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The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts
Hardcover with dust jacket. VG/VG with 90 page Supplement of Hieroglyphic Texts. All in one volume.
33090 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2301
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 3, 2010
The quintessential translation of The Pyramid Texts--you'll never use Budge again. This is a "must-have" for anyone involved in the study of Ancient Egypt.
March 7, 2025
I read this book as research for my novel and really appreciated the depth of language and breadth of imagery to work with. Some of it is hard to follow and contradicts itself, but it gave me plenty of material to consider.
April 8, 2025
This is a rewrite made for my review of
"The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts 1910" by R.O. Faulkner
Published 2014. That one is 330 pages including index, plus a 90 page supplement of the hieroglyphics. Original book is from 1969 but the only clue to that from this book is in the introduction when he mentions he has not had a chance to review the Piankoff Pyramid Text "Pyramid of Unas", as it just came out post-humous in 1968. Piankoff died in 1967 approximately 6 weeks after Natacha Rambova died who had been editing his books.
This book can be found on the Internet Archive which gives it 440 pages including title and blank pages. When searching Amazon you will be presented with paperback version which does not have hieroglyph supplement. Choose hard cover and you will arrive at the larger book. I believe they list 436 pages.
I haven't read this edition of Faulkner but it's not going to be dramatically different for what I have to say.
The use of "1910" in the title comes from when Sethe put out the Standard Edition in which the term "Utterance" was adopted in setting apart separate statements that stood alone as a sentence or could be grouped together as a longer passage. Further it helped track the various Utterances between tombs as some of the tombs had the same Utterance mentioned and those translating the various tombs thought not to bother their readers with repetitive text. Mercer did not use the term Utterance but instead assigned a line number so that what appears as an Utterance may have several line numbers depending on how long it is. Faulkner used both Utterance number and line numbers as did Piankoff.
Faulkner starts out with the words "the sarcophagus text" letting you know he's started to read from the sarcophagus room first. After that there is no further indication from where the Utterances are being read from. One may now assume that Mercer also started in the sarcophagus room also as he too begins at what would be Utterance 1 had he used Utterance numbers and continues on in the same sequence Faulkner uses. Piankoff however gives the exact room (sarcophagus chamber, ante chamber, entrance and specifies which wall or gable he's translating from (example north wall, east gable etc…). Later when you get to Jeremy Naydler or Susan Morrow you can see how important that is.
Faulkner also uses Mercer's technique of titling/labeling groups of Utterances as a way to explain what you are reading. Piankoff however avoids this, mentioning in his introduction that he wants the reader to decide the meaning of the utterances instead of leading the reader on how to think about each passage. Although this technique can be useful given the lack of notes given with any of the various translators, it could also be misleading, as you are told how to think of each passage. Generally I agree with Piankoff, as I believe there are other titles that could be assigned to some passages so reads these as "Mercer or Faulkner thinks these mean or are about this…" Again when you get to Naylder and Susan Morrow your eyes will be open to many more meanings.
Faulkner has also followed Mercer in not using the Kings Name. However where Mercer used "N." Faulkner at least uses "The King" whereas Piankoff gives best meaning to the text by saying "Unas". Faulkner's reasoning stated more plain than Mercer is that Pyramid Texts were all coming from a set script known earlier in previous dynasties and are not peculiar to any one king. I find this explanation to be BS as the tomb of Unis/Unas/Wenis, the first to have Pyramid Texts is quite unique from the other tombs. Piankoff's "The Pyramid of Unas" only does the Pyramid Text for that tomb and no other. In my opinion It is the only tomb worth trying to understand as the others are so much blah. Unfortunately you can't get a copy of Piankoff and will have to read it from the Internet Archives.org site.
On the use of notes, Faulkner makes fair use of foot notes, whereas Mercer barely used any, relying instead on the titles for groups of utterances. Piankoff's use of foot notes is as about the same as Faulkner's. Later Allen will put his foot notes at the end of each pyramid. The use of foot notes is marginally helpful to the lay reader and are mostly geared towards someone who has access to Sethe.
