versus the economic and social realities of life at the new capital city of Akhetaten?This is a confusing topic with many outstanding questions; please communicate your confusion, quandaries, and ideas in the comments!Show notesFor more on the Great Aten Temple and Offering Tables, see the Amarna Project website, a treasure trove of information. Check out this image of Akhenaten offering in his great Aten Temple, as pictured in the tomb of one of his courtiers and the temple’s Chief Servant, Panehsy. For a statue fragment of Akhenaten holding his own personal offering table, see this piece at the Met! Ancient/Now is always free for everyone. If you want to help me pay Amber and Jordan what they are worth, consider becoming a paid subscriber. And thank you!SourcesCooney, Kathlyn M. 2007. The cost of death: the social and economic value of ancient Egyptian funerary art in the Ramesside period. Egyptologische Uitgaven 22. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.Janssen, Jac J. 1975. Commodity prices from the Ramessid period: an economic study of the village of necropolis workmen at Thebes. Leiden: E. J. Brill.Kemp, Barry. 2013. The city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and its people. London: Thames & Hudson.McClain, J. Brett and Kathlyn Cooney. 2005. “The daily offering meal in the ritual of Amenhotep I: an instance of the local adaptation of cult liturgy.” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 5, 41-78. DOI: 10.1163/156921205776137963. Get full access to Ancient/Now at ancientnow.substack.com/subscribe