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There was widespread belief in ghosts in ancient Egyptian culture in the sense of the continued existence of the soul and spirit after death, with the ability to assist or harm the living, and the possibility of a second death. Over a period of more than 2,500 years, Egyptian beliefs about the nature of the afterlife evolved constantly. Many of these beliefs were recorded in inscriptions, papyrus scrolls and tomb paintings. The ''Egyptian Book of the Dead'' compiles some of the beliefs from different periods of ancient Egyptian history. In modern times, the fanciful concept of a mummy's coming back to life and wreaking vengeance when disturbed has spawned a whole genre of horror stories and movies. ==Concept of the soul== (詳細はKhu or luminous part of man emerged, part of the human but also a separate entity. Khu was the soul, symbolized by the crested ibis. The Ba, or soul, of later Egypt was its direct descendant. It was only in the decadent Greek and Roman periods that Khu became seen as a malignant ghost that entered the bodies of the living to torture them. In later periods, the Egyptians developed the idea of five components of the soul representing the heart (the seat of thought and emotion), the shadow, the name, the soul ba and the spirit (Ka). It was believed that the Ba is everything that makes a person unique, a concept similar to "personality", while the Ka gives life. Death occurs when the Ka leaves the body. After death, the Ba and Ka are reunited to form the Akh, represented by a bird-like hieroglyph. If the proper funeral rites were executed and followed by constant offerings, the Akh could later be reanimated. The Akh is close to the western cultural concept of a ghost or spirit, since the Egyptians believed that the akh could reach beyond the tomb to have positive or negative effects on the living. The Akh even developed into a sort of ghost or roaming "dead being" during the Ramesside Period (when the tomb was not in order any more). An Akh could do either harm or good to persons still living depending on the circumstances, such as causing nightmares, feelings of guilt or sickness.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The "ka", the "ba" the "akh" and the body embalmed )〕 Similar concepts have been observed in Indonesia and in the Solomon Islands, possibly transferred by travellers in the ancient world. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ghosts in ancient Egyptian culture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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