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) |
| |
Utterance (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 606.
1683a. To say: Arise for me, father; stand up for me, Osiris N.
1683b. It is I; I am thy son; I am Horus.
1684a. I have come to thee, that I may purify thee, that I may cleanse thee,
1684b. that I may revivify thee, that I may assemble for thee thy bones,
1684c. that I may collect for thee thy flesh, that I may assemble for thee thy dismembered limbs,
1685a. for I am as Horus his avenger, I have smitten for thee him who smote thee;
1685b. I have avenged thee, father Osiris N., on him who did thee evil.
1686a. I have come to thee by order of Ḥrw;
1686b. (for) he has appointed thee, father Osiris N., (to be) upon the throne of Rē‘-Atum,
1686c. that thou mayest lead the blessed dead(?).
1687a. Thou shalt embark into the boat of Rē‘, in which the gods love to ascend,
1687b. in which the gods love to descend, in which Rē‘ is rowed to the horizon;
1687c. N. shall embark into it, like Rē‘.
1688a. Thou shalt seat thyself upon this throne of Rē‘, that thou mayest command the gods,
1688b. for thou art indeed Rē‘, who comes forth from Nut, who gives birth to Rē‘ every day.
1688c. N. is born every day like Rē‘.
1689a. Take to thyself the heritage of thy father Geb before the corporation of the Ennead in Heliopolis.
1689b. "Who is equal to him?",
1689c. say the Two great and mighty Enneads who are at the head of the Souls of Heliopolis.
1690a. These two great and mighty gods have appointed thee
1690b. --those who are chiefs of the Marsh of Reeds--upon the throne of Ḥrw,
1690c. as their eldest son;
1691a. they placed Shu at thy left (east side), Tefnut at thy right (west side),
1691b. Nun before thee (at thy south side), Nnt behind thee (at thy north side);
1692a. they lead thee to these their places, beautiful and pure,
1692b. which they made for Rē‘ when they placed him upon their thrones (his throne).
1693a. N., they make thee live,
1693b. so that thou mayest surpass the years of Horus of the horizon,
1693c. when they make thy (for "his") name, "Withdraw not thyself from the gods."
1694a. They recite for thee this chapter, which they recited for Rē‘-Atum who shines every day;
1694b. they have appointed N. to their thrones (his throne)
1694c. at the head of every Ennead, as Rē‘ and as his deputy.
1695a. They cause N. to come into being as Rē‘, in this, his name of "Khepri."
1695b. Thou mountest to them as Rē‘, in this his name of "Rē‘";
1695c. thou turnest back again from their face as Rē‘, in this his name of "Atum."
1696a. The Two Enneads shall rejoice, O father;
1696b. when thou approachest, O father, Osiris N., they say:
1696c. "Our; brother is come to us."
1696d. The Two Enneads say to Osiris N.: "King, Osiris N.,
1697a. one of us is come to us."
1697b. The Two Enneads say to thee: "King, Osiris N.,
1698a. the eldest son of his father is come to us."
1698b. The Two Enneads say to thee: "King, Osiris N.,
1698c. he is the eldest son of his mother."
1698d. The Two Enneads say to thee: "King, Osiris N.,
1699a. he to whom evil was done by his brother Set comes to us."
1699b. The Two Enneads say:
1699c. "And we shall not permit that Set be delivered from carrying thee for ever, king, Osiris N."
1699d. The Two Enneads say to thee: "King, Osiris N.,
1700. raise thyself up, king, Osiris N.; thou livest."
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