Changes

==Religious Beliefs about the Human Body and the Afterlife==

The ancient Egyptians conceived of the human body as an amalgam of smaller parts including the limbs, organs, blood, bone, hair, et cetera and that this collection of parts constituted a whole, which was the earthly home for the three parts of the soul. These parts were known as the ka, the ba and the akh. The ka was the part of the soul that existed in the living realm and the akh was the part of the soul that existed in the land of the dead or the underworld. The ka and akh were each a kind of “double” of their host. The ba, which is often depicted as a bird with the head of the deceased, could travel between the two realms of the living and the dead.<ref>Riggs, Christina, “Body.” <i>UCLA Encyclopedia Of Egyptology</i>. 2010 ed. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles. Web. 11 Nov. 2015, p. 4.</ref>

==The role of ritual in death and the transition to the afterlife==

The mummification process involved a great deal of ritual and prayer. It was believed that death was the process of transitioning from the land of the living, a world of suffering and limitations, to the land of the dead, where the deceased (if properly buried) could assume godlike powers including everlasting life and the ability to take any form they choose.<ref>Hays, Harold M. ”Funerary Rituals (Pharaonic Period). ” ‘’’’UCLA Encyclopedia Of Egyptology’’’’. 2010 ed. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles. Web. 11 Nov. 2015, p. 1.</ref> Any person who could afford it was mummified.<ref>Ikram,<i>UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology</i> p. 1.</ref>