1-The Pyramid Text of UNAS.wim Van Den Dungen.2007.68p

The Pyramid Text of UNASCartouche of King Unas ("wnis"). (ca. 2378 - 2348 BCE) The Royal Ritual of Rebirth & Illumination the regeneration of the divine king and the transformation of his Ba into an Akh by Wim van den Dungen GENERAL INTRODUCTION "O You, the great god, whose name is unknown." King Unas (Utt.254 - West Wall of Antechamber) 01 02 03 04 From Predynastic graves & mounds to royal tombs. The rise of henotheism. The ritual complex of King Unas. The interpretation of the Pyramid Texts. 05 06 07 08 An integration of perpectives. The role of Osiris in the Unas text. The complete text of the translation. Greek versus Egyptian Initiation The Complete Text l Central Plan of the Hieroglyphs l Bibliography by Wim van den Dungen Antwerp, 2006 - 2007. Burial-Chamber l Passage-way l Antechamber l Corridor l Serdab HIEROGLYPHS Burial-chamber or Sarcophagusroom (I, II, III, IV, V) l Passage-way (VI) Antechamber (VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII) l Northern Corridor (XIII) l Serdab (XIV) Remark : The use of capitals in words as "Absolute", "God" or "Divine", points to a rational context (i.e. how these appear in a theology conducted in the rational mode of thought). Hence, when these words are used in the context of Ancient Egyptian ante-rational thought (which, as a cultural form, was mythical, pre-rational & proto-rational), this restriction is lifted. Hence, words such as "god", "the god", "gods", "goddesses", "pantheon" or "divine" are not capitalized. 1. From Predynastic graves & mounds to royal tombs. Predynastic burials In Egyptian funerary rituals, the tomb was a dark, underground structure, dug out in desert sand or rock and completed with offerings accompanying the dead. In the Predynastic millennium (ca. 4000 - 3000 BCE) preceding the Pharaonic Period (ca. 3000 - 30 BCE), the tombs were simple holes in the ground, with wooden walls and mats. Little is known of what was on top of them, and so scholars hesitate to categorize these constructions as funerary architecture. On the outside, a mound of sand or gravel or perhaps a simple wooden construction may have served as a marker. Most Predynastic corpses were completely dried out because of the desert sand. Was this a prefiguration of the Pharaonic practice of removing bodily fluids with natron (during mummification) ? From Naqada II onwards, highly differentiated burials are found in cemeteries in Upper Egypt (cf. Gerzean, ca. 3600 - 3300 BCE). These élite burials contained large quantities of grave goods, with exotic materials such as gold and lapis lazuli. These burials point to an increasing hierarchical society and the wish of the deceased to keep their status in the afterlife, of prime important in the funerary theology under the Pharaohs. In short, the royals had access to the sky of Re, whereas commoners were spirits unable to leave the kingdom of Osiris. Naqada III tomb - Minsjat Abu Omar - Eastern Delta - ca. 3300 BCE. First seen in Amratian culture (Naqada I, 4000 - 3600 BCE), there was, during the second phase of the Gerzean culture, a distinct acceleration of the funerary trend, whereby a few individuals were buried in larger, elaborate tombs, containing richer and more abundant offerings (cf. the Painted Tomb at Naqada). These Gerzean cemeteries develop a wide range of grave types, ranging from small oval or round pits, poorly provided, to burials in pottery vessels and rectangular pits subdivided in partitions (to put the funerary offerings). There were coffins of wood or airdried pottery, and indications of the wrapping of the body in strips of (expensive) linen (cf. the Double Tomb at Adaïma near Hierakonpolis). Various burial-sites appear, and also the richer tombs of the chieftains, the predecessors of the "Followers of Horus", the first divine kings. the advent of dual kingship & sacred language At Naqada. itself rooted in the myth of the primordial hill emerging out of the eternal "zep tepi".2900 BCE). like a house or an imitation palace. the graves of the rulers and the élite consisted of neat mudbrick boxes. The pyramid form is deemed an elaboration of this architecture. Situated far out in the desert near the cliffs at Abydos. Egyptian kingship expressed a unique feature : realizing the harmony or equilibrium of opposites by using sacred language & its ritual. building-projects. etc. they were marked by a pair of large stelæ and covered by a mound. At