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Ba
bꜣWhat it actually depicts
A bird, usually a stork or a falcon, with a human head, and sometimes human arms.
What it meant
The part of a person that has mobility and personality, able to leave the tomb by day and return at night.
Where you see it
Hovering over the mummy on coffin lids and tomb walls. Flying up the tomb shaft.
What gets said that is wrong
Also translated as 'soul', which makes it interchangeable with the ka, and it is not. The ba moves and the ka is fed. Egyptians also spoke of a god's ba, meaning something like the god's manifestation in a visible thing, which is why the living Apis bull could be called the ba of Ptah.
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