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The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 religious texts
Religious text

Religious texts, also known as scripture, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or of central importance to their religious tradition....
 from the time of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
. The pyramid texts are the oldest known religious texts in the world. Written in Old Egyptian
Old Egyptian

Old Egyptian is the stage of the Egyptian language spoken from 2600 BC to 2000 BC during the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period. The Pyramid Texts are the largest body of literature written in this phase of the language....
, the pyramid texts were carved on the walls and sarcophagi
Sarcophagus

A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek language sa?? sarx meaning "flesh", and fa?e?? phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos the word came to refer to the limestone t...
 of the pyramids at Saqqara
Saqqara

Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis, Egypt....
 during the 5th
Fifth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Old Kingdom....
 and 6th Dynasties
Sixth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of History of Egypt are often combined under the title "Old Kingdom"....
 of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
.






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800px Pyramid Texts Teti I
The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 religious texts
Religious text

Religious texts, also known as scripture, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or of central importance to their religious tradition....
 from the time of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
. The pyramid texts are the oldest known religious texts in the world. Written in Old Egyptian
Old Egyptian

Old Egyptian is the stage of the Egyptian language spoken from 2600 BC to 2000 BC during the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period. The Pyramid Texts are the largest body of literature written in this phase of the language....
, the pyramid texts were carved on the walls and sarcophagi
Sarcophagus

A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek language sa?? sarx meaning "flesh", and fa?e?? phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos the word came to refer to the limestone t...
 of the pyramids at Saqqara
Saqqara

Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis, Egypt....
 during the 5th
Fifth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Old Kingdom....
 and 6th Dynasties
Sixth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of History of Egypt are often combined under the title "Old Kingdom"....
 of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
. The oldest of the texts date to between 2400-2300 BCE.Unlike the Coffin Texts
Coffin Texts

The Coffin Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period. The texts are derived in part from the earlier pyramid texts, reserved for royal use only, but they contain substantial new material related to everyday desires that reflects the fact that the texts were now use...
 and Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead

"The Book of Dead" is the common name for the ancient Egyptian funerary text known as "Spells of Coming" "Forth By Day". The book of dead was a description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the Duat and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife....
 into which parts of the pyramid texts later evolved, the pyramid texts were reserved only for the pharaoh and were not illustrated. The pyramid texts mark the first written mention of the god Osiris
Osiris

Osiris was an Egyptian mythology, usually called the god of the Afterlife.Osiris is one of the oldest gods for whom records have been found; one of the oldest known attestations of his name is on the Palermo Stone of around 2500 BC....
, who would become the most important deity associated with afterlife.

The spells, or "utterances", of the pyramid texts are primarily concerned with protecting the pharaoh's remains, reanimating his body after death, and helping him ascend to the heavens, which are the emphasis of the afterlife during the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
. The spells delineate all of the ways the pharaoh could travel, including the use of ramps, stairs, ladders, and most importantly flying. The spells could also be used to call the gods to help, even threatening them if they did not comply.

Versions

The texts were first discovered in 1881 by Gaston Maspero
Gaston Maspero

Gaston Camille Charles Maspero was a France Egyptologist....
, and translations were made by Kurth Sethe
Kurt Heinrich Sethe

Kurt Heinrich Sethe was a noted Germans Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman. Sethe collected numerous texts from Egypt during his visits there and edited the Urkunden des ?gyptischen Altertums which is a standard catalogue of Ancient Egyptian literature and text....
 (in German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
), Louis Speelers (in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
), Raymond O. Faulkner
Raymond O. Faulkner

Dr Raymond Oliver Faulkner, Society of Antiquaries of London, was an England Egyptologist and philologist of the ancient Egyptian language.He was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, and was the son of bank clerk Frederick Arthur Faulkner and his wife Matilda Elizabeth Faulkner ....
, and Samuel Alfred Browne Mercer.

The oldest version consists of 228 spells and comes from the Pyramid
Pyramid of Unas

The Pyramid Complex of Unas is located in the pyramid field at Saqqara, near Cairo in Egypt.The pyramid of Unas of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt is now ruined, and looks more like a small hill than a royal pyramid....
 of Unas
Unas

Unas was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and the last ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt from the Old Kingdom. His reign has been dated as falling between 2375 BC and 2345 BC....
, the last king of the 5th Dynasty. Other texts were discovered in the pyramids of the 6th Dynasty kings Pepi I, Pepi II and three of his queens, and Teti. Kurt Sethe's
Kurt Heinrich Sethe

Kurt Heinrich Sethe was a noted Germans Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman. Sethe collected numerous texts from Egypt during his visits there and edited the Urkunden des ?gyptischen Altertums which is a standard catalogue of Ancient Egyptian literature and text....
 first edition of the pyramid texts contained 714 distinct spells; after this publication additional spells were discovered bringing the total to 759. No single collection uses all recorded spells.