Since we've mentioned Allen who was the fourth to offer an English translation of the Pyramid Text, readers might wish to know the best translation so I'll offer this:
Pyramids. Mercer and Faulkner translate 6 Pyramids. Piankoff translates 1, Allen translates 9.
Defines which Pyramid. Mercer and Faulkner do not define. Piankoff is only doing one. Allen puts each pyramid in a separate section.
Use of Utterance numbers. Mercer does not use, Piankoff, Faulkner and Allen use.
Use of Line numbers. Mercer, Piankoff, and Faulkner use. Allen does not use.
Use of Sub Titles for groups of Utterances. Mercer, Faulkner and Allen use. Piankoff does not use.
Use of notes. Mercer does not use notes. Piankoff and Faulkner use notes on each page. Allen puts his notes at the end of each pyramid section.
Poetry or Prose. Mercer incorporates a soft level of Poetry in presenting the PT. Piankoff uses prose, Faulkner is back to poetry, and Allen is more prose.
Defines the speaker. Mercer uses N. Piankoff and Allen use the King's (Queen's also for Allen). Faulkner uses King instead of a name.
Translation. Although there are word differences between authors Mercer, Piankoff and Faulkner are most in agreement. Allen is generally in agreement however he's added where the others have not. In doing this you look at the hieroglyphs that have been added at the ends of the other books and see that where Faulkner has added he's gone way past the number of words and even sentences for some of his utterances and is thus being excessively liberal in some his translations. Also Allen refuses to use Re's name and instead calls the god the Sun throughout his translation, something I find that tended to water down Re's significance in the PT.
Back of the Book. Allen is the only one to add a glossary as well as a bibliography but has no hieroglyphs. Piankoff and Faulkner have only hieroglyphs. I need to check Mercer.
Key Print Dates. 14 years after opening the Pyramids we get the first translation by Maspero (French)1894. Kurt Sethe publishes in several volumes in German between 1910-1912 but then continues to add volumes all the way up to 1923 and is still considered unfinished. He is also considered to be the authority on the PT. Finally the English translations arrive first with Samual Mercer in 1952. Piankoff had started working on his translation earlier but it ends up being published after his death in 1968. R.O. Faulkner publishes in 1969. James P. Allen publishes a first edition 2005 and a second edition in 2015. As mentioned at length in my review of Mercer, who was a Bollingen Foundation Fellow but ended up getting funding from another book company that he printed from, so it might be of interest to know that Natacha Rambova and Piankoff were in Egypt on a 5 year grant from the Bollingen Foundation studying multiple sites from 1949-1953 that resulted in 6 books to include the Pyramid of Unas. Essentially Mercer appears to have back doored Piankoff by visiting Breasted's son. Breasted had been working on producing his own edition before he died, doing so at the request of Mary Mellon who later began the Bollingen Foundation. In addition Mercer visited key Museums that held the works of Maspero, Sethe and others who had written serious commentary on the PT. The posthumous publication of Piankoff's "Pyramid of Unas" likely happened because Piankoff and Rambova were backdoored by Mercer after which finishing the translation became of lessor concern since they'd not be first with an English translation.
The PT are considered to be the oldest written religious text currently known but the Vedas with their oral tradition predate them by far, however they did not see written form until much later. Additionally there appears a minor document found at the Kesh Temple in Mesopotamia that dates back at least 200 years earlier. Mainstream Egyptology treats the PT as funerary text, however arguments by Jermey Naydler and later by Susan Morrow who is problamatic in the last half of her book have arisen that the text and tombs were important throughout the King's reign.
