" None of the Egyptian languages he'd ever spoken had a word for soul; he'd watched this concept evolve over the centuries after he left his kingdom, this concept of a vaporous version of self that connected one to higher purpose, a version of self that could depart the flesh, entering some disembodied realm, awaiting reunion with the body or traveling onwards into a vaunted afterlife. "

― Anne Rice , The Reign of Osiris (Ramses the Damned #3)