The Pyramid Texts
Translation by Samuel A. B. Mercer
The Pyramid Texts
The Pyramid Texts were funerary inscriptions that were written on the walls of the early Ancient Egyptian pyramids at Sakkara. These date back to the fifth and sixth dynasties, approximately the years 2350-2175 B.C.E. However, because of extensive internal evidence, it is believed that they were composed much earlier, circa 3000 B.C.E. The Pyramid Texts are, therefore, essentially the oldest sacred texts known.
Samuel Mercer was the first to produce a complete English translation of this mysterious text, in 1952. This was also the first complete translation in any language. The Mercer translation was followed by the R.O. Faulkner translation in 1969, which is considered the standard today.
Table Of Contents
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Preface |
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Introduction |
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The Pyramid Texts |
| 1 |
Nut and the Deceased King (1-11) |
| 2 |
Ritual of Bodily Restoration of the Deceased, and Offerings (12-203) |
| 3 |
A Group of Prayers And Charms (204-212) |
| 4 |
A Series of Old Heliopolitan Texts Partly Osirianized (213-222) |
| 5 |
The Deceased King Receives Offerings and is Re-Established in His Functions and Possessions (223-225) |
| 6 |
Mostly Serpent Charms (226-243) |
| 7 |
The Deceased King Arrives in Heaven Where He is Established (244-259) |
| 8 |
The Deceased King Triumphs Over His Enemies and is Recognized by the Gods (260-262) |
| 9 |
Means Whereby the Deceased King Reaches Heaven (263-271) |
| 10 |
The Deceased King in Heaven (272-274) |
| 11 |
Charms (275-299) |
| 12 |
The Ferryman and the Deceased King's Ascension (300-311) |
| 13 |
A Series of Five Charms (312-316) |
| 14 |
Miscellaneous Utterances on the Career of the Deceased King in the Hereafter (317-337) |
| 15 |
Offerings for the Deceased King (338-349) |
| 16 |
Miscellaneous Utterances on the Hereafter (350-374) |
| 17 |
Conjurations and Charms (375-400) |
| 18 |
Utterances Concerning Well-Being, Especially Food and Clothes (401-426) |
| 19 |
In Praise of Nut, Utterances (427-435) |
| 20 |
Miscellaneous Texts--Some Largely Osirian (436-442) |
| 21 |
Second Series in Praise of Nut (443-452) |
| 22 |
A Miscellaneous Group (453-486) |
| 23 |
A Series of Food Texts (487-502) |
| 24 |
A Series of Reed-Floats and Ferryman Texts (503-522) |
| 25 |
Miscellaneous Texts Chiefly About the Deceased King's Reception and Life in Heaven (523-533) |
| 26 |
For The Protection of the Pyramid Enclosure Against Osiris and His Cycle (534) |
| 27 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (535-538) |
| 28 |
A Litany of Ascension (539) |
| 29 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (540-552) |
| 30 |
Resurrection, Meal, and Ascension of the Deceased King (553) |
| |
Utterance (553) |
| 31 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (554-562) |
| 32 |
A Purification Litany (563) |
| 33 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (564-569) |
| 34 |
New-Birth of the Deceased King as a God in Heaven (570) |
| 35 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (571-575) |
| 36 |
The Resurrection and Ascension of the Deceased King (576) |
| 37 |
The Resurrection of Osiris with whom the Gods are Satisfied (577) |
| 38 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (578-586) |
| 39 |
An Early Hymn to the Sun (587) |
| 40 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (588-600) |
| 41 |
A Litany-Like Incantation for the Endurance of a Pyramid and Temple (601) |
| 42 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (602-605) |
| 43 |
The Resurrection, Ascension, and Reception of the Deceased King in Heaven (606) |
| 44 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (607-609) |
| 45 |
The Deceased King on Earth and in Heaven (610) |
| 46 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (611-626) |
| 47 |
The Ascended King, His Works, and Identifications (627) |
| 48 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (628-658) |
| 49 |
The Death of the King and His Arrival in Heaven (659) |
| 50 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (660-669) |
| 51 |
The Death, Resurrection, and Spiritualization of the King (670) |
| 52 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (671-675) |
| 53 |
Resurrection, Transfiguration, and Life of the King in Heaven (676) |
| 54 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (677-683) |
| 55 |
The Deceased King Ascends to Heaven (684) |
| 56 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (685-689) |
| 57 |
A Series of Addresses to the Deceased King as a God (690) |
| 58 |
Texts of Miscellaneous Contents (691-704) |
| 59 |
A Series of Unclassifiable Fragments (705-714) |
Utterance 553.