Additionally the generally approved view point on the Pyramid Text is that they do not contain history and are strictly a religious text with myths and concern themselves with the afterlife. Faulkner was mostly of this view also and of all the major translators only Piankoff seems to be of the opinion that you should make up your own mind on this. Faulkner however gives an interesting foot note from Kurt Sethe for Utterance 254 wherein he quotes Kurt Sethe where that he, Sethe, can detect 10 separate strata for just that utterance alone. When one considers that "strata" is construed as layers and that layers are both low and high, similar to chords played in music, and then apply that principle throughout the Pyramid Text of Unas one can begin to see that some of text appears to strike chords that can be considered to be historical for both the times of Unas as well as before his time. This can be easily applied to Utterances 248, 254, 271, 279, 302 and 305 where those chords are struck. Additionally, Unas appears to be in contention with not just the gods to gain his place in heaven but also a divided priestly class between Heliopolis and further south down to Memphis. Further as like the Vedas from India, that are said to have different levels of meanings these chords in Unas's Pyramid text can take on both low meanings and high meanings. That is to say meanings, stretch from low myth, to historical to the higher religious meanings, yet Egyptology tends to only see the higher meanings of the text and generally frown on anything else. Of note here is that I only apply this to King Unas where it easiest to see and not the other 9 kings or queens that make up the rest of the Pyramid Text. It also helps to read around the Pyramid Text and understand what archeology has said of the King and his times and fit him in that niche when reading the Pyramid Text.
From my Notes including Utterance 248, 254, 271, 279, 302, and 305 (Mercer, Piankoff, Faulkner. Use anyone but Allen as he adds and subtracts too much and does not do Utt. 271 at all like the others.)
Utterance 248.
The King is a great one, the King has issued from between the thigs of the Ennead [the earthly priests in Heliopolis. Some believe Unas was not related to the last king by blood but was a priest at Heliopolis before he assumed the throne].
The King was conceived by Sakhmet, it is Šsmt.t who gave birth to Unas. [Hathor's lion form as the Eye of Ra used to destroy the rebels in the myth "Destruction of Mankind".]
Utterance 254.
To say the words:
"The Great (Uraeus) fumigates the Bull of Nekhen (Hierakonpolis).
The heat of the fiery breath is against you,
you who are about the shrine (kAr)!
O Great God whose name is unknown, (bring) at once a meal of the Unique Lord.
O lord of the Horizon (Ax.t), make place for Unas.
If you fail to make place for Unas, Unas will pronounce a curse against his father Geb:
the earth shall not speak any more;
Geb shall not be able to defend himself.
(He) whom Unas finds on his way, he will eat him piecemeal.
The hnt-pelican announces (sr), the ennead(psD.t)-pelican comes out.
The Great One rises. The enneads speak: completely dammed-off shall be the land.
The two ridges of the mountain (on both sides of the Nile valley) shall be united.
The two banks of the river will be joined.
The roads will be hidden from the passers-by.
The steps (rwd.w) will be annihilated for those who go up.
Make tight the rope (of the boat), sail the road of heaven!
Strike the ball on the meadow of Hapi (Apis)!" [Hapi is the flood god of the Nile regulated by Khnum the ram headed potter god, maker of kings and comes up often in the PT]
[Not to worry, all of the translators abide by the little foot note that says the above is but some sort of prophecy and none make attempt to explain further even though reading a fair few lines latter there's this little oddity. So, Eh'em! Both cannot be true.]
The heart of Unas be glad (sweet), the heart of Unas be glad (sweet).
Unas is the Unique One, the Bull of Heaven.
He has exterminated those who did this against him,
he has annihilated their offspring upon earth.
Utterance 267
A stairway to heaven shall be laid down for him, that he may ascend to heaven thereon; he ascends on the smoke (incense) of the great censing. [I don't think Mercer sees the pun? Naïve? Piankoff and Faulkner don't do incense. It's papyrus burning for them.]
Utterance 271.
"To say : 'I, king Unas, have inundated the land which came forth from the lake, I have torn out the papyrus-plant, I have satisfied the Two Lands, I have united the Two Lands, I have joined my mother the Great Wild Cow.'"
Utterance 279
To Say, O Unas! I have trampled down the mud of the watercourses. Thoth [moon god] is the protector of Unas, when it is dark, when it is dark. [they trampled down the mud walls in the dark]
Utterance 302.
There is no word against me on earth among men, there is no accusation in the sky among the gods, for I have annulled the word against me, which I destroyed in order to mount the sky.
Utterance 305
Is the heir grown poor, and having a script,
(then) this Unas shall write with the big finger,
He shall not write with the small finger.
