The Ancient Pyramid Texts; Writings from the Ancient World ...

1 WORLDWRITINGSANCIENTFRF R OM THEOMT HETheAncientEgyptianPyramidTextsAllenThe Ancient EgyptianPyramid TextsJames P. AllenThe Pyramid Texts are the oldest body of extant literature from Ancient carved on the walls of the burial chambers in the pyramids of kings andqueens of the Old Kingdom, they provide the earliest comprehensive view of the way in which the Ancient Egyptians understood the structure of the universe,the role of the gods, and the fate of human beings after death. Their importancelies in their antiquity and in their endurance throughout the entire intellectualhistory of Ancient Egypt. This volume contains the complete translation of the Pyramid Texts, including new texts recently discovered and published. Itincorporates full restorations and readings indicated by post-Old Kingdomcopies of the texts and is the first translation that presents the texts in the orderin which they were meant to be read in each of the original P.

2 Allen is Curator of egyptian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Artin NewYork and the author of The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt (MetropolitanMuseum of Art, Yale University Press), The Heqanakht Papyri(MetropolitanMuseum of Art), Middle egyptian : An Introduction to the Language and Cultureof Hieroglyphs(Cambridge University Press), and other books on Ancient Ancient egyptian Pyramid TextsWritings from the Ancient WorldTheodore J. Lewis, General EditorAssociate EditorsEdward BleibergBillie Jean CollinsF. W. Dobbs-AllsoppEdward L. GreensteinJo Ann HackettRonald J. LeprohonNiek VeldhuisRaymond WestbrookNumber 23 The Ancient egyptian Pyramid Textsby James P. AllenEdited by Peter Der ManuelianTHE Ancient egyptian Pyramid TEXTST ranslated with an Introduction and Notes byJames P. AllenEdited byPeter Der ManuelianSociety of Biblical LiteratureAtlantaThe Ancient egyptian Pyramid TextsCopyright 2005 Society of Biblical LiteratureAll rights reserved.

3 No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form orby any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or bymeans of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permittedby the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permissionshould be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office, Society of BiblicalLiterature, 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataPyramid texts. Ancient egyptian Pyramid texts / [translated] by James P. cm. ( Writings from the Ancient World / Society of Biblical Literature ;no. 23)Includes bibliographical references and : 978-1-58983-182-7 (paper binding : alk. paper)ISBN-10: 1-58983-182-9 (paper binding : alk. paper)1. Incantations, egyptian Translations into English. 2. Future life.

4 I. Allen, JamesP., 1945 II. Title. III. Series: Writings from the Ancient World ; no. 2005299'.3138 dc22200501657413 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, recycled paper conforming to ANSI/NISO (R1997) and ISO 9706:1994 standards for paper permanence. CONTENTS Series Editor s Foreword .. ix Introduction ..1 Spell Numbers ..3 Editorial History ..4 Genres of Pyramid Texts ..5 The Function of the Pyramid Texts ..7 The World of the Pyramid Texts ..8 A Note on Translation ..12 I. The Pyramid Texts of Unis ..15 Spells for Protection of the Mummy ..17 The Offering Ritual ..19 Response to the Offering Ritual ..29 The Resurrection Ritual ..31 Spells for Emerging from the Duat ..41 Spells for Passing through the Akhet ..43 Spells for the Spirit s Rebirth.

5 50 Spells for Leaving the Akhet ..55 Spells for Entering the Sky ..60 Notes ..61 II. The Pyramid Texts of Teti ..65 Spells for Entering the Womb of Nut ..67 The Offering Ritual ..70 The Insignia Ritual ..71 Response to the Offering Ritual ..74 The Resurrection Ritual ..76 Spells for Leaving the Duat ..76 vi CONTENTS Spells for Entering the Akhet ..79 Spells for Passing through the Akhet ..84 The Morning Ritual ..85 Spells for the Spirit s Rebirth ..88 Spells for Leaving the Akhet ..94 Fragments ..94 Notes ..94 III. The Pyramid Texts of Pepi I ..97 Spells for Entering the Womb of Nut ..100 The Offering Ritual ..110 The Insignia Ritual ..113 The Resurrection Ritual ..115 Spells for Leaving the Duat ..118 Spells for Proceeding to the Akhet ..121 Spells for Entering the Akhet.