the end of Naqada III." Lamy. 3000 . we witness a new style of "royal" burial. This "risen land" ("ta-tenen") was the "first land" to come into being (in phenomenal time . his face turned towards the east. sunk in the desert and divided. while in Upper Egypt. as all along the upper Nile.cf. On the treshold of the First Dynasty (ca. looking west. the end of the Naqada II phase brings separate political centres to the fore. Frankfort (1948) called the presence of the divine king and his institution of "transcendent significance". in the royal titulary. but with increased complexity. Nun). The tombs of the first kings followed this pattern. p. with the head at the south. Predynastic names of kings . the first hieroglyphs appear. the Golden Age.Wilkinson (1999). Often the body was wrapped in a cloth or an animal skin. Also at this time."In the Neolithic period the dead were desposited in oval graves in foetal position. in the royal rituals and festivals. the head resting on a cushion. From the very early start. the dead person was placed on his left side. .53.Names not to same scale . Abydos and Hierakonpolis.27. The dual nature of the monarchy was all-comprehensive and reflected in the regalia. In Lower Egypt the deceased was placed on his right side. p. 1981. into several rooms. These mounds of sand and gravel can be traced back to the modest pit graves. 2205 BCE). surging Falcon and (b) the mighty and fertile Bull (cf. as well as the longevity and endurance of the Pharaonic canon. and Egyptian divine kingship is unique in Antiquity. In the actual transmission of the standards of the Ancient Egyptian mindset. centuries of political centralization. the royal ritual balances the scales of Maat. terminating the "chaos" to which no return was possible. thus keeping Upper & Lower Egypt together & united by way of this Great Word. Later.Divine kingship or theocratic statemanship was a unique phenomenon in the region. This crucial witnessing quality of the "great house" ("pr-Aa". administration & economy were unknown to them. . not their spirit). speaks Maat.e.and Bas -souls-. allowing for communication between the divine and the mundane. At first. i. Memphis theology). Memphis theology). Its culture flourished on the surplus economy of the yearly inundation. the Falcon-principle inherent in Horus (the sky-god) was deemed to incarnate in each king. sacrality. 3000 . Incarnating the Great Word (cf. the new political ideology could be "eternalized" for millennia : the divine king. stability. the divine king or "nesut" was deemed the son of Re.2670 BCE). sacred kingship of the Great Word (cf. Without a "good Nile". power & magic of words). help to explain the importance of the institution of divine kingship in Egyptian culture. 2670 . The first outstanding feature of the Egyptian solution was to institutionalize the king's dual nature : he was the Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt. if not in the world. much later Hellenized as "Pharaoh"). Contemporary civilizations were often fragmented and political unity was difficult. creating the world (cf. Add to this the power of the divine. the Predynastic consort of the great goddess). magic and the power of the word). Its direct influence on Greek philosophy and monotheism are unmistaken. in the Early Dynastic or Archaic Period (ca. maintaining creation and causing a "good Nile" (not too much and not too little flooding). as well as human and divine. Kingship implied the end of the fragmentation of Prehistory. Egypt perished. the advent of sacred language (cf. hieroglyphs played a crucial role. By absence of natural buffers. overseeing the "Two Lands" as its sole Lord. It was not an easy to attack Egypt from the South or the North. Thanks to the second crucial feature. when the "Followers of Horus" ruled. The Eastern & Western Deserts of Egypt surrounded the narrow strip of green land bordering the Nile. associated with the images of (a) the watchful. in the Old Kingdom (ca. the sole divine being abiding on Earth (the Akhu or deities remained in the sky and only sent their Kas -doubles. short-lived or foreign to them. the two ivory djed-pillars found in the First Dynasty tomb at Helwan). A kind of "organic" patchwork-thinking of great delicacy emerges. is transcended by a witnessing consciousness characterized by :  the overseeing capacities of the son of Re. not attested by name . visual and written. These works made the natural order and its