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Ka
kꜣWhat it actually depicts
Two arms raised, bent upward at the elbow, on a base.
What it meant
The vital essence, the part of a person that distinguishes the living from the dead and that has to be fed after death.
Where you see it
As a sign in the phrase 'for the ka of', which is what an offering formula actually says. As a statue in a sealed chamber, the serdab, so that the ka has a body to inhabit.
What gets said that is wrong
Translated as 'soul', which flattens it. Egyptian thought divided a person into several parts, of which the ka is one, and food offerings were made specifically to it. To die is to go to one's ka.
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