Ba
The Egyptian conception of the soul, which in the form of a man-headed bird left the body after death and winged its flight to the gods. It returned at intervals to the mummy for the purpose of comforting it and reassuring it concerning immortality. Sometimes it grasps the ankh (q.v.) and the mmf (q.v.) and is occasionally represented as flying down the tomb-shaft to the deceased, or perched on the breast of the mummy. It was sometimes carved on the lid of mummy cases. In the Book of the Dead a chapter promises abundance of food to the Ba, so that the conception does not appear to have been entirely spiritual.