dynamical equilibria endure for "millions of years". The central element of the later Osiris myth. keeping dynamical divisions united . an indication of the Upper Egyptian origin of the Egyptian state (cf. but complementarities." The Egyptian symmetry or play of equilibria. The kings of the First Dynasty were buried at Abydos (the cult place of Osiris). The power of pairing lies in the combination demarcating and underlining a greater unity. Thanks to the presence of the divine king. Opposites are not contradictions. utilizes the duality of opposites as part of a careful strategy to master the whole. the eternal cycle of the natural order ("neheh") initiated by Atum in the First Time. verbal. This King Merenre is the Great Speech. engaging others in community-building activities and securing one's return to the stellar light-fields of father Re. The institution of kingship was already strong & powerful.  the wholesome. the pairing of Horus and Seth. the "Followers of Horus" first uniting Upper Egypt before settling in Memphis)."Indeed. the royal tombs With the arrival of the institution of kingship & sacred language. the lips of King Merenre are as the Two Enneads. the royal ritual and its funerary cult came into existence. creative output as Horus on Earth. fertilizing power of the regenerated Osiris who is king of the Duat and  the strong. is attested from the middle of this First Dynasty (cf. Osiris. Palace façade style mud-brick tomb . In the tombs of kings Den and Adjib (First Dynasty. Scholars conjecture the burial mound recalls the primeval mound which emerged from the waters at the time of creation. 3000 . ca. The symbolism speaks for itself. 3000 BCE. most likely of Predynastic origin. the god of Abydos. Like the rising Sun. This is effectuated in two stages : Osirian regeneration. is very likely "Khentiamentiu". The burial-chambers were incorparated at ground level.First Dynasty . stellar terminus of . The pyramids reflect a stellar ideology made possible by the local horizon delimiting the cycle of the Sun. who closes this dynasty. the king rose to the sky. the change from mastaba to step pyramid. They are made to assist the divine king on his celestial voyage to the stars.Queen Neithhotep .ca. In these theological considerations.2800 BCE). from primordial mound (of the Sun) to celestial ladder (to the stars). the entrance stairway approaches the burial-chamber from the East and the rising Sun. reflects the increased importance of the celestial. The entrance corridor is a large ramp pointing northwards toward the circumpolar stars ("ixmw-sk" or "the ones that know not destruction"). a change to a northerly orientation is effectuated (and maintained thereafter). or "the Foremost of the Westerners". The superstructures of the first royal tombs at Abydos were simple mounds of sand held in place by a mudbrick revetment. Funerary ideology became stellar. The mound is Solar. and refers to the first ray of Re shining on the first day after the waters receded.until the Unas texts. In the tomb of King Qaa. Solar ascension and luminous existence in heaven. 9. and the 'Unwearying Stars' in the south. but his kingdom had to be escaped. 2005. Very likely. known as the Winding Canal. divine kingship (as Re) assimilated the Lunar power of the Predynastic "great goddess". making humans & deities alike fear Osiris and make sure his judgement was favourable. whereas commoners hid beneath the Earth. and "pet". creating the unsettling tension between the "Duat". where the marshes of the Delta gradually gave way to the Mediterranean Sea. Osiris became "second best" in royal theology. It represented an "order" created by Re but outside his reach (cf." Allen. This Lunar fertility god would eventually represent the "regenerative" part of the royal ritual. Although the tombs left by the kings of the Early Dynastic Period are . The region of the sky to its south was known as the Marsh of Reeds and that to its north the Marsh of Rest or Marsh of Offerings. the sky. left unresolved in the texts. These names reflect the Egyptian's experience of their own country. They reflect the dual spiritual economy at hand. some inhabited by the 'Imperishable Stars'. and their distribution in the tomb points to a sequence involving Lunar purification (rebirth) and Solar illumination (transformation). 