The entirety of Unas's PT are loaded with chords that are strident and hostile to rebels and to any gods that would obstruct his hold on power and rise to heaven. He pays practically zero deference to the people he rules over. It appears that In his mind, Unas is keeping to the myth of the Destruction of Man Kind (DM) for which I'll speak of next. The DM is where the Devine Right of Kings to Rule could be said to originate, where Re hands the reigns over to human kings to do as they see fit in maintaining his kingdom. Unas is fulfilling his duties from that myth and is thus JUSTIFIED (a term Unas uses in the PT) by doing whatever it takes to keep the lands united and so that then is the only deference he owes his subjects. As such King Unas makes for a poor role model for Monarchies and would be tyrants to rise back up into power which is sadly still our current state of affairs today and a large reason for the PT to be so muddled and hard to understand in my opinion.
Parts of the myth of "The Destruction of Mankind"(DM) also known as "The Book of the Heavenly/Celestial Cow" are found in part or full in the tombs of New Kingdom kings (18th-20th Dynasties); Amonhoptep IV, Tut-Ankh-Amon, Seti I, Ramses II, III, & VI. The DM is interwoven as background into much of the PT, especially with Unas. This means the myth predates the PT and should be used to help understand the PT. Of the four who translated the PT into English only Piankoff gets close to putting the DT myth into context with the PT but he does this by including it as part of his other works namely in "The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon" and "The Tomb of Ramses VI". The connection is also an oblique connection as he does not come out and say anything of the sort, but simply lays out the works sided by side with PT where an astute person should be able to make the connection themselves. For the general public not connecting the PT with DM in plain terms constrains our understanding of the PT leaving us to guess as to why.
Of note, Gaston Maspero gives the complete DM myth in the first volume of his 12 volume series on the histories the ancient peoples of the orient. The entire 12 volumes were printed in French between 1895-1897. The first English translation of the whole set happened in 1903-1904 and later again by Henry Sayce in 1933. A.S. Rappoprt has provided the only copies available today, but they are close to going out of print again . Although Maspero does not in Volume I make a connection to the PT, he is speaking about some of the oldest myths from ancient Egypt.
The DM myth explains how kingship was handed down from the gods by Re to human kings and establishes the Divine Right of Kings to Rule and as required Annihilate All Rebels in order to maintain unity. I would suggest that the answer is there. Gaston Maspero discovered the first tombs containing PT in 1880. The French Revolution that started a hundred years earlier in 1789 and continued for ten years created havoc for monarchies ever since. The largest example is England who had been still trying to hold on to its colonies in India and elsewhere when the PT were discovered. Even today remnants of the monarchial system are trying to make a discreet comeback in various guises. Unas who played hard ball in his own time could easily be seen as a Tyrants Tyrant and thus the roll of history existing in PT is heavily obfuscated to the point some will tell you there is no history in the PT, which if one examined closely should seem rather ludicrous.
The period after the 4th Dynasty was marked with economic and social decline and there still existed continued conflict on keeping North/Lower and South/Upper Egypt united. Ultimately it all fell apart at the end of the 6th Dynasty as Egypt entered its first Intermediate period as lessor nobles sought a share in power. Part of that sharing brought about the Coffin Text and later the various Books of Dead. That doesn't mean that the DM and it's Divine Right to Rule were outdated notions, it only questioned who had that Devine Right to Rule.
There's a little more on my original review of the 1910 version of this book concerning flooding the Nile but I'll leave you with this from that:
Note. Flooding the Nile seems ludicrous. But is it? The undulation/flood only comes for a few months out of the year. The majority of river bed stays dry for 3/4ths of year. The Egyptians built the pyramids. Dams too. Maspero mentions such in Vol 1 of his histories being built near Memphis. There is also an engineer web site touting the first dam built in the world prior to 4th Dynasty near the same location. Another source speaking of the same thing is this:
“THE KOSHEISH” DAM: HAS IT REALLY EXISTED OR NOT? by Professor Petar S. PETROVIC, PhD University of Belgrade, Faculty of Civil Engineering Summary
There's more on the "... 1910" review, but I'm hitting the character limit.
