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) |
| 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) |
| |
Utterances (607 | 608 | 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 607.
1701a. To say: Nun has begotten N. on his left hand
1701b. a child; the intelligence of N. is not.
1701c. N. is freed from the evil gods;
1701d. N. is not given to the evil gods.
Utterance 608.
1702a. To say: N., stand up for thy father, the Great One; be seated for thy mother, Nut.
1702b. Give thy hand to thy son, Horus; behold, he is come; he approaches thee.
Utterance 609.
1703a. To say: N., thy mother Nut has given birth to thee in the West;
1703b. thou hast descended in the West in company with the lord of veneration (?);
1703c. thy mother Isis has given birth to thee at Chemmis;
1703d. thy hand which is (full of) the north wind takes (Possession) of thee
1703e. overflowing thee, behind the north wind, father N.
1704a. The Lake of Reeds is full; the Winding Watercourse is inundated;
1704b. the mn‘-canal of N. is open,
1704c. whereby he may ferry over to the horizon, to the place where the gods will be born,
1704d. and where thou wilt be born with them.
1705a. The two reed-floats of heaven are placed for Rē‘,
1705b. that he may ferry over therewith to the horizon to the place where the gods will be born,
1705c. and where he will be born with them.
1706a. The two reed-floats of heaven are placed for N.,
1706b. that he may ferry over therewith to the horizon to the place where they will be born,
1706c. and where he will be born with them.
1707a. Thy sister is Sothis; thy mother (bearer) is the morning star;
1707b. thou sittest between them on the great throne,
1707c. which is at the side of the Two Enneads.
1708a. Behold, let these four dwellers of the region (or, height) be brought,
1708b. who sit upon their d‘b-sceptres, who come forth on (or, from) the eastern side of the sky,
1708c. that they may proclaim this thy goodly utterance to Nḥb-kȝ.w,
1708d. which thy daughter, (Ḥm.t), said to thee, and
1708e. Nḥb-kȝ.w shall proclaim this thy goodly utterance
1708f. to the Two Enneads.
1709a. It is Hpnti, he who lays hold of thy hand when thou descendest into the boat of Rē‘,
1709b. descending into the boat with an offering which the king gives; descending and ferrying over.
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