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) |
| 45 |
The Deceased King on Earth and in Heaven (610) |
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Utterance (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 610.
1710a. To say: Wake up for Horus; stand up before Set;
1710b. raise thyself up, eldest son of Geb,
1710c. before whom the Two Enneads tremble.
1711a. (The keeper) of the palace stands up before thee, so that the three beginnings (of the divisions of the year) may be celebrated for thee.
1711b. Thou dawnest on the (first of the) month; thou purifiest thyself on the day of the new-moon.
1711c. The great mni.t (-stake) mourns for him,
1711d. as for "Thee who standest without being tired," who resides in Abydos.
1712a. Earth, hear that which the gods have spoken, what Horus says as he spiritualizes his father,
1712b. like Horus-Ḥȝ and like Min (or, Amūn),
1712c. like Seker who is at the head of Pdw-š.
1713a. The earth speaks to thee: "The door of Aker is open for thee; the double doors of Geb are open for thee.
1713b. Thou goest forth at the voice (of Anubis), for he has spiritualized thee,
1713c. like Thot, (or) like Anubis, prince of the court of justice (or, divine court),
1714a. that thou mayest judge, that thou mayest lean upon the Two Enneads,
1714b. who are between the two sceptres, in this thy dignity of spirit, commanded by the gods to be in thee.
1715a. If thou goest, Horus goes; if thou speakest, Set speaks;
1715b. if thy step be hindered, the step of the gods will be hindered.
1716a. Thou approachest the lake; thou advancest to the tȝ wr, the Thinite nome;
1716b. thou passest through Abydos, in this thy dignity of spirit., commanded by the gods to be in thee.
1717a. A ramp is trodden for thee to the Dȝ.t to the place where Śȝḥ is.
1717b. The ox of heaven seizes thine arm;
1717c. thou nourishest thyself with the food of the gods.
1718a. The odour of Ddwn is on thee, the Upper Egyptian Youth, who is come from Nubia;
1718b. he gives thee the incense wherewith the gods cense themselves.
1719a. The two children (twins?) of the king of Lower Egypt have given birth to thee--
1719b. (they) who are on (his) head, (he) the lord of the great crown.
1719c. Rē‘ calls to thee out of the ’iskn of heaven,
1719d. as the jackal (god), nome-governor (of the Bows), the Two Enneads,
1719e. as Horus who presides over his, abode (or thigh-offering).
1719f. He appoints thee as the morning star (lit. god of the morning) in the midst of the Marsh of Reeds.
1720a. The portal of heaven is open for thee towards the horizon;
1720b. the heart of the gods rejoice at thy approach,
1720c. as a star which ferries over the ocean which is under the underpart of Nut,
1720d. in this, thy dignity issuing from the mouth of Rē‘.
1721a. Thou sittest upon this thy firm throne, like the Great One who is in Heliopolis;
1721b. thou leadest the spirits (spiritualized ones); thou satisfiest the imperishable stars.
1722a. Thine abundance is in that herb in which the gods, abound,
1722b. and on which the spirits nourish themselves;
1722c. thine eyes are opened by the earth, thy limbs are gathered up by the lord of (Śbw.t) the rebel city.
1723a. Raise thyself up (like) Ḫnti-Ḫm (chief of Letopolis),
1723b. when the great bread and this wine-like water were given to him.
1723c. The ’imȝ-trees serve thee, the nbś-tree, bows its head to thee;
1723d. a royal offering will be given to thee, such as Anubis will do for thee.
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