Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:37:59 +0000 (GMT) From: ANGELA MANN Subject: Re: AEL s-Ax To: AEgyptian-L@rostau.org.uk In his work "A Study of the Ba Concept in Ancient Egyptian Texts" (The University of Chicago Press, London, 1968) Louis Zabkar includes references to the Akh and to s-Ax. I quote: "In the birth scene of Hatshepsut, her mother, Ahmes, addresses Amun: '.........It is splendid to see thy front when thou hast united my majesty with thy Akhs (i.e., efficiency)' " (page 63). "In an inscription in the tomb of Haemet, the owner prays to Amun: '......... Mayest thou make efficient (sAx.k) my mummy .......' " (page 153). It is interesting that Zabkar feels the need to explain the meaning of Akhs and give the transliteration for 'make efficient'. There are probably similar references within his study, but I think these two make clear how Zabkar views sAx. In Faulkner's dictionary Ax (depending on how it is written) = spirit; become a spirit; glorious; beneficial, useful, profitable. sAx = spiritualize. My take on it all is that to become an Akh was the eventual goal of the deceased person and would appear to be the most perfect or ideal state of being that the deceased could attain; this could be described in various ways including glorious or efficient. So sAx could be translated as: to make glorious, make efficient, etc - it all depends on what your definition of the ideal state, ie Akh, is. Angela ============================================================================== Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:05:43 +0000 From: "Susan Henssler" To: "Ancient Egyptian Language List" Subject: Re: AEL s-Ax Compare, for example, the Buddhist concept of the "Diamond Body" and the identical notion, in the western Hermetic tradition, of the Astral body (a higher form of the Etheric body.) I believe that the idea of "effectiveness" which some translators apply, comes from the fact that in this body one is able to operate effectively on the astral plane (that is, perform willed actions), where the deceased goes - also where we all go when we're asleep. Anyone can train themselves to be aware of and function in that body. ============================================================================== Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:09:58 -0600 From: Robert Myers To: Ancient Egyptian Language List Subject: Re: AEL s-Ax > My take on it all is that to become an Akh was the eventual goal of the deceased > person and would appear to be the most perfect or ideal state of being that the > deceased could attain; this could be described in various ways including glorious > or efficient. So sAx could be translated as: to make glorious, make efficient, etc > - it all depends on what your definition of the ideal state, ie Akh, is. > > Angela > > Thanks. That is kind of a QED of Allen's use of a new word, it seems. Modern scholars sometimes have a "this, not that" approach. But from multiple examinations of the word in contextual use, there seems no way of confining it to English. The visual content of hieroglyphic script evidently activated the right hemisphere so that Egyptians could conceptualize phenomena and ideals in a way some regard as "paradoxical". But, of course, the Egyptians were often "thinking outside the sarcophagus". Bob ============================================================================== To: AEgyptian-L@rostau.org.uk Subject: Re: AEL s-Ax Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:48:20 -0500 From: tokapu@aol.com Perhaps it is as simple as "soul?" If ka, ba, ib and shuit work together to protect the ax of the deceased, perhaps what we are talking about is the soul? Ramona ============================================================================== Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:21:59 -0600 From: Robert Myers To: Ancient Egyptian Language List Subject: Re: AEL s-Ax Well, ancient cosmology was integral to ancient psychology. It seems that Freud may have gotten his idea of id, ego, superego, thanatos, and libido from the Egyptian kA, ib, bA, etc. He used to fondle a marble statue of Baboon Thoth when he worked. And, his ushabti collection was wonderful. ==============================================================================