Beyond life: Aspects of Communication with the Dead Souls in Ancient Egypt

Abstract

The ancient Egyptians believed that after death their souls would continue to exist in the next world. As early as the Neolithic culture, their burial customs tended to preserve the dead in as lifelike a way as possible. Meanwhile, the bodies were buried within the residential settlements. It was through this body treatment, that the living would interact directly with the dead. The Old Kingdom witnessed other early methods of communicating with the departed relatives through writing Letters to the Dead, which extended as long as the Late Period. The ancient Egyptians also erected false doors in their tombs since the Old Kingdom to serve as a link between the worlds of the living and the dead. Additionally, they believed that the dead would come to life in the otherworld together with the souls of their forebears, who were glorified in several manifestations such as the Souls of Pe and Nekhen. In their form as royal ancestral souls, they interacted with the living and the dead. They also blessed the birth, coronation, reigning, and rebirth of the royals. Furthermore, they connected between the sky and the earth and protect, guide, and acclaimed the justification of the dead.