2487 . in the dark kingdom of Osiris. Seth and Osiris. is another evidence of the growing importance of the magical power of hieroglyphs. Re and his divine son rule the pantheon & creation.rebirth) & vertical (illumination transformation) layers are not integrated in the text (yet).the divine king. and so bound to the sky. Features within both regions were sees as islands. but in the architecture. The earliest hieroglyphs evidence these two theologies. The royals were divine beings. Horizontal (fertility . p.2348 BCE). By the end of the Vth Dynasty (ca. This movement away from the strong architectonic message of gigantic hieroglyphic monuments for all to see. the "fertile bull" slain & risen. In some mysterious way. Heavenly Cow). In this pre-rational henotheism. and others known as the Mounds of Horus. represented by Osiris. The influence of Re rose and a pre-rational and Heliopolitan henotheism saw the light. "The sun's apparent path across the sky throughout the year follows a 12°wide arc from east to west. and represent the Solar (dry) and Lunar (wet) "mechanics" of the high magic of rebirth (as the Lunar Osiris) and enlightenment (as the Solar Re). the Netherworld. Osiris' Southern "Field of Reeds" and Re's Northern "Field of Offering" or "Field of Peace" were adjacent salvic conditions with conflicting ontological features. lasting for ever. in the north. to the use of written hieroglyphs to make the magic work in splendid secure tombs. later known as Memphis. to Meidum in the south. p. in particular under King Netjerikhet or "Djoser" (ca. reflected the dual nature of the afterlife : the half-submerging dummy buildings "must have signified the chthonic.2635 BCE) and his grand architect Imhotep. A limestone wall. underworld aspect of existence after death" (Lehner.644 m long. "The Step Pyramid of Djoser heralded the classic pyramid age. 2654 . large terraces. columns. During these centuries the Egyptians built pyramids for their god-kings in a 72-km (45-mile) span of desert. Excluding the pyramids of Djedefre at Abu Roash and Sneferu at Meidum as outliers. 60 m." Lehner. stairways. while the Step Pyramid itself. .5 m high and 1. This is the barrier between the outer world and the domain of the divine king. Even after death. façades. shrines and life-seized statues. with functional and dummy buildings. the 4th to 6th dynasties. the 21 major Old Kingdom pyramids stand like sentinels in a 20-km (12-mile) stretch west of the capital the 'White Walls'. The complex. 84). Zawiyet el-Aryan. Abusir.14-15. 2001. also known as the Old Kingdom. Saqqara and Dahshur.2600 BCE). 10. near the entrance of the Fayum. The Step Pyramid represents a significant leap in architectural size and sophistication. northwest of Giza. 2670 . reflects the route of celestial (stellar) ascension/descension taken by the Solar King after he was mummified and entombed. they do not approach the scale suddenly reached in the IIIth Dynasty (ca.monumental in size. contained an area of 15 ha (then the size of a large town). clustering at Giza. between Abu Roash. pp. rising in six steps to a height of ca. 2001. Pyramid of Djoser and part of its surrounding enclosure wall. platforms. 2548 BCE).the king was still "at work" in his tomb.2571 BCE). at times niched inner wall Centre East side Satellite Pyramid E temple. "Duat") and. . so-called Meidum-type arrangement. Only in the Middle Kingdom (ca.W axial symmetry smooth outer wall. with a long North .South rectangular enclosure. The royal tomb changed into a true pyramid.19 older DJOSER type North . A new orientation was applied (the main axis of the complex was now from East to West instead as the previously North . was amplified by the gigantic Giza complex of King Khufu (ca.S sequence niched. on the other hand. no inner wall South end of East side South tomb no Satellite Pyramid N or S temple new MEIDUM TYPE East . the first king of the IVth Dynasty. the Lunar underworld ("Dwt". A new form was sought. when the earliest Meidum-type were fading into ruin. "pet") of the "imperishable" circumpolar stars (Alpha Draconis rather than Alpha Polaris). and remained unchanged throughout the Old Kingdom. about 26° to 30° above the northern horizon in the area of the pyramids.1759 BCE). Lehner. which provided a monumental entrance to the complex as a whole . This new standard.. did pyramid builders return to the basic elements of Djoser's complex. and the mortuary temple was built against the Eastern face of the Pyramid (Djoser's is to the North).South direction).South N .West E . 