These emigrants established a modified version of the Khe culture and its forms of worship, but towards the end of the era this deteriorated more into the sham-spectacle version of Atlantean worship.

Quite early in its rise to academic excellence, Atlantean policy had been to send science students out gathering items for research. There was very little of the early world not known and recorded in the annals of both Atlantis and Khe. Once communications had been established, it was not long before travelling missionaries would follow the routes of earlier explorers, bringing their own form of ritual. It seems almost incredible to think that this same complex spectacular approach to Deity still influences religious observances in many parts of the world today.

This blend of Khe-Atlantean style worship in the early dynastic period in Egypt is a fascinating mosaic, where many grains of truth can be seen heavily shrouded in myth and dogma, as described in the last chapters of Loliad's story.

No race of people, either before or since the days of Swn, has better understood the basic principle of man's innate need for expression through worship, though it is hoped that the glorious race of earthlings about to emerge as the result of metaphysical teachings will restore the rightful approach.

The dual nature of man, as depicted in your PSI-man symbol, presented a perennial mystery to early man. Time and time again in an attempt to feed the Spirit, men catered instead to Ego and the sensation-loving carnal appetites.

It is on these precepts that the first religious observances developed in Atlantis, while in Swn men were taught to release their inner power quietly and regularly with no need for intermediaries twixt God and man.

In Khe the custom had been to choose a leader in a democratic fashion -- the person best suited to lead by virtue of his high degree of enlightenment and spirituality. There was no question of succession from father to son, or financial gain from the position, for the system of common wealth accessible to all was in effect.

However, in Atlantis the cultural trends had developed along entirely different lines -- first with a system of closed schools, then the teaching of "secret" knowledge to a few selected intellectuals, which gave these select groups power over the great masses of ordinary citizens. The practice of keeping this power in families came next, so that particular secrets would be handed on from father to son. These secrets were largely scientific discoveries which could be used to hold the possessors in awe by the masses -- like the heatless flame, for example.

This practice led to a gradual rise of powerful or ruling classes, considered by the people to be actual manifestations of God on earth and in direct touch with Him at all times -- able to translate His Will to the people.

In the eight-hundred-year period from 3500 B.C. to 2700 B.C., which we will cover in this chapter, we will see the rise of the first of these great ruling families, called dynasties, and their effect on mens' lives today, for no historian can deny the powerful influence of Egyptology on modern western cultures.

In historical records, frequent mention has been made to the Egyptian gods and their complex retinue. Without a doubt they dominated the lives of men down to the most minute detail of daily affairs. The secrets of the gods were in the hands of the priesthood -- a group of clever, well-educated men with strong ambitions.

The establishment of a new "god", more powerful than any other "god", had long been understood as the shortest route to outstanding success in priestly endeavours. It was also essential to maintain a large staff of common clergy to keep a continuously watchful eye out for possible upstart religious fervours outside of their own denomination.

No matter how similar the basic truth to be taught by the broader aspects of any religious teaching, the constant need for different detail, diverse dogma and complex rituals, creates enough ego-conflict among the church hierarchy to result in splinter groups forming. Even today infighting between adherents of slightly different versions of the same basic Christianity are encouraged by the priesthood. So it was in Egypt.

Because early man had an intimate knowledge of the terror of darkness which had prevailed over large sections of Earth since time immemorial, man's earliest form of religious expression took the form of sun worship. Ra, the sun god, was the maker and organizer of all things. He dispensed his various functions through a hierarchy of demi-gods and large retinues of priests who conveyed his messages to the people and generally conducted his earthly affairs, such as collecting tributes and organizing holy days.

The early days of Egyptian cultural and religious growth were supervised by Ra, and his entourage. The soul was considered to be like a light reflection which death sets free. It was conceived as being similar to a reflection from the surface of calm water or from a polished mirror -- the eternal projection of the human figure; a double, reproducing in the minutest detail the total image of the person to whom it belonged.

The story of Ra, the supreme sun god, as built up in Egypt over a period of 3,500 years, is a very human blending of spiritual truth and human imagination. It surely indicates man's knowledge of his dual entity, by virtue of the fact that two gods, Ra, the sun god, and Keb, the earth god, are involved in constant struggle. The basis of the legend went like this:

Osiris, the beloved Lord of All, was said to be the offspring of an intrigue between the beloved wife of Ra, and Keb. In time Ra perceived that his wife Nut had been unfaithful and burst forth with an angry curse which would prevent the birth of her child. Ra then declared that in no month and in no year should Nut be delivered of her child.

