Work / monument · text

Dialogue of a Man and His Ba

Also known as Dispute between a Man and His Ba

The Dialogue of a Man and His Ba is an Egyptian literary text of the Middle Kingdom, preserved on a single papyrus now in Berlin. In it a man weary of life argues with his ba, his soul, about death and suicide, in a mixture of prose and poems. It is one of the earliest reflective works on the meaning of life and death.

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Dialogue of a Man and His Ba. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dialogue-of-a-man-and-his-ba
MLA
“Dialogue of a Man and His Ba.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dialogue-of-a-man-and-his-ba. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Dialogue of a Man and His Ba.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dialogue-of-a-man-and-his-ba.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Dialogue of a Man and His Ba’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/dialogue-of-a-man-and-his-ba (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