Chaibit
| Chaibit in hieroglyphics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chai-bit Ḫˁj-bjt appearance of the bee |
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The ancient Egyptians called Chaibit (also written Khaibit ) a fictional being from their mythology . It springs from the Egyptian belief in the hereafter and in the dead and is commonly translated as " shadow ".
concept
According to the ancient Egyptian belief in the dead and the afterlife, every human being had a "shadow", a kind of "spoiled self" that embodied all negative character traits such as envy , greed and antipathy . The Chaibit was understood as the evil counterpart to the good soul (Egypt. Ba ), both soul forms were closely linked. From the so-called "books of the dead" it emerges that the Egyptians were aware that the Chaibit was of a negative nature, but were still concerned about it: many incantations have the protection of the Chaibit as their content.
Act
The ancient Egyptians were convinced that the Chaibit could detach itself from the body at the onset of death , rise up and wander around like a bee , or be visible in the form of such, which is why they call the shadow Chai-bitj ("appearance of the bee") designated. A Chaibit could enter and leave the grave of its owner as he pleased. In illustrated papyri , the chaibit is depicted as a black bee, a black sphere, or a black, anthropomorphic outline.
See also
literature
- Friedrich Graf: The Egyptian Faith, Volume II. The Egyptian concept of the afterlife and gods in ancient Egypt . BoD, Norderstedt 2011, ISBN 384238081X , p. 36.
- Pat Remler: Egyptian Mythology - A to Z . Chelsea House, New York 2010, ISBN 1438131801 , p. 103.
- Anthony S. Mercatante: Who's Who in Egyptian Mythology . MetroBooks, New York 2002, ISBN 1586636111 , p. 82.
- Richard H. Wilkinson: The world of the gods in ancient Egypt . Theiss, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3806218196 , p. 223.