But the goddess Nut had not been satisfied with a single infidelity, and unknown to Ra she had another lover who, playing a game with the moon, won for Nut the seventy-second part of every day until, in all, five days had been secured.

Believing that some form of trickery was involved, the people tried to help Ra by adding these five days to the end of every 351 days and in so doing established a closer harmony between solar and lunar time.

Ra rested on these five days, the four and three-fifth's days, when Mars stood directly in the path between sun and earth and therefore was unable to keep his eye on earth which made his curse invalid at this time. So Nut, taking advantage of the situation, was delivered of her child on the first of the five days.

At the time of the baby's birth a loud voice from heaven proclaimed, "Osiris, the Lord of All, is now born into world."

Ra, realizing that his curse had failed to have the desired effect, immediately set about rearranging the heavens so that he could keep watch for longer periods. He therefore assigned himself only one-fifth of a day for rest, and as Nut would not know the exact day each year that he intended to rest, she could never again be delivered of a lover's child.

Analysis of this portion of the legend indicates that in this 3,500-year period there were several astrological events, one involving the moon, and possibly one involving both the moon and Mars (who was considered to be the unnamed second lover) in such a manner as to suggest that a game was being played between the two which ultimately resulted in a longer year.

This story suggests that earth was not too deeply involved, but with the 356-day year there still was a total of four and three-fifths days of total darkness while Mars eclipsed the sun. It is probable that only the sunlit belt suffered for a brief part of this time in total darkness, with the rest of the eclipse being spent in semigloom similar to a total sun eclipse.

Early man found it very reasonable to look up into the sky and imagine all sorts of activity going on up there. This was the domain of the gods who ruled over earthlings and supervised Ra's kingdom.

Because daylight was so precious, the advent of the constant heatless flame in Atlantis gave the early priesthood an excellent symbol for use by those who wanted to gain recognition as divine intercessors. The element of fire became more and more associated with church ritual as its sophistications grew.

The trend caught on not only in Egypt but right across the known world, to be manifested in some cases as a sacrifice in fire, or burnt offerings.

During the very earliest transitional period from individual worship to mass ritual, the heatless flame became widely used to distinguish between the "faithful" and those individualists who opposed the new teachings. Nonbelievers were burned by the flame but the hierarchy, who always demonstrated their own powers first, could stand in the flame without harm.

When more hours of sunlight resulted from the Atlantean disaster, these were attributed to extra benevolence on the part of Ra. But fire still continued to play a big part in all religious ritual. Burning candles in churches today is a practice directly handed down from the Atlantean system via Mythraism, which was the preChristian religion in Rome. Pagan rituals all over the world still utilize some form of fire in their religious ceremonies, though often in a less sophisticated form than candle burning.

Sun, fire, and promiscuous intent have all played their part in the founding of religious sects. Women have been kept subservient as the playthings of men, a practise which had its beginning in the dawn of human history. Their part in our religious structure is perhaps best illustrated by a mythology, which like many other mythologies, was a means by which obscure historical events with some small grain of truth could be made to take on a supernatural or religious meaning, and so become incorporated into religious rituals. Some versions of an event were less corrupt than others, as the foregoing story of Ra and Keb.

Osiris' birth was acclaimed from the heavens. In the original version it was told how earth shook and trembled in the travail of his birth. After the birth of Osiris a new arrangement of heavenly bodies appeared in the sky. The sun, Mars, moon and earth took on a new alignment, permitting a greater concentration of sunlight over wider portions of the planet. Even so Mars, would still come between sun and earth periodically, causing a total eclipse, though this was no longer an annual event.

The story of Osiris continued as he, "Lord of all Living Things on Earth," though bound by the frailties of a human body, claimed the Egyptian people from savagery, gave them social laws by which to live, and taught them how to worship.

Egypt at this time consisted of that area known as the Upper Nile, extending west to the Persian Gulf and eastwards over once fertile plains into nothingness. Lower Egypt had been mainly settled by families from Khe.

Students of history often become confused by these facts. There were two distinct cultures with some similarities as they had evolved side by side. However, in this church and religious history, we are discussing Upper Egypt only.