"The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts 1910" by R.O. Faulkner
Published 2014. That one is 330 pages including index, plus a 90 page supplement of the hieroglyphics. Original book is from 1969 but the only clue to that from this book is in the introduction when he mentions he has not had a chance to review the Piankoff Pyramid Text "Pyramid of Unas", as it just came out post-humous in 1968. Piankoff died in 1967 approximately 6 weeks after Natacha Rambova died who had been editing his books.
This book can be found on the Internet Archive which gives it 440 pages including title and blank pages. When searching Amazon you will be presented with paperback version which does not have hieroglyph supplement. Choose hard cover and you will arrive at the larger book. I believe they list 436 pages.
I haven't read this edition of Faulkner but it's not going to be dramatically different for what I have to say.
The use of "1910" in the title comes from when Sethe put out the Standard Edition in which the term "Utterance" was adopted in setting apart separate statements that stood alone as a sentence or could be grouped together as a longer passage. Further it helped track the various Utterances between tombs as some of the tombs had the same Utterance mentioned and those translating the various tombs thought not to bother their readers with repetitive text. Mercer did not use the term Utterance but instead assigned a line number so that what appears as an Utterance may have several line numbers depending on how long it is. Faulkner used both Utterance number and line numbers as did Piankoff.
Faulkner starts out with the words "the sarcophagus text" letting you know he's started to read from the sarcophagus room first. After that there is no further indication from where the Utterances are being read from. One may now assume that Mercer also started in the sarcophagus room also as he too begins at what would be Utterance 1 had he used Utterance numbers and continues on in the same sequence Faulkner uses. Piankoff however gives the exact room (sarcophagus chamber, ante chamber, entrance and specifies which wall or gable he's translating from (example north wall, east gable etc…). Later when you get to Jeremy Naydler or Susan Morrow you can see how important that is.
Faulkner also uses Mercer's technique of titling/labeling groups of Utterances as a way to explain what you are reading. Piankoff however avoids this, mentioning in his introduction that he wants the reader to decide the meaning of the utterances instead of leading the reader on how to think about each passage. Although this technique can be useful given the lack of notes given with any of the various translators, it could also be misleading, as you are told how to think of each passage. Generally I agree with Piankoff, as I believe there are other titles that could be assigned to some passages so reads these as "Mercer or Faulkner thinks these mean or are about this…" Again when you get to Naylder and Susan Morrow your eyes will be open to many more meanings.
Faulkner has also followed Mercer in not using the Kings Name. However where Mercer used "N." Faulkner at least uses "The King" whereas Piankoff gives best meaning to the text by saying "Unas". Faulkner's reasoning stated more plain than Mercer is that Pyramid Texts were all coming from a set script known earlier in previous dynasties and are not peculiar to any one king. I find this explanation to be BS as the tomb of Unis/Unas/Wenis, the first to have Pyramid Texts is quite unique from the other tombs. Piankoff's "The Pyramid of Unas" only does the Pyramid Text for that tomb and no other. In my opinion It is the only tomb worth trying to understand as the others are so much blah. Unfortunately you can't get a copy of Piankoff and will have to read it from the Internet Archives.org site.
On the use of notes, Faulkner makes fair use of foot notes, whereas Mercer barely used any, relying instead on the titles for groups of utterances. Piankoff's use of foot notes is as about the same as Faulkner's. Later Allen will put his foot notes at the end of each pyramid. The use of foot notes is marginally helpful to the lay reader and are mostly geared towards someone who has access to Sethe.
Since we've mentioned Allen who was the fourth to offer an English translation of the Pyramid Text, readers might wish to know the best translation so I'll offer this:
Pyramids. Mercer and Faulkner translate 6 Pyramids. Piankoff translates 1, Allen translates 9.
Defines which Pyramid. Mercer and Faulkner do not define. Piankoff is only doing one. Allen puts each pyramid in a separate section.
Use of Utterance numbers. Mercer does not use, Piankoff, Faulkner and Allen use.
Use of Line numbers. Mercer, Piankoff, and Faulkner use. Allen does not use.
Use of Sub Titles for groups of Utterances. Mercer, Faulkner and Allen use. Piankoff does not use.
Use of notes. Mercer does not use notes. Piankoff and Faulkner use notes on each page. Allen puts his notes at the end of each pyramid section.