6 122 Spells for Passing through the Akhet ..134 The Morning Ritual ..141 Spells for the Spirit s Rebirth ..142 Spells for Proceeding to the End of the Akhet ..147 Spells for Passing from the Akhet to the Sky ..151 Spells for Opening the Door of the Sky ..169 Spells for Entering and Leaving the Tomb ..173 Spells for Emerging into the Sky ..196 Spells for Daily Life and Protection ..198 Fragments ..200 Notes ..201 IV. The Pyramid Texts of Merenre ..209 Spells for Entering the Womb of Nut ..211 The Burial Chamber Rituals ..216 Response to the Offering Ritual ..219 Spells for Opening the Door to the Akhet ..220 Spells for Entering and Proceeding through the Akhet ..221 The Morning Ritual ..224 Spells for the Spirit s Rebirth ..225 Spells for Proceeding to the End of the Akhet ..225 Spells for Leaving the Akhet ..226 Spells for Proceeding toward the Sky.

7 226 Spells for Joining the Gods ..230 Spells for Appearing at Dawn ..231 CONTENTS vii Fragments ..235 Notes ..236 V. The Pyramid Texts of Pepi II ..239 Spells for Entering the Womb of Nut ..241 The Offering and Insignia Rituals ..251 The Resurrection Ritual ..265 Response to the Offering Ritual ..269 The Morning Ritual ..271 Spells for Leaving the Duat ..273 Spells for Entering the Akhet ..278 Spells for Crossing the Akhet ..282 Spells for the Spirit s Rebirth ..283 Spells for Approaching the Sky ..289 Spells for Leaving the Akhet ..297 Spells for Proceeding toward the Sky ..297 Spells for Joining the Gods ..299 Spells for Appearing at Dawn ..299 Fragments ..303 Notes ..304 VI. The Pyramid Texts of Queen Neith ..309 Spells for Entering the Womb of Nut ..311 The Offering and Insignia Rituals.

8 314 The Resurrection Ritual ..321 Spells for Passing through the Akhet ..327 Spells for the Spirit s Rebirth ..327 Spells for Ascending to the Sky ..331 Spells for Entering the Sky ..332 Notes ..334 Variants ..337 The Pyramid Texts of Unis ..337 The Pyramid Texts of Teti ..337 The Pyramid Texts of Pepi I ..339 The Pyramid Texts of Merenre ..346 The Pyramid Texts of Pepi II ..353 The Pyramid Texts of Queen Neith ..368 Concordance of Text Numbers ..375 A. Spells by Pyramid ..375 viii CONTENTS B. Spells by Location ..396 C. Spells by PT or Other Numbers ..399 D. Spell Numbers and Spells not in Sethe s Edition ..413 E. Utterance Numbers of Faulkner s Translation ..417 F. MAFS Numbers ..418 Bibliography.

9 419 Glossary ..425 Index ..445 SERIESEDITOR SFOREWORDW ritings from the Ancient World is designed to provide up-to-date, readable English translations of Writings recovered from theancient Near series is intended to serve the interests of general readers, students,and educators who wish to explore the Ancient Near Eastern roots ofWestern civilization or to compare these earliest written expressions ofhuman thought and activity with Writings from other parts of the should also be useful to scholars in the humanities or social sciences whoneed clear, reliable translations of Ancient Near Eastern materials for com-parative purposes. Specialists in particular areas of the Ancient Near Eastwho need access to texts in the scripts and languages of other areas willalso find these translations helpful. Given the wide range of materials trans-lated in the series, different volumes will appeal to different , these translations make available to all readers of English theworld s earliest traditions as well as valuable sources of information ondaily life, history, religion, and the like in the preclassical translators of the various volumes in this series are specialists inthe particular languages and have based their work on the original sourcesand the most recent research.

10 In their translations they attempt to conveyas much as possible of the original texts in fluent, current English. In theintroductions, notes, glossaries, maps, and chronological tables, they aimto provide the essential information for an appreciation of these ancientd o c u m e n t s .The Ancient Near East reached from Egypt to Iran and, for the pur-poses of our volumes, ranged in time from the invention of writing (by3000 ) to the conquests of Alexander the Great (ca. 330 ) .The cultures represented within these limits include especially egyptian ,Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Aramean, Phoenician,and Israelite. It is hoped that Writings from the Ancient World will even-tually produce translations from most of the many different genres attestedin these cultures:letters (official and private), myths, diplomatic documents,hymns, law collections, monumental inscriptions, tales, and administrativerecords, to mention but a funding was made available by the Society of BiblicalLiterature for the preparation of this volume.