The Osiris myth was passed on through numerous versions, which adds to the confusion. This stems from a lack of understanding that it is one of the rare kinds of myth that was based on actual astrological events, yet kept alive over the generations by additional happenings from time to time. Early churchgoers were fickle, and the priests needed a regular source of new sensations to keep their flocks from wandering, especially in later years as other far-reaching events had left a distant impression on the people.

Understand, please, that the essential elements of these myths were the absolute belief of the people. It was as much a part of their programming as the Christ-story is to Christianity, and as major astrological events occurred, the people became involved to the very depths of their being, for this was all part of their religion.

In later chapters we shall see that other catastrophic events did occur, and also we shall what was permissible behaviour in the ancient world as reflected in the god-behaviour passed on by word of mouth from one generation to the next.

Osiris had a dearly beloved half-sister, Isis, with whom he ruled the world. Each had a well defined range of duties, duplicated to a large extent by the Pharaohs and their queens. The ruling female personality was supposed to have a more complete combination of the qualities necessary for the exercise of magic. Normally, while the Pharaoh was engaged in making sacrifices, the queen would be protecting him from malignant entities anxious for his overthrow. Such was the role of Isis to Osiris. Like many other gods and goddesses, they were also wed, and while Osiris was out conquering the world Isis acted as regent and kept an eye on things at home.

Isis discovered wheat and barley growing wild in the land and brought kernels to Osiris for his opinion. Recognizing the value of the grain, Osiris ordered the Egyptian people to cease the "cannibalistic" diet to which they were accustomed and replace it with grain consumption.

Osiris then gathered fruit from various trees, retaining for himself the sole prerogative of the fruit of the apple tree. He forbade its use by the people. (Shades of Adam and Eve?)

To make up for taking the apple tree, he taught the people how to grow vines on staves and how to tread grapes for wine.

Eager to benefit the whole world, Osiris traveled among all the nations to the north, south, east and west, until not one country remained unaware of the benefits of civilization. Those willing to accept his teachings could take advantage of better living. But he laid no curse on those who would not listen, saying, "for those who choose not to heed my words must live in perpetual darkness."

Legend relates that eventually Osiris returned to Egypt with great wealth. Many countries had accepted his teachings and had showered him with grateful gifts of gold, silver, and jewels, proclaiming him a deity because of his good works.

The triumphant return of Osiris created great jealousy in his half-brother, Set. Set plotted against Osiris; he ordered that papyrus be gathered and made into a box of the exact measurements of Osiris. Then Set invited a large group of friends to a feast where wine flowed "as the waters of the Nile." Set started a game that required each guest to lay in the box in an endeavour to find one who would fit the box perfectly. None could be found until Osiris' turn came, for Set had been careful to extend invitations to no one who might match the box's measurements.

Once Osiris lay stretched out in the fitted box, the lid was tightly closed and he could not escape. In this way Set, without violence or bloodshed, was able to dispose of his virtuous half-brother, by having the box carried to the Nile to be cast upon the waters and floated down its length to the lake in Khe.

In time Isis noticed Osiris' absence and, on learning of the events, started to search for the body of her brother-husband. Traveling far and wide, she searched diligently along all the banks of the Nile and into the lake at the head of the Nile, without success. Then she heard that Osiris' body had been cut into fourteen pieces, whereupon she took up her search once more, looking not for the whole body but for pieces of it.

This time her seeking was more successful, and as each piece was found, she buried it at the spot it was found, so that none should ever look again on the whole body of Osiris. The people built shrines to Osiris but didn't know exactly where to put them. The priests of several now large centres in the south, claimed to possess a head. In the north the priests enshrined many legs, each reputedly a limb of Osiris. In each of these instances the common people believed completely in the authenticity of the relics, a further indication of how constant repetition of programming from infancy onwards and from generation to generation comes to be regarded as absolute truth in the minds of people.

After many years of searching, the myth goes on to explain how Isis found all the members of Osiris' body with the exception of his genital member which the fishes had eaten. Isis then made an image of this member and from thenceforth carried it in her body at all times, so that none should ever know that Osiris was not whole. This genital-member image was perpetuated through the ages by all the female temple staff whose lives were solely devoted to Osiris.

At the time of their dedication (marriage), an artificial penis was inserted in all the dancing girls and temple priestesses, so that they would be unavailable to any other man and in order that they might have the grace of their beloved Osiris with them at all times. This custom also served to enhance the gyrations of the dancers and keep them happy at their work.

At this point there are a variety of choices of how the story continued, with both ancient and modern connotations as the church hierarchy endeavoured to justify certain facts which were aimed at enhancing their personal status.

