Sekhem (sḫm)

Power / luminous force

Sekhem — the personal power or luminous force of the justified deceased. The word covers a range from royal authority to divine efficacy; as a soul-component it is the radiant capacity that distinguishes an akh from a mere shade. It is closely associated with the goddess Sekhmet (whose name is the feminine form of the same root) and with the lion-headed image of overwhelming, focused force. Budge counts sekhem among the soul components of the deceased; Allen and most contemporary Egyptologists regard it as a divine attribute that the akh acquires rather than a separate component, which is why some modern lists make this the 'ninth' part and others omit it.

Khat (ẖt)Ka (kꜣ)Ba (bꜣ)Akh (ꜣḫ)Ren (rn)Sheut (šwt)Ib (jb)Sahu (sꜣḥ)Sekhem (sḫm)Sekhem (sḫm)

Point 9 of 9 in Egyptian Nine-Part Soul

Cross-tradition overlaps

No overlapping points are registered for this point.

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Sources

Pyramid Texts, Utterance 357 (primary_canonical)

Allen's Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Utterance 357 (Sethe/Faulkner numbering: Utterance 357), is a royal transformation/power utterance in which the deceased is equipped with divine efficacy; it supports sekhem as acquired power, while the nine-part listing remains composite.

Allen, Genesis in Egypt, ch. 5 (secondary)

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