Hatshepsut's election to kingship: the Ba and Ka in Egyptian royal ideology

The author reconsiders the inscriptions of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri which record her election to kingship and focuses upon the concepts of the ba (in its usual collective form bau, "manifestation of diviner supernatural power) and the ka as expressing the divine power residing in the king (Urk. IV 221.7ff; 244.5-245.6; 255.4ff). The texts of Hatshepsut indicate that a decisive point in her life is when (s)he is chosen to become ruler. The choice was made on three occasions, two of which are considered here: (1) when her divine father decided to create her to become the next ruler; (2) when her earthly father Thutmosis I presented her as the next king to his courtiers. On both these occasions the texts suggest that the ba and the ka of the king play a central role, since in them his divinity is most manifest. (OEB)