B

62

ba(1) The human-headed bird representing the soul or

the vital essence of human beings, the baappears at the

moment of union between the KAand the body, leaving

the mortal remains at death with the ka.The bacan sur-

vive in the afterlife only if it remains in close proximity to

the ka,whose servant it appears to be at that time. The ba

was originally written with the symbol of the Nile Jabiru

bird and was thought to be an attribute of the god king.

The symbol for the bawas then changed to that of a

human-headed hawk.

The translation of the actual name bais possibly

“manifestation,” and supposedly it was spoken “in words

of weeping.” The literal translation is “power.” Humans

hadonly one ba,but the gods had many. The bawas also

considered a “divine essence.” In many eras it was listed

as the soul of the ka.For human affairs, the baplayed the

role of moral sense or a conscience. Great care was taken

that the bawas not led astray after death by evil influ-

ences, as it appears to have had mobility. Rituals were

designed to lead the bato the kaand the mortal remains

of the deceased after wandering. When the baswere des-

tined for eternal joy, they were called the baiu menkhu.

When damned according to the Egyptian moral codes,

they were termed baiu mitu.The bawas also equipped

with spiritual weapons, such as spells and AMULETS, and

was then termed the ba’apur.

ba (2) This was a name used for the ram god of

MENDES,BA’EB DJET, a cult translated into a popular devo-

tion in the first dynasties.

ba (3) Adeity associated with the soul, this god had

many specific functions in the eternal paradise in AMENTI,

the West. The goddess Bait served as his consort.

bahouse A small house-type container, fashioned out

of pottery in most eras and placed in the TOMBSof com-

moners who could not afford the elaborate offertory

chapels of the larger pyramids or mastabas, the bahouse

was fashioned as part of the MORTUARY RITUALand was

designed to offer the kaa resting place and a proper

receptacle for funerary offerings. Some houses contained

clay images of food and gifts to imitate the costly offer-

ings given in the tombs and chambers of the royal family

and the aristocrats. This custom was started in the Mid-

dle Kingdom (2040–1640 B.C.E.), when the priests

wanted to provide ordinary Egyptians with as many mor-

tuary rituals and magical implements as possible to

ensure their eternal bliss.

See also OSIRIS BEDS;OSIRIS GARDENS.

Baalbek A city in Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), called

Heliopolis by Egyptians in the Ptolemaic Period (304–30

B.C.E.), in 200 B.C.E., Baalbek fell to the Seleucid ruler,

ANTIOCHUS III THE GREAT, and then to Rome.

ba’ankh This was the ancient Egyptian term for a “liv-

ing soul,” one that has reached paradise. The god OSIRIS

was sometimes referred to as a ba’ankhin rituals because

of his powers in the realm beyond the grave and his role

as the judge of the dead.

Bab el-Gusus A tomb at DEIR EL-BAHRI, it was on the

western shore of the Nile in THEBES, dating to the Twenty-

first Dynasty (1070–945 B.C.E.). Translated as “the Door

of the Priests,” Bab el-Gusus contains an entrance to a

deep vertical shaft that leads to subterranean corridors

and chambers and extends 300 feet under the forecourt