IFAO

This article reconsiders previous interpretation of the Dialog of a man with his Ba according to which the Dispute between the man and his Ba takes place, as a literary fiction, in the presence of the divine tribunal. This thesis is supported by the comparison with spell 38 of the Coffin Texts. In this spell in which the confrontation, also in front of the divine tribunal, is between the dead and his heir, the son appears as the dead father’s Ba on earth.

A comparison between the relationship of the dead with his Ba and with his heir in the -funerary texts suggests that the Dialog is not concerned with man’s relationship with death but rather with the relationship between the living and the dead, a major issue in Ancient Egypt. Therefore, the Dialog obviously deals with the question of solidarity between generations recommended by the official discourse and the sapiential literature.