Examples

After death, the king must first rise from his tomb. Utterance 373 describes:
Oho! Oho! Rise up, O Teti!
Take your head, collect your bones,
Gather your limbs, shake the earth from your flesh!
Take your bread that rots not, your beer that sours not,
Stand at the gates that bar the common people!


The gatekeeper comes out to you, he grasps your hand,
Takes you into heaven, to you father Geb.
He rejoices at your coming, gives you his hands,
Kisses you, caresses you,
Sets you before the spirits, the imperishable stars...
The hidden ones worship you,
The great ones surround you,
The watchers wait on you,
Barley is threshed for you,
Emmer is reaped for you,
Your monthly feasts are made with it,
Your half-month feasts are made with it,
As ordered done for you by Geb, your father,
Rise up, O Teti, you shall not die!


The texts then describe several ways for the pharaoh to reach the heavens, and one of these is by climbing a ladder. In utterance 304 the king says:
Hail, daughter of Anubis, above the hatches of heaven,
Comrade of Thoth, above the ladder's rails,
Open Unas's path, let Unas pass!


Another way is by ferry. If the boatman refuses to take him, the king has other plans:
If you fail to ferry Unas,
He will leap and sit on the wing of Thoth,
Then he will ferry Unas to that side!


The cannibal hymn

Utterances 273 and 274 are sometimes known as the "cannibal hymn", because it describes the king hunting and eating parts of the gods:
A god who lives on his fathers,
who feeds on his mothers...


Unas is the bull of heaven
Who rages in his heart,
Who lives on the being of every god,
Who eats their entrails
When they come, their bodies full of magic
From the Isle of Flame...


The cannibal hymn later reappeared in the Coffin Texts
Coffin Texts

The Coffin Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period. The texts are derived in part from the earlier pyramid texts, reserved for royal use only, but they contain substantial new material related to everyday desires that reflects the fact that the texts were now use...
 as Spell 573. It was dropped by the time the Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead

"The Book of Dead" is the common name for the ancient Egyptian funerary text known as "Spells of Coming" "Forth By Day". The book of dead was a description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the Duat and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife....
 was being copied.

In popular culture

In the first scene of Philip Glass
Philip Glass

Philip Glass is an American music composer. He is considered one of the most influential composers of the late-20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public ....
's opera
Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
 Akhnaten
Akhnaten (opera)

Akhnaten is an opera in three acts based on the life and religious convictions of the pharaoh Akhenaten , written by the United States minimalism composer Philip Glass in 1983....
, the phrase "Open are the double doors of the horizon" is a quotation from the Pyramid Texts. More specifically, it seems to come from

The American death metal band Nile
Nile (band)

Nile is an American death metal band from Greenville, South Carolina, South Carolina, formed in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian mysticism, history, religion, art, and stories by H....
 made a song, "Unas Slayer of the Gods" which contains many references to the Pyramid Texts, including the Cannibal Hymn.

In the 1994 film Stargate
Stargate (film)

Stargate is a 1994 in film science fiction film/action film, directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Dean Devlin and Emmerich, with a soundtrack by David Arnold....
, Dr. Daniel Jackson states that there are no writings found within pyramids, referring to the three "Great Pyramids" attributed to the Fourth Dynasty. Writing did not appear until the Fifth Dynasty structures.

See also

  • Coffin Texts
    Coffin Texts

    The Coffin Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period. The texts are derived in part from the earlier pyramid texts, reserved for royal use only, but they contain substantial new material related to everyday desires that reflects the fact that the texts were now use...
  • The Book of the Dead
    Book of the Dead

    "The Book of Dead" is the common name for the ancient Egyptian funerary text known as "Spells of Coming" "Forth By Day". The book of dead was a description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the Duat and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife....
  • Opening of the mouth ceremony
    Opening of the mouth ceremony

    The Opening of the mouth ceremony was an ancient Egyptian ritual described in funerary texts such as the Pyramid Texts....


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