In Egyptian religion, the spirit of a deceased person and one of the five principal elements considered part of a complete personality - the other four being the ka, ba, name, and shadow. Akh is a state in the afterlife, both immortal and unchangeable, and the result of the successful reunion of the ba with its ka. The akh enabled the soul to assume temporarily any form it desired, for the purpose of revisiting the earth or other enjoyment in the next world.