Isis reputedly gave the secret of Osiris' multi-burial to the priests, who scrambled to obtain and enshrine parts of human bodies to perpetuate Osiris' memory. To ensure the Church's co-operation, Isis bequeathed to them one-third part of the land, together with the exclusive right to call upon Osiris to intercede for the people with the sun-god, Ra. History reports that the church happily agreed to this arrangement.

With this task completed Isis, calling upon her sister for aid, secretly prepared a complete replica of Osiris which they placed in a papyrus box (i.e., a mummy case). They sat down beside the casket and uttered a long lament which was written down by the priests who were standing outside listening. This chant was used at all future Egyptian funeral services.

Isis' efforts were not in vain. Ra, hearing the lament, assigned an archangel (god), Anubis by name, to piece Osiris together once more, and all the rites possible were performed by the priests.

After three days of lamentation and ritual, Osiris revived and was borne heavenwards on the wings of Aleph, there to reign as a lesser god to Ra.

Here, in the great hall of Two Truths, sitting on the right hand of Ra, and with the aid of forty-two angelic advisors, one for each nome (name of a district in Egypt) he judged the souls of those who had departed from Earth.

In this great hall of heavenly justice, the dead made solemn confession before Osiris, receiving a reward for virtue in life everlasting or appropriate punishment for sin. Myth relates that, being very just, Osiris would frequently lend an ear to his forty-two earthly assistants (the priests) and advise them to temper justice with mercy, provided the sinner made an appropriate donation in the cause of Osiris' work on earth as outlined by his priests. This aspect of the myth has been transferred along to all new religious systems and continues in effect today.

Generally speaking, the Egyptian peasants were farmers and soldiers. There was little land available for cultivation, but this soil was carefully tilled by hand with basic primitive tools. The staple foods of the people were wheat, meat, fish and fowl, which were available in abundance. Wine was the usual beverage accompanying a meal.

The common Egyptian was essentially a simple man with few wants and few material comforts. Being illiterate, he was unable to think for himself about the complexity of religion and therefore completely bound up in the dogmas and myths taught by the priest-hood. In the "Resurrection of Osiris" he had a pledge of eternal life available by strict compliance with the regulations dictated by the priesthood. The ceremonies for ensuring his soul's survival, as laid out in the Book of the Dead, had to be performed in the exact manner as those done by Isis at the "ceremony of the dead" for Osiris.

From this practice sprang thousands of years of ceremonial burial, so complex that a high-ranking Egyptian might spend half his life fixing up his tomb, equipping it with every possible luxury imaginable. The importance of a person's rank in life usually determined the degree of pomp involved in his funeral. His ability to pay determined the amount of indulgence requested of Osiris by his earthly assistants.

Towards the end of this era, a great deal of ecclesiastical conflict arose. Widening communications allowed expressions of dissent from priests of outlying sects who did not posses a member of Osiris' body or other suitable relic as a basis for authority, for after all there were no further pieces of Osiris' body left for enshrinement and the people had to have something.

Rather than risk loss of revenue and power by expounding conflicting themes which might start their flocks wondering about possible priestly fallibility, the clergy agreed to unite so as to present a common front. The resultant union caused the inclusion of various minor "gods" into the general theme of worship in a way that would satisfy everyone and unify the various dissenting sects. The scheme was absolutely brilliant.

Ra's territory, the whole 360 degree circle of heaven (up in the sky, that is) was divided up into twelve territories or imperial "houses", each governed by a lesser deity in such a way that the authority of Ra himself was never threatened, even though the new system allowed the inclusion of the imagery of smaller religious groups into the mainstream of existing religious myth with Ra, Osiris, and Isis. Actually, through this scheme, Ra himself became even more powerful in the eyes of the people as his retinue expanded. And the story of Osiris was always continued as the "persona link" aspect between man and God.

It is interesting to note that a superlatively "religious" man, one to be highly respected by the people, was considered to be the person best versed in the historical details of the myths. Great scholars would argue for lifetimes over some obscure point in the detail of the myth, yet completely fail to see the concept behind the details. This is another fallacy which persists into today's approach to theology.

At this time the Egyptians conceived of a flat earth, canopied by the heavens which was held up by four supports, one on each corner of earth. The stars above had demi-god personalities, greatly concerned about what went on below. They were endowed with various individual characteristics and their rays, as they crossed the celestial spaces, exercised an active control on everything below.

