- Ba -

The Ba, often represented as a bird or a human-headed bird, symbolised the vital principles of human beings. The word "Ba" is usually translated as "soul", but this translation is not entirely correct. An exact translation can not be given, but the word may be related to another word "Ba", that means "power" or "force".

The Ba appears at the moment of union between the body of a person and his Ka, leaving behind the mortal remains at death with the Ka. That it was represented as a bird, sometimes with the head of a person, reflects upon the mobility of the Ba after death, when it could roam around freely, but needed to return to the body and to the offering tables to obtain the necessary sustenance. 

From the "Quarrel of a man with his Ba", a Middle Kingdom tale, we learn that the Ba was also considered as some kind of conscience and had the role of a moral sense.

The Ba of Queen Nefertari, from her tomb in the Valley of the Queens.