Search Results: Soul

At the beginning of time, the god Atum stood on the primordial mound in the midst of the waters of chaos and created the world. The power which enabled this act was heka (magic) personified in the god Heka, the invisible force behind the...

Plato's Lie in the Soul (or the True Lie) is a concept appearing in Republic, Book II, 382a-382d, defined as "being deceived in that which is the truest and highest part of or about the truest and highest matters" or, in other words, being...

A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one reason or another, either returned from the realm...

The Chinvat Bridge is the span between the world of the living and the afterlife in the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism. It is also known as Cinvat Bridge, Cinvad Bridge, and Chinvato Peretav. Every soul, after death, was thought...

A'Aru (The Field of Reeds) was the Egyptian afterlife, an idealized vision of one's life on earth (also known as Sekhet-A'Aru and translated as The Field of Rushes). Death was not the end of life but a transition to another part of one's...

Jainism is one of the oldest religions in the world. The name comes from jiva (soul or life force but, capitalized, is also given as Spiritual Conqueror) as it maintains that all living things possess an immortal soul which has always and...

Egyptian soul house, 12th Dynasty, about 1985-1795 BCE. Provenance unknown. The British Museum, (photo taken at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia) Model houses placed in tombs were another way to ensure the deceased's eternal access...

Redware pottery depicting the so-called "soul house", from E-Kab, Egypt, 11th to 12th Dynasties, 2024-1700 BCE. It has flattened pellets representing a loop of wood. One of the two pillars which supports the roof is lost. Mr. Petrie thought...

Is it possible to have a heart that is lighter than a feather? To the ancient Egyptians it was not only possible but highly desirable. The after-life of the ancient Egyptians was known as the Field of Reeds, a land just like what one knew...

A detail from the Papyrus of Ani, an Egyptian Book of the Dead. The god Thoth stands at the ready to inscribe the interrogation and judgement of Ani, who whose soul is being judged by the gods. The goddess Ammit stands behind Thoth, ready...