Hieroglyphs Addenda · Signs

𓂓D28 · kꜣ · two raised arms — the ka, the life-force

ka

Where it comes from

Two arms raised from the shoulders, palms forward — the classic writing of the ka: the life-force, the double that is born with a person and must go on being fed after death. Every offering formula ultimately addresses someone’s ka.

How to remember it

The ka lifts both arms — to receive, to embrace, to say here I am. When bread and beer are set out for the dead, these raised arms are what actually takes them.

In the wild

Piece by piece:

• jt(j)-nṯr.pl — the god’s-fathers, a priestly rank
• ḥr drp — are offering
• n kꜣ≡k — to your ka: the raised arms, receiving

Priests feed the double, exactly as designed. The ka is taught in 101’s chapter 06.