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The ancient Egyptians believed that everybody was unique.  They also thought there were two parts of life. Every Egyptian was thought to have a ba and a ka.  The ba was sort of how they acted or in other words their personality.  The ka was the life force of all living humans.

Like everyone’s body, everyone’s ba was unique, even though it wasn’t a physical part of themselves.  In the after-life, the ba was thought of as a human-headed bird.  A deceased person’s ba could roam the Earth in daylight while Re (or Ra) was out.  Ra was what the Egyptians believed to be god of the sun.  At night, when Ra was said to be visiting the underworld, the ba must return to the underworld.

The second part of life was the ka.  Just like the ba, everyone had a ka.  A ka is the difference between alive and dead.  Unlike the ba, a ka wasn’t unique.  The ka enters the body at birth.  Like the ba, the ka wasn’t a physical part of the body, though the ka surely has a physical connection.  Ka means life-source or food. Egyptians sometimes brought food as a gift to the deceased’s ka. The food wasn’t supposed to be actually eaten.  It was the life-preserving force in the food that was being offered.  Two raised arms represent a ka.

The "god" that made a person’s ka was called Khnum.  Egyptians believed that Khnum shaped everyone’s ka on his trusty potter’s wheel.  Pharaohs were thought to have been immortal.  They were believed to become gods after they died.  Because of this, a king, or pharaoh, was said to be able to have a lot of kas.  "Mortals" usually only had one ka.  Kas are thought to be separate from the body.

When someone died, the goal was to live with your ka.  For a ka to survive, it needs a body as its eternal home.  That was most likely the reason for mummification, so when the original body deteriorated (rotted away) the cloth and decorated coffin would act as a spare body, sort of like a back-up plan.

To learn more about mummification, check out "How Mummies Are Made" and "Why Mummies Were Made."

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