Poetry or Prose. Mercer incorporates a soft level of Poetry in presenting the PT. Piankoff uses prose, Faulkner is back to poetry, and Allen is more prose.
Defines the speaker. Mercer uses N. Piankoff and Allen use the King's (Queen's also for Allen). Faulkner uses King instead of a name.
Translation. Although there are word differences between authors Mercer, Piankoff and Faulkner are most in agreement. Allen is generally in agreement however he's added where the others have not. In doing this you look at the hieroglyphs that have been added at the ends of the other books and see that where Faulkner has added he's gone way past the number of words and even sentences for some of his utterances and is thus being excessively liberal in some his translations. Also Allen refuses to use Re's name and instead calls the god the Sun throughout his translation, something I find that tended to water down Re's significance in the PT.
Back of the Book. Allen is the only one to add a glossary as well as a bibliography but has no hieroglyphs. Piankoff and Faulkner have only hieroglyphs. I need to check Mercer.
Key Print Dates. 14 years after opening the Pyramids we get the first translation by Maspero (French)1894. Kurt Sethe publishes in several volumes in German between 1910-1912 but then continues to add volumes all the way up to 1923 and is still considered unfinished. He is also considered to be the authority on the PT. Finally the English translations arrive first with Samual Mercer in 1952. Piankoff had started working on his translation earlier but it ends up being published after his death in 1968. R.O. Faulkner publishes in 1969. James P. Allen publishes a first edition 2005 and a second edition in 2015. As mentioned at length in my review of Mercer, who was a Bollingen Foundation Fellow but ended up getting funding from another book company that he printed from, so it might be of interest to know that Natacha Rambova and Piankoff were in Egypt on a 5 year grant from the Bollingen Foundation studying multiple sites from 1949-1953 that resulted in 6 books to include the Pyramid of Unas. Essentially Mercer appears to have back doored Piankoff by visiting Breasted's son. Breasted had been working on producing his own edition before he died, doing so at the request of Mary Mellon who later began the Bollingen Foundation. In addition Mercer visited key Museums that held the works of Maspero, Sethe and others who had written serious commentary on the PT. The posthumous publication of Piankoff's "Pyramid of Unas" likely happened because Piankoff and Rambova were backdoored by Mercer after which finishing the translation became of lessor concern since they'd not be first with an English translation.
The PT are considered to be the oldest written religious text currently known but the Vedas with their oral tradition predate them by far, however they did not see written form until much later. Additionally there appears a minor document found at the Kesh Temple in Mesopotamia that dates back at least 200 years earlier. Mainstream Egyptology treats the PT as funerary text, however arguments by Jermey Naydler and later by Susan Morrow who is problamatic in the last half of her book have arisen that the text and tombs were important throughout the King's reign.
Additionally the generally approved view point on the Pyramid Text is that they do not contain history and are strictly a religious text with myths and concern themselves with the afterlife. Faulkner was mostly of this view also and of all the major translators only Piankoff seems to be of the opinion that you should make up your own mind on this. Faulkner however gives an interesting foot note from Kurt Sethe for Utterance 254 wherein he quotes Kurt Sethe where that he, Sethe, can detect 10 separate strata for just that utterance alone. When one considers that "strata" is construed as layers and that layers are both low and high, similar to chords played in music, and then apply that principle throughout the Pyramid Text of Unas one can begin to see that some of text appears to strike chords that can be considered to be historical for both the times of Unas as well as before his time. This can be easily applied to Utterances 248, 254, 271, 279, 302 and 305 where those chords are struck. Additionally, Unas appears to be in contention with not just the gods to gain his place in heaven but also a divided priestly class between Heliopolis and further south down to Memphis. Further as like the Vedas from India, that are said to have different levels of meanings these chords in Unas's Pyramid text can take on both low meanings and high meanings. That is to say meanings, stretch from low myth, to historical to the higher religious meanings, yet Egyptology tends to only see the higher meanings of the text and generally frown on anything else. Of note here is that I only apply this to King Unas where it easiest to see and not the other 9 kings or queens that make up the rest of the Pyramid Text. It also helps to read around the Pyramid Text and understand what archeology has said of the King and his times and fit him in that niche when reading the Pyramid Text.