2571 . the Solar sky ("pt". N entrance chapel Orientation Parts Enclosure wall Entrance Ka tomb Temple In the reign of King Sneferu (ca.. defined by a decorated wall with a single entrance at the far South end of the East side. p. close to the edge of the cultivated area further to the East. 1938 . 2001. radical changes in the overall plan of the Pyramid complex happened. It was linked by a causeway to a valley temple. 2600 . which acted as a stairway to and fro the sky. This depicted the fundamental duality of the afterlife : on the one hand. 2571 .700.2548 BCE). the Pole Star. 2. The only known figure of him is a tiny figurine around 7. a combination of the myths of Re and Osiris ? Even if we allow Pharaoh Khufu a reign of 30 to 32 years. a rate of 1 average-size block of 2.6 cm high with his name on its throne ! Plan of the Pyramid-complex of Pharaoh Khufu (ca. two temples. to finish his pyramid.000 m³).During his reign. i. Although this king did not equal his father's total mass of monuments. the principle of pyramid-building had been mastered and the . causeway. But once every 24 hours. would be built by his son Khnum-khuf ("Khnum is his protector"). The northern ventilation shaft pointed directly to Alpha Draconis. his workers and builders would had to set in place 230 m³ of stone per day.e.59 m high. 146. the three stars in Orion's belt passed at culmination above the southern ventilation shaft of the burial-chamber . satellite pyramids. After a few failures. But the largest pyramid.5 tons every 4 or 6 minutes (working in day and night shifts). he surpassed his pyramids in sheer size and accuracy. three queens' pyramids and official's mastabas (a combined mass of ca. Pharaoh Sneferu finished in half a century three giant pyramids at Meidum and Dahshur. The finished pyramid was surrounded by an 8m high Tura limestone wall ! The Great Pyramid has three chambers : a King's Chamber with the sarcophagus near the western wall . also made it possible for the "son of Re" to unite with the celestial. stellar corpse of Osiris. "noble") and be transformed into an "Akh" ("spirit") helped by Osiris and Isis in their stellar. celestial form (in the South). was identified with Orion : the announced renewal of life by the heliacal rising of Sirius. the architects of the Great Pyramid underlined the celestial goals of Solar Kingship. could rise in its "sah" ("sAH".300. while this seems unlikely (in view of the triune architecture of royal tombs. never intended for the burial of the queen and the Subterranean Chamber. 30 m below the plateau surface. reached by a Descending Passage cut straight into the natural rock of the plateau. was called "the Bringer of the New Year and the Nile flood". the annual Nile inundation was heralded. the funerary symbolism is clearly celestial. the vegetation god. Some think the lower chambers were "mistakes". The expanse of the sky was the celestial Nile. and.5 tons) is level within 2. This star. associated with Isis.000 blocks of stone weighing on average ca 2. the culminating moment in the movement from dusk to dawn) and the Field of Offering (Re) further North. What is typical for these "Stellar" pyramids of Sneferu (Bent Pyramid as well as North Pyramid) and Khufu is the elevated position of the King's Chamber. by doing so. the so-called "Queen's Chamber".building of the king's royal pyramid-complex (also containing his tomb) become state policy.e. associated with the Orion constellation and the star Sirius (the Southern shafts). entailing the blessing of Osiris. Osiris. . antechamber and Ka-chamber). By the bright appearance of the Dog-star in the dawn sky of July.3 ha.5 cm (290. a Ka chamber with the statue of the king. Thus he reached his final destiny : the Imperishable Stars in the North.4 cm. the brother and husband of Isis. The pyramid alone covers 5. with banks on the West and on the East. Moreover. the average deviation of the sides from the cardinal points is 0°03'06" degrees of arc and the greatest difference in length of the sides is 4. The base of the Great Pyramid (containing about 2. By elevating the King's Chamber.33 m) with an angle of slope of 51°50'40". The Milky Way was called "the beaten path of stars" and paradise was invisioned as the Nile Valley at inundation : the Field of Reeds (Osiris) on the eastern edge (i. with burialchamber. the Ba of King Khufu. In both. son of Re. every deceased would identify. apparent in the Pyramid Texts. with whom eventually (in the Middle Kingdom). the royal Solar/Stellar prerogative and.2487 BCE) emphasized the Solar component of divine kingship.e. and. on the one hand. the Netherworld ("Duat") of Osiris. we may "read" the same ambiguity. on the other hand. the direct manifestation of the supreme deity on Earth. on the one hand.e. its king hidden in the darkness of the subterranean world. but only insofar Osiris assisted the celestial terminus of the deceased king. thematized in the New Kingdom Amduat. 