K KThe eleventh letter in the English alphabet. Its form is derived from the Phffinician ^, and the early Greek K, from which latter there has been little variation. It was called in Phcenician kaph, from a (supposed resemblance to the hollow of a hand. Tliis name came into Greek as kappa. K was very little used in Latin, its place being sup- jjlied by C (q.v.), which had the same sound as K. Accordingly, in the languages derived from Latin c was used to represent the hard /c-sound, but in those languages which came under Greek influence the k was retained. See under C. Phonetic Chabacter. English k is a voice- less half-guttural explosive made by a, closure part way between the back of the tongue and the roof of the mouth, or between the hard and soft palate, tending rather toward the front than the back of the mouth in present English pronunciation. Its sound is to a great e.xtent ex- pressed in modern English spelling by c, and fre- quently also by ck. ch, q. At present k is silent initially before »i, as knight, knock. As to origin, initial English k comes from loan-words from the Greek or other non-Latin sources, as kinetic, khedive, kangaroo. After the Xorman Conquest the phonetic value of c was uncertain, as the Xorman element brought in the .s-sound of c. This gave rise to the use of 7i- for the hard sound of c, particularly before e and i. where the value of c was the least settled. Owing to historical sun'ivals. k is frequently found also in words of Scandinavian, Dutch, or Xorthem English origin, as ke(i. kilt, kirk, kipper. As A Syiibol. In chemistry K = potassium ikaiium). K stands for knight: K.B., Knight of the Bath ; K.G., Knight of the Garter. KA, ka. According to the belief of the an- cient Egj'ptians. the immortal part of man con- si.sted of at least two parts — the ba, which broad- ly speaking represented the vital principle, and the ka. The latter was a sort of spiritual double of the individual ; it was bom with him, was his inseparable companion and protecting genius during life, and after death dwelt in the tomb with his body, which it could at times enter and reanimate. The body had therefore to be pre- served, so that the ka might take possession of it at will. As the ka. while dwelling in the tomb, was supposed t<i feel bodily needs, it was necessarv to provide offerings of food and drink for its sustenance, and such hoiisehold effects and other appliances as its comfort required. 367 Neither god nor man could be conceived as exist- ing without his ka, and when the birth of kings is represented on the monuments the ka is depict- ed as a new-bom babe. Each Egyptian king had for his ka a sacred name, which was included in his titulary. Consult: Wiedemann, The Ancient Egyptian Doctrine of Immortality (trans., Lon- don, 1895) : id., Religion of the Ancient Egyp- tians (trans., Xew York, 1897) ; Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt (London, 1894). See also Egtpt, paragraph on Ancient Religion. KAABA, ka'ba (Ar. ka'bah, square hou.se or chamber). The cube-shaped stone building in the centre of the mosque of ilecca, dating from pre- Islamic times and taken over by Jlohammed into the new faith. It seems probable that the name originally designated the square stele represent- ing the god Hobal, who was worshiped there. According to Epiphanius the name of the virgin mother of the god Dusares at Petra was Xaa^ov, and at Tabala, in Yemen, the name originally designated the white flint stone with a crown sculptured on it which gave its name to the sanctuary ( Yemenite Kaaba ) . The Kaaba has the shape of an irregular cube about 40 feet long, 33 feet wide. 50 feet high. Its corners are oriented. In the northeast corner, about five feet from the ground, is set the famous Black Stone which gives the Kaaba its sanctity. This stone, probably o£ meteoric origin, is an irregular oval about seven inches in diameter, composed of a number of broken pieces kept together by cement. It is held in extreme veneration by Mohammedans, and is touched and kissed by them in the seven circuits made around the building during the ceremonies connected with the Hajj (q.v.). In the southeast comer a stone of lighter color is also set, but this is not venerated as the Black Stone. Not far from the latter, six or seven feet above the ground, in the north side of the building, is the only entrance to the Kaaba, which is reached by movable staircases, one for men and the other for women. The present very ornate ones were the gift of a pious Indian Mos- lem. This door is opened three times a year — once for men. a second time for women, and a third time to permit the inside to be cleaned. On the northwest side is a semicircular space surrounded by a wall, called al-TIiir or al-TJntim. Inside the Kaaba there was originally a dry well, above which was the square statue of the god. There is also said to have been a dove made of aloe wood. To judge from the account of the