Our astrologers, whose job it was to examine the heavens, fancied that they discerned the outlines of a number of figures: men, animals, monsters, a lance, a bow, fishes, a scorpion, ears of wheat, a bull, a lion, a ram and so on.

Twelve of these figures, distinguishable by their outstanding brilliance, were arranged along the celestial highway in the path-way of the Sun, to watch over Ra's daily journey across his dominion. These figures divided the Sun's route into territories, and the Lords of the Planets exercised absolute authority in their own "houses". No other god could cross their domains without consent.

Every child born on earth was considered to be the lifelong slave of a certain god (or zodiac symbol) and reflected the characteristics of his sovereign deity. Modern astrology derives its meaning from this source.

The major gods were the Sun and the Moon who ruled over the empires of day and night. Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Mercury, or rather the five "gods" who activated them, were now included as an embellishment to the legends of Osiris and Isis as a means to explain and accommodate lesser gods and expound the serial-myth of Egyptian religion.

The Egyptians concluded that the planet-gods traversed the heavens in all directions to cross their own and each other's paths. Single planets were sometimes regarded much as perverse sheep who had escaped from the fold to find new adventures. The function of others was to wander through the heavens about their business and occasionally to descend to earth to cohabit with humans and receive homage from the masses.

The myth of Osiris and Isis postulated the accepted method of royal behaviour, as the Pharaohs and their queens were regarded as manifestations of minor gods in the flesh. Even today in some countries the monarch is also regarded as head of the church as well as the state.

While the monarchs were not by nature cruel, the life of an ordinary individual had so little value in their eyes that they would never hesitate to sacrifice it, even for the most casual caprice. Being a reigning Pharaoh was by no means a sedentary occupation. The monuments which exalt the supernatural aspects of the Pharaohs throw little light on the complexities of being the head of both state and church. A considerable part of the average reign was taken up in war (or in the task of killing lions or other feats of bravery) to maintain status in the eyes of mortal subjects. Their various officials needed daily audience and advice on how to tax and regulate state affairs, then they were off to the temple for religious duties.

Invariably each monarch, though commanding an enormous female retinue, had a queen who acted as a regent in his absence. In most cases this queen was required to be a true daughter of Ra, able by birth to inherit the same degree of royalty as the king. Thus a brother and sister would reign together and divide the task of running the kingdom between them. The queen was in an entirely different position from other females of the household, subservient to none. She had her own palace and a train of servants and followers as large as that of the Pharaoh.

While the other ladies of the court were more or less shut up in harems with little or no personal freedom, the queen came and went as she pleased and appeared in public with or without her husband. Although a goddess in her own right, her union with the god-king entailed the fulfillment of a host of extra duties which a goddess must render to a god -- principally the exercise of wiles and magic to protect him from physical harm and ensure the growth of his kingdom.

If, however, her brother-husband were to die, there was no rule to say the queen could not marry his successor to ensure the solidarity of the monarchy, which was always the target of intrigue by ambitious concubines who believed their children to have divine bloodlines which they had got from their common father. This is why accession depended more on the material heritage of a child than his paternal side, as the rank of the mothers differed widely from foreign princesses to favourite slaves.

Many of these semi-royal children were given to the Church to be trained as servants of Ra, which is why there was such a close bond between the state and the church. This is what happened many years later in my own case.

A new symbolism came into being as new characters entered into the plot of the astrological myth. The scared bull Apis gained great prominence among Ra's elect, and in Lower Egypt became the symbol for Osiris himself. Memphis was the religious centre of the cult of Apis, who then became the representative of Osiris and who, when living was called Apis-Osiris, and after death, Osiris-Apis, and finally Osiripi. Meanwhile the scared bull of Upper Egypt at Heliopolis was called Ninevis, but the priesthood made it sound all perfectly logical.

This new symbolism was incorporated into the priestly raiment. My own head-dress was adorned by a golden bird, for example, to signify the wearer as one who had achieved great scholarship. An eagle in the dress symbolized courage. The serpent signified one who nurtured deep secrets. These adornments had the most satisfactory effect of increasing the awe in which the priest was held in peoples' minds. At the same time they added to his personal self-confidence in his own authority and his conviction that sublime favour was his prerogative.

