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) |
| 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) |
| |
Utterance (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 577.
1520a. To say: Osiris dawns, pure, mighty; high, lord of truth
1520b. on the first of the year; lord of the year.
1521a. Atum father of the gods is satisfied; Shu and Tefnut are satisfied; Geb and Nut are satisfied;
1521b. Osiris and [Isis] are satisfied; Set and [Neit] (Nephthys?) are satisfied;
1522a. all the gods who are in heaven are satisfied; all the gods who are on earth and in the lands are satisfied;
1522b. all the southern and northern gods are satisfied; all the western and eastern gods are satisfied;
1522c. all the nome gods are satisfied; all the city gods are satisfied
1523a. with the great and mighty word, which comes forth from the mouth of Thot, concerning Osiris,
1523b. the seal of life, the seal of the gods.
1523c. Anubis, the counter of hearts, deducts Osiris N. from the gods who belong to the earth, (and assigns him) to the gods who are in heaven,
1524a. lord of wine at the inundation.
1524b. His year is calculated for him; his hour knows him.
1524c. N. is known by his year which is with him;
1524d. his hour which is with him knows him.
1525. "Come, my child," says Atum, "come to us," say they, say the gods to thee, Osiris.
1526a. ("Our) brother is come to us, the eldest, the first (begotten) of his father, the first (born) of his mother,"
1526b. say they, say the gods.
1527a. Heaven conceived him: Dwȝ.t gave him birth;
1527b. N. was conceived with him by heaven;
1527c. N. was given birth with him by Dȝ.t.
1528a. Thou supported the sky on thy right side, having life;
1528b. thou livest, because the gods ordained that thou live.
1528c. N. supports the sky on his right side, having life;
1528d. he lives, his life, because the gods have ordained that he live.
1529a. Thou leanest on the earth on thy left side, having joy;
1529b. thou livest thy life, because the gods have ordained that thou live.
1529c. N. leans on the [earth] on his left side, having life (or joy?);
1529d. he lives his life, because (the gods) have ordained that he live.
1530a. N. ascended on the eastern side of the sky;
1530b. he descends as a green bird;
1530c. he descends ---- lord of the Dȝ.t-lakes.
1530d. N. is purified in the lakes of the śmn-goose.
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