A Charcoal drawing following an Egyptian sculpture "Sandstone statue of a woman" of the Meroitic period (about 300 BC). The Egyptians believed that a person's essence or soul was composed of several elements. These became separated at death. The Ba was one of the elements of the spirit, which encompassed personality and emotions. It stayed close to the body of the deceased and was eventually reunited with other elements, to live eternally in the Afterlife. The Sandstone sculpture shows the Ba in a female human form, wearing a long dress, with wings instead of arms. To me, she represents the mother figure who spreads her wings and protects her offspring. Stable and, nevertheless, is made of sand and may crumble