From my Notes including Utterance 248, 254, 271, 279, 302, and 305 (Mercer, Piankoff, Faulkner. Use anyone but Allen as he adds and subtracts too much and does not do Utt. 271 at all like the others.)
Utterance 248.
The King is a great one, the King has issued from between the thigs of the Ennead [the earthly priests in Heliopolis. Some believe Unas was not related to the last king by blood but was a priest at Heliopolis before he assumed the throne].
The King was conceived by Sakhmet, it is Šsmt.t who gave birth to Unas. [Hathor's lion form as the Eye of Ra used to destroy the rebels in the myth "Destruction of Mankind".]
Utterance 254.
To say the words:
"The Great (Uraeus) fumigates the Bull of Nekhen (Hierakonpolis).
The heat of the fiery breath is against you,
you who are about the shrine (kAr)!
O Great God whose name is unknown, (bring) at once a meal of the Unique Lord.
O lord of the Horizon (Ax.t), make place for Unas.
If you fail to make place for Unas, Unas will pronounce a curse against his father Geb:
the earth shall not speak any more;
Geb shall not be able to defend himself.
(He) whom Unas finds on his way, he will eat him piecemeal.
The hnt-pelican announces (sr), the ennead(psD.t)-pelican comes out.
The Great One rises. The enneads speak: completely dammed-off shall be the land.
The two ridges of the mountain (on both sides of the Nile valley) shall be united.
The two banks of the river will be joined.
The roads will be hidden from the passers-by.
The steps (rwd.w) will be annihilated for those who go up.
Make tight the rope (of the boat), sail the road of heaven!
Strike the ball on the meadow of Hapi (Apis)!" [Hapi is the flood god of the Nile regulated by Khnum the ram headed potter god, maker of kings and comes up often in the PT]
[Not to worry, all of the translators abide by the little foot note that says the above is but some sort of prophecy and none make attempt to explain further even though reading a fair few lines latter there's this little oddity. So, Eh'em! Both cannot be true.]
The heart of Unas be glad (sweet), the heart of Unas be glad (sweet).
Unas is the Unique One, the Bull of Heaven.
He has exterminated those who did this against him,
he has annihilated their offspring upon earth.
Utterance 267
A stairway to heaven shall be laid down for him, that he may ascend to heaven thereon; he ascends on the smoke (incense) of the great censing. [I don't think Mercer sees the pun? Naïve? Piankoff and Faulkner don't do incense. It's papyrus burning for them.]
Utterance 271.
"To say : 'I, king Unas, have inundated the land which came forth from the lake, I have torn out the papyrus-plant, I have satisfied the Two Lands, I have united the Two Lands, I have joined my mother the Great Wild Cow.'"
Utterance 279
To Say, O Unas! I have trampled down the mud of the watercourses. Thoth [moon god] is the protector of Unas, when it is dark, when it is dark. [they trampled down the mud walls in the dark]
Utterance 302.
There is no word against me on earth among men, there is no accusation in the sky among the gods, for I have annulled the word against me, which I destroyed in order to mount the sky.
Utterance 305
Is the heir grown poor, and having a script,
(then) this Unas shall write with the big finger,
He shall not write with the small finger.
The entirety of Unas's PT are loaded with chords that are strident and hostile to rebels and to any gods that would obstruct his hold on power and rise to heaven. He pays practically zero deference to the people he rules over. It appears that In his mind, Unas is keeping to the myth of the Destruction of Man Kind (DM) for which I'll speak of next. The DM is where the Devine Right of Kings to Rule could be said to originate, where Re hands the reigns over to human kings to do as they see fit in maintaining his kingdom. Unas is fulfilling his duties from that myth and is thus JUSTIFIED (a term Unas uses in the PT) by doing whatever it takes to keep the lands united and so that then is the only deference he owes his subjects. As such King Unas makes for a poor role model for Monarchies and would be tyrants to rise back up into power which is sadly still our current state of affairs today and a large reason for the PT to be so muddled and hard to understand in my opinion.
