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Ranoferhotep
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Joined: 19 Jun 2010
Posts: 1197
Location: Ghent (Gent - Belgium)
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 Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:03 am Post subject: Being or becoming an Akh? |
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Freetinker wrote: (in http://forum.egyptiandreams.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5104&highlight=)
| Quote: | For Sothis (in particular - all in general). You raised an interesting point earlier in this thread about the possible use of 'magic' for 'entry' to the afterlife. Strangely there has been (or is) an interesting conversation going on at EEF. Perhaps you have been reading it, for convenience I have copied and posted a link to a PDF containing a handful of posts which you might find interesting...
http://www.baystatepublishing.com/pdf-repository/akh.pdf
The conversation revolves around use of the term 'akh' and kinda redefines current understanding (from 'effective' to 'magician'). I find this of particular interest, I had raised the question here (long time ago) about the use of 'Akh' in the name of Akhenaten, and I am still unsure how this could relate (if at all - I was informed that it did not)
My understanding is that it was the objective of ALL AEs to become 'Akh', some but very few could achieve this 'status' in life through 'magic', others through their journey into the afterlife
This is probably not the best thread for this subject, but feel free to make something new if you feel there is mileage in the matter |
I started a new tread about it because I found it a very interesting question. I’ve read the pdf file you included, and as far as I can conduct, all the text were taken from tombs?
We have three main conceptions in A.E. religion about a person.
Everyone who is born has;
a KA, a sort of double (sometimes referred to as “shadow”)
a BA, which means soul
and can become an Akh, which means a spirit.
Now to become an Akh, the Ba and Ka have to be reunited, which only can happen when the person died.
Since all (or most) of the texts you (Allan) gives in the pdf file are from tombs, my guess is they were written before the person died, but with the view that the person in question, one day would day and thus become an Akh. And here I think we may speak that it is a magical formula to be sure the person in question would become an Akh. Why? First, there was no guarantee that a deceased person would reach afterlife, you had to travel through the Netherworld, and most important pass the weighing of the heart. Second, your body had to remain complete, hence the mummification, your tomb had to survive, your name or at least some depiction (statue, painting, …) of you. That explains also why the A.E. tried to destroy everything from Akhenaton. His tomb, mummy, temples and tried to erase his name, a common practice that e.g. also was done by Hatsjepsut.
About the text regarding an Akh on earth. When becoming an Akh, one was no longer obliged to stay attached to the/or a physical body, and one could travel trough space and time and even return to earth. Hence the so called “False doors” we find in several tombs. They were the entrance for the Akh to return to earth, but only in a spiritual form, we call them ghosts.
That the A.E. believed in ghosts we now from some papyri/stele. I don’t recall which one. But I know there has been found one in which (I think) a widow makes a plea to her deceased husband, not to turn against her, and were she promises that in return she shall undertake all the things necessary (offerings at the tomb, prayers, …) so that his ghost (Akh) stays at peace and doesn’t conflict harm to her and her relatives.
They probably didn’t have a happy marriage 
Whether an Akh, could take a physical form (animal, person) when back on earth, I don’t know. I’ve never read anything about it that this was possible.
But becoming an Akh, during life seems theologically, according to A.E. beliefs impossible.
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Ranoferhotep
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Joined: 19 Jun 2010
Posts: 1197
Location: Ghent (Gent - Belgium)
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| Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:26 am Post subject: |
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About the name of Akhenaton. I’ve looked up his name in hieroglyphs, there are several versions of it, and I also looked up the hieroglyph writing for “Akh” (Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Vol. I & II). What we call in English “Akh”, is actually Aakhu, it has several meanings, of which one is “light” and another “(divine) spirit”.
Thus Akhenaton, which is written as “Aakhu-en-Aten” as far as I can translate would mean something as “the light of Aton” and not “spirit”.
Now there are members here on the forum who now more about hieroglyphs than I, so if I’m wrong here, feel free to correct me.
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Lutz
Pharaoh
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 3795
Location: Berlin, Germany
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| Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Ranoferhotep wrote: | | About the name of Akhenaton. I’ve looked up his name in hieroglyphs, there are several versions of it, and I also looked up the hieroglyph writing for “Akh” (Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Vol. I & II). What we call in English “Akh”, is actually Aakhu, it has several meanings, of which one is “light” and another “(divine) spirit”. ... |
And others are "wonderful, brilliant, helpful, useful" (Hannig I - Marburger Edition. - 2006. - p.11). "helpful / useful to the Aton" is the accepted translation of his name, as far as I know ...
Lutz |
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Ranoferhotep
Vizier
Joined: 19 Jun 2010
Posts: 1197
Location: Ghent (Gent - Belgium)
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| Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Lutz wrote: | | Ranoferhotep wrote: | | About the name of Akhenaton. I’ve looked up his name in hieroglyphs, there are several versions of it, and I also looked up the hieroglyph writing for “Akh” (Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Vol. I & II). What we call in English “Akh”, is actually Aakhu, it has several meanings, of which one is “light” and another “(divine) spirit”. ... |
And others are "wonderful, brilliant, helpful, useful" (Hannig I - Marburger Edition. - 2006. - p.11). "helpful / useful to the Aton" is the accepted translation of his name, as far as I know ...
Lutz |
Thank you Lutz
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dzama923
Scribe
Joined: 15 Jul 2014
Posts: 313
Location: Stamford, Connecticut
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