The Role Of Ka-Priests In Ancient Egypt

Hekanakhte was an ancient Egyptian priest who was a servant of the deceased government minister known as Ipi, so that he could protect Ipi’s tomb near the city of Thebes and ensure that nothing happened to his soul. In this paper, we will first discuss the duties and responsibilities of ka-priests. Second, we will take a look into the letters that Hekanakhte wrote to his son, which reveal a lot about the family relationships in his social class around 2000 B.C.E. And last, we will examine how the responsibilities of ka-priests reflected the religious values and beliefs of ancient Egyptians. Hekanakhte was a 'ka-priest ', also known as 'servant of the ka-spirit ' of the deceased. The number of these priests varied because it depended on
how wealthy the patron was. They were often called "Water-Pourers" after the New Kingdom because their most frequent job was to pour water as refreshment for the dead. Although the main duty of the ka-priest was to tend to the tomb of their deceased patron and to protect the patron 's guardian spirit or soul (ka). They believed the living could confer benefits on the dead in the afterlife. (Lockard 55) To understand more about ka-priests one must understand more about the conceptual idea of ka.
The concept of ka represented many things for ancient Egyptians. For starters, the ancient Egypt capital city, Memphis, means "House of the Ka of Ptah." The term, ka, is depicted by a hieroglyph of two upraised arms, which could indicate an embrace, the protection of a man by his ka, or a sign of devotion. The ka hieroglyphs were found on offering tables in places where the offerings took place. Within Old Kingdom pyramid temples, New Kingdom royal tombs and the temples dedicated to the gods, there are many representations of the ka accompanying the king, either as a personified ka sign or even in human form with the ka sign on its head. According to an article on touregypt.net, "the ka may have indicated male potency, and in all periods it is used as a term for the creative and sustaining power of life." Food and drink offerings were given to the ka because the ka needs nourishment to survive. Even though the body itself is dead, the ka continues to live on. This is why the most frequent job within the duties of ka-priests, was pouring water as refreshment for their dead patron. The ka-priests duties to protect the ka, and the whole idea of keeping it protected reflects just how important it really was to them. Not only was Hekanaktle known for being an Egyptian ka-priest to Ipi, he is remembered for his letters to his son Mersu. These letters revealed a lot about family relationships
in the middle class during this period of time. In these letters, he addresses the family and gives his son advice how to make the most of what they have to provide for the family. He also orders Mersu to make sure that only those who work get food, and reminds them all that they should be thankful and not complain about their circumstances. As a ka-priest, Hekanahkte was responsible of not only taking care of Ipi and his tomb, but of supervising other properties of the wealthy around that time.
He was often away from his family, so he wrote letters to his son Mersu and shared some advice about how to cultivate the land and take advantage of the resources the family had available to them. Hekanahkte had a large family and supported all of them. He wrote to his son about making sure everyone in the family got what they deserved and didn’t just live off of the land without doing any work. The letters showed that families in this social class struggled with personal relationships amongst family members. Hekanahkte warned Mersu in his letters that if he paid the servants too much, he would give Mersu less money. He also told his son Mersu to take care of his younger brother and give him what he wanted. This reveals that there was favoritism in their household which caused arguments and friction between siblings. The letters also reveal that even families in the lower upper class were nice enough people to take in a harlot and support her. No matter how disruptive or bothersome they could be. After his wife died, Hekanakhte did just that by taking in Iutenhab who disrupted the household with her many requests. He even told his son to fire a maid that offended Iutenhab. Another factor that one can assume based on the letters is that most classes of people in Egypt lived relatively adequate lives. Since Hekanakhte
could support so many, such as his five sons, mother, widowed daughter, and a concubine, we know that even this class of people must have lived somewhat comfortably in order to be able to feed, clothe, and house so many. (Lockard 55) One can learn a bit about the religious values and beliefs of ancient Egyptians based on the responsibilities of the ka-priests. Based on the fact that the entire job descriptions of these priests was to protect their patrons souls and prevent them from dying a second time shows just how obsessed these royalty were with reaching an eternal afterlife. Ka-Priests were dedicated to ensuring their deceased patrons souls were protected. Thus, one can determine that Egyptians believed in a body of religious teaching and practice centered around the dead. Hence the tombs and mummification processes designed to preserve the dead bodies for their journey to the afterlife. This kind of religious teaching and practice is known as a funerary cult. Even though common people could not achieve this journey to an eternal life, they accepted their fates and still chose to aid in the safe passage of royalty like Pharaohs. The life of a ka-priest such as Hekanakhte entails serving a deceased patron to aid in their journey to eternal life. They must frequently provide water and food as nourishment for the dead as well as oversee the tomb to protect their patrons spirit or soul. The letters in which Hekanakhte wrote to his son reveal that families in ancient Egypt struggled between personal relationships just as we do today. Also, that they didn 't believe in free-loading and that one must work in order to earn their place in the household. The responsibilities of Hekanakhte and other ka-priests show to us that royal ancient Egyptians were truly captivated by reaching an eternal afterlife and would go through heaps of trouble to achieve it.

Works Cited
Lockard, A. Craig. Societies, Networks, and Transitions, Volume 1. A Global History. July 3rd, 2014.
Dunn, Jimmy. "The Ancient Egyptian Ka." http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ka.htm