Parts of the myth of "The Destruction of Mankind"(DM) also known as "The Book of the Heavenly/Celestial Cow" are found in part or full in the tombs of New Kingdom kings (18th-20th Dynasties); Amonhoptep IV, Tut-Ankh-Amon, Seti I, Ramses II, III, & VI. The DM is interwoven as background into much of the PT, especially with Unas. This means the myth predates the PT and should be used to help understand the PT. Of the four who translated the PT into English only Piankoff gets close to putting the DT myth into context with the PT but he does this by including it as part of his other works namely in "The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon" and "The Tomb of Ramses VI". The connection is also an oblique connection as he does not come out and say anything of the sort, but simply lays out the works sided by side with PT where an astute person should be able to make the connection themselves. For the general public not connecting the PT with DM in plain terms constrains our understanding of the PT leaving us to guess as to why.
Of note, Gaston Maspero gives the complete DM myth in the first volume of his 12 volume series on the histories the ancient peoples of the orient. The entire 12 volumes were printed in French between 1895-1897. The first English translation of the whole set happened in 1903-1904 and later again by Henry Sayce in 1933. A.S. Rappoprt has provided the only copies available today, but they are close to going out of print again . Although Maspero does not in Volume I make a connection to the PT, he is speaking about some of the oldest myths from ancient Egypt.
The DM myth explains how kingship was handed down from the gods by Re to human kings and establishes the Divine Right of Kings to Rule and as required Annihilate All Rebels in order to maintain unity. I would suggest that the answer is there. Gaston Maspero discovered the first tombs containing PT in 1880. The French Revolution that started a hundred years earlier in 1789 and continued for ten years created havoc for monarchies ever since. The largest example is England who had been still trying to hold on to its colonies in India and elsewhere when the PT were discovered. Even today remnants of the monarchial system are trying to make a discreet comeback in various guises. Unas who played hard ball in his own time could easily be seen as a Tyrants Tyrant and thus the roll of history existing in PT is heavily obfuscated to the point some will tell you there is no history in the PT, which if one examined closely should seem rather ludicrous.
The period after the 4th Dynasty was marked with economic and social decline and there still existed continued conflict on keeping North/Lower and South/Upper Egypt united. Ultimately it all fell apart at the end of the 6th Dynasty as Egypt entered its first Intermediate period as lessor nobles sought a share in power. Part of that sharing brought about the Coffin Text and later the various Books of Dead. That doesn't mean that the DM and it's Divine Right to Rule were outdated notions, it only questioned who had that Devine Right to Rule.
There's a little more on my original review of the 1910 version of this book concerning flooding the Nile but I'll leave you with this from that:
Note. Flooding the Nile seems ludicrous. But is it? The undulation/flood only comes for a few months out of the year. The majority of river bed stays dry for 3/4ths of year. The Egyptians built the pyramids. Dams too. Maspero mentions such in Vol 1 of his histories being built near Memphis. There is also an engineer web site touting the first dam built in the world prior to 4th Dynasty near the same location. Another source speaking of the same thing is this:
“THE KOSHEISH” DAM: HAS IT REALLY EXISTED OR NOT? by Professor Petar S. PETROVIC, PhD University of Belgrade, Faculty of Civil Engineering Summary
There's more on the "... 1910" review, but I'm hitting the character limit.
abandoned
May 14, 2018this was a tough read. the book is written in utterances which at first are easy to read, but after a hundred pages or so it's easy to get lost if you are not well familiarized with egyptian deities, hieroglyphics and their respective pronunciation. besides, faulkner's famous translation frequently references and controverts sethe's which makes some passages even harder to follow to non-specialized readers like myself.
so yes, after a couple of months struggling to remember what it was that wepwawet did and to whom and trying to understand how it was that horus became the son and brother of both isis and osiris i decided to give it a rest and maybe try again in a few years.
so yes, after a couple of months struggling to remember what it was that wepwawet did and to whom and trying to understand how it was that horus became the son and brother of both isis and osiris i decided to give it a rest and maybe try again in a few years.
October 26, 2013
Easily the best translation :)
December 6, 2016
Loved it.
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