During the eight-hundred-year post-holocaust period, Egypt had evolved into two quite distinct cultures. Lower Egypt was still heavily under the influence of the remnants of the Khe civilization. Upper Egypt continued under the original influence of the Pharaohs of the "City of Pillars" of architectural fame. There was also a third group of people, the Chaldeans, who occupied the outer edges of the kingdom -- that portion closest to the edge of darkness, developed the least.

Upper Egyptians who occupied the most favourable climatic zone, directly in the "band of life", developed greater mechanical and engineering skills. No doubt many of these were remnants of the arts and sciences spread by the traveling theurgists from Atlantis, for much of this knowledge was quite foreign to Egypt proper. Writing and toolmaking also evolved to a fine art.

Two major collections of writings came out of the "City of Pillars". They were called the Book of Life and the Book of the Dead. Later historians have alluded to these writings as being the ancient Egyptian Bible. But though these books contained many mysteries, they might better be described as being held in admiration rather than revered. They did, however, attest to early man's certain conviction of a survival of the human personality beyond death, and a system of justice in the cosmic dimension.

The fact that the system of hieroglyphics which evolved remained in use for thousands of years indicates the skill and forethought exercised by these early scribes. They were well aware of dead languages, changing languages and different languages. Yet their mental advancement was such that they were able to devise a means of intelligent communication with posterity, in terms simple enough for world-wide comprehension.

As time progressed, church authority grew to immense proportions. Pageantry added an unfailing attraction. Complex costumes, symbols and rituals, plus images of all the lesser gods, who had to be represented and honoured in all services of worship directed to Ra, kept the bewildered worshipper over burdened with obeisance.

Temples were now designed with three sanctums, each of a progressively higher order. To reach the inner sanctum adherents had to spend years of effort in passing through the lower sanctums. But the benefit to be derived both in terms of social status and business dealings made the whole effort very worthwhile.

Pardon the sardonic attitude I take towards these matters; it is a question of viewing them in retrospect. I am not implying there was deliberate intent by the worshippers to gain earthly benefits; they were mostly very sincere in their attempts to reach the sanctum sanctorum, particularly the young lads whose middle-class parents sacrificed much to put their sons through the sanctums. Both the parents and their children honestly saw this as a way to bring about a richer, fuller life for all.

But the three-sanctum system was yet another way of excluding the poor from equality of spiritual opportunity, and later the basis of a complex system of social status which taught erroneous values such as spiritual inferiority and superiority.

In the course of time, holidays became interspersed with feast days, all based on the dates when the sun entered a cardinal sign at the solstices and equinoxes.

In Egypt, March 25th was the most holy day of the year for it marked the entry of Osiris into the moon, which now symbolized Isis.

The story of the annunciation, used in one way or another in most religions, was devised by the Egyptian priests as the basic ritual in regard to the birth of kings, each of whom was assumed to be the son of Amon-Ra. The story runs as follow:

Thoth, messenger of the gods, announced to the virgin Queen Mautmes that she was to bear a son of Ra who would be called Amon. Whereupon Keph, the Holy Spirit, in company with Hathor, the goddess of love, took the Queen's hands and pressed the crux ansata, the symbol of life, against her mouth, thus impregnating her. Attendants at the birth of Amon, son of Ra, were three high priests who brought rare gifts of adoration.

The priests and the three gifts were symbolic of the three souls or spirits in mankind. Thus it was proclaimed that each individual born was possessed of a "Ka", the primary spirit born simultaneously with the body. A second spirit or soul was "Ba" which emerged from the body at death to wander abroad. "Ba" could adopt any shape it wished, provided the head remained as in life, (the answer to many crude ancient forms including the Sphinx). The third spirit was "Akh," which performed the special task of undertaking the journey into the next world to prepare the way for Ka-Ba, to complete the circle of life, as Ka-Ba rejoined Akh to become Akh-Ka-Ba.

This belief necessitated careful preparation in the tomb as a man was required to provide for Ka, his earthbound spirit in the body (now mummified), and Ba, his wandering spirit, as they waited for Akh to summon them to their celestial abode where there would be no further need for the tomb and all the things it contained.

When ghosts (as Win calls them) were seen in Egypt, they were considered to be Ba's searching around for food if their supply had run out, or if they had died without proper provision having been made.

There was always a big quandary about the length of time which might possibly elapse before a satisfactory Akh-Ka-Ba union could be achieved. The more cautious kings and queens, princes, priests, and anyone else who could afford it had tubes built into their tombs so that living relatives, or minor priests paid for the duty, might slip in food and wine from the surface.