1353a. To say: Geb has raised thee up; this thy spirit has been guarded for thee.
1353b. Thy mns-jar remains; thy mns-jar is caused to remain.
1353c. Thou art more exalted than Shu and Tefnut in the house of Ḥtmw.t (the destroyer), N.,
1354a. for thou art verily a spirit who wast nursed by Nephthys with her left breast.
1354b. Osiris has given to thee the spirits; take the eye of Horus to thee.
1355a. These thy four ways which are before the grave of Horus
1355b. are those whereon one goes (lit. goes a going) to the god
as soon as the sun sets (or, as far as the setting of the sun).
1356a. He takes hold of thine arm, after Seker, chief of Pdw-š purified thee,
1356b. (and he conducted thee) to thy throne which is in ḳbḥ.w.
1357a. Raise thyself up, spirit of N.; sit, eat thou;
1357b. let thy ka be seated, that he may eat bread and beer with thee without ceasing for ever and ever.
1358a. Thy going is as a representative of Osiris;
1358b. thy feet hit thine arms;
1358c. they bring thee to thy feasts,
1358d. to thy white teeth, (to) thy fingernails, (to) the Dw.f-nome.
1359a. Thou ferriest over as the great bull to the green fields,
1359b. to the pure places of Rē‘.
1360a. Raise thyself up, spirit of N.; thy water belongs to thee, thine abundance belongs to thee;
1360b. thine efflux belongs to thee, which issued from the secretion of Osiris.
1361a. The double doors of heaven are open for thee; the double doors of ḳbḥ.w are undone for thee;
1361b. the double doors of the tomb are open for thee; the double doors of Nut are unfastened for thee.
1362a. "Greeting," says Isis; "ferry on in peace," says Nephthys,
1362b. after she had seen thy father, Osiris, on the day of the mm.t-feast (or, of feasting him who is in need ?).
1362c. Elevated is the ddb.t-chapel of the double ’itr.t-palace of the North, thy Grg.w-bȝ.
1363a. Raise thyself up; shake off thy dust;
1363b. remove the dirt which is on thy face; loose thy bandages.
1363c. They are indeed not bandages; they are the locks of Nephthys.
1364a. Travel over the southern regions; travel over the northern regions;
1364b. be seated on thy firm throne.
1364c. Anubis, who is chief of the sḥ-ntr, commands that thy spirit be behind thee, that thy might be in thy body,
1364d. that thou remain Chief of the mighty ones (or, spirits).
1365a. Thou purifiest thyself with these thy four nmś.t-jars,
1365b. (with) the špn.t and ‘ȝt-jar, which come from the sḥ-ntr for thee, that thou mayest become divine.
1365c. The sky weeps for thee; the earth trembles for thee;
1366a. the śmnt.t-woman laments for thee; the great min.t mourns for thee;
1366b. the feet agitate for thee; the hands wave for thee,
1366c. when thou ascendest to heaven as a star, as the morning star.
1367a. N. is come to thee, his father; he is come to thee, Geb;
1367b. he is united with your dead, O gods.
1367c. Let him sit on the great throne, on the lap of his father Mḫnti-'irti;
1368a. let him purify his mouth with incense and natron; let him purify his nails upper and lower.
1368b. Let one do for him what was done for his father, Osiris, on the day of assembling the bones,
1368c. of making firm (or, adjusting) the sandals, of crossing the feet (i.e. when ferrying over).
1369a. To thee come the wise and the understanding;
1369b. to thee comes the southern ’itr.t-palace,
1369c. to thee comes the northern ’itr.t-palace, with a salutation,
1369d. (thou) who endurest eternally at the head of the mighty ones.
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