The Dispute between a man and his ba is a funerary text that originates from the 12th dynasty of the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. A single incomplete version has been preserved in literary text in ink on papyrus with the first section missing. It consists of 155 vertical columns and was later on translated by Miriam Lichtheim in 1975. A brief overview of this text is indicated in the title alone, as it is explicitly about man and his ba and their dispute about the existence of the man’s life and the afterlife. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the ba was an aspect of the spirit, and it exists at time of death or after death. This essay will discuss how the Ancient Egyptians in the Middle Kingdom believed in an existing afterlife and through translated texts of different dynasties; it will show the role the ba held in achieving the goal of the afterlife.
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The man argues with his ba for he is longing for death, and wants to transition into the afterlife. (Lichtheim, 1975, pg. 164). However, his ba threatens to leave the man and points out that the afterlife is not certain, so the man should enjoy his life for he could never know what to expect in the Netherworld. They finally both reach to the conclusion that the man will deal with this world, and when his destined death approaches, his ba will be there for him till the end.
By understanding this text, it is apparent that it is a vital representation about the Egyptian afterlife beliefs at the time. The afterlife was believed to be a heaven that everyone will go to, which made it an end goal for everyone to reach. However, as the text pointed out, nobody knew what to expect in the afterlife, so life on earth could be the test before entering the afterlife, and by the choices made in this world; it would depict life in the
The man argues with his ba for he is longing for death, and wants to transition into the afterlife. (Lichtheim, 1975, pg. 164). However, his ba threatens to leave the man and points out that the afterlife is not certain, so the man should enjoy his life for he could never know what to expect in the Netherworld. They finally both reach to the conclusion that the man will deal with this world, and when his destined death approaches, his ba will be there for him till the end.
By understanding this text, it is apparent that it is a vital representation about the Egyptian afterlife beliefs at the time. The afterlife was believed to be a heaven that everyone will go to, which made it an end goal for everyone to reach. However, as the text pointed out, nobody knew what to expect in the afterlife, so life on earth could be the test before entering the afterlife, and by the choices made in this world; it would depict life in the