2600 . i. the sky of Re ("pet"). The kings of the IVth Dynasty (ca. between. between. . on the other hand. i. and escaping the darkness of the Duat. Nevertheless. the influence of the popular (Lunar and Predynastic ?) Osiris. Heliopolitan theology incorporated Osirian thematics. creator of the deities and the universe. the son of Re returning to his father.The Great Pyramid with Sphinx In this remarkable architecture. realized by the institution of divine kingship (his Great Word) and the powers of state (cf." At the start of Dynastic times (ca. 3000 BCE). 2670 BCE). 2670 . the religious beliefs of the Egyptians were contextual. local & relative to social class.antechamber. the administration. but the identity of Horus is less so. the economy. the gods fly away. etc). North Wall) "Men hide. Each and every local deity was "great" ("wr") and polytheism reigned. son of Osiris.302 . From the IIIth Dynasty (ca. the temples. appearing as a fusion of (a) Horus the Elder and (b) Horus. a variety of gods and goddesses were worshipped. Hither and thither. King Unas (Utt.Cairo taken from behind the Sphinx 2. the seats of learning. the military. health-care. At the level of state. The (Predynastic ?) identity of the anarchic Seth seems obvious enough. initiating the Old Kingdom (ca. The rise of henotheism. the royal palace or "great house". Horus (Lower Egypt) & Seth (Upper Egypt) represented the balance of the Two Lands. "Menkaure is Divine" (Menkaure).2548 BCE) evidence this new royal theology. "Djedefre is a Sehed-star" (Djedefre). "The Purified Pyramid" (Shepseskaf). universal. Canonical attainments in science. the vizier. magic. Amduat. "Great is Khafre" (Khafre). when King Khephren (ca. 2600 . the Pyramid Texts) and wisdom-teaching. stressing the singular). "the one that comes in peace". 2600 . replacing the traditional balance between Horus and Seth. By the IVth Dynasty (ca.2487 BCE). the Step Pyramid of Djoser). all-powerful creator : Atum-Re.2571 BCE) and Khufu (ca. However. "The Southern Shining Pyramid" (Sneferu). The original battle was reorchestrated as a smaller part within the scheme of a single. Snofru (ca. focusing on the divine king while in power (cf. Atenism and Amonism). medicine. in all periods. the royal ritual issued a new emphasis on the single. these Old Kingdom rules became sanctosanct. the Heliopolitan Ennead. religion (cf. "The Places of Niuserre Endure" (Niuserre). The names given to the earliest edifices imply the transformation (happening in the Akhet or "horizon") of the royal soul (ba) of the king into a spirit (akh) rejoining the stars : "Sneferu Endures" (Sneferu"). engineering. Egypt would return to the canon initiated by King Djoser and his "Leonardo da Vinci".2205 BCE). the primordial ocean of unending potential outside creation. in the horizon. "The Shining Pyramid" (Sneferu). Ancient Egyptian culture had reached its pinnacle. a determinative indicating "ascent" and "high place" (cf. the double stairway. as Osiris & Horus in the Sed-festival) and as Son of Re in the afterlife. 2654 . 2571 . especially in the Late Period (664 . but became their original point of departure. to name but a few areas of interest. In architecture (cf. Solar creator-god Re. . "Akhet Khufu" (Khufu). mathematics. "Pyramid of the Ba of Neferirkare" (Neferirkare). ritual and sapiental teachings had been realized. then. "The Rising of the Ba Spirit" (Sahure). "Pure are the Places of Userkaf" (Userkaf). the operative principle (ba) of Nun.332 BCE).2635 BCE). scribe. 041. The latter did not assimilate or reject the other deities (as in monotheism. The pyramid is a stairway to heaven. "Beautiful is Isesi" (Djedkare-Isesi). 1539 1075 BCE) to witness new developments (cf. and we have to wait until the New Kingdom (ca. a rising as given by . The latter is twotiered : first the Duat is confronted (the king becomes Osiris). Giza pyramids). doctor and architect Imhotep. or henotheism).2514 BCE) added the title "son of Re" to his royal titulary.. 2540 . The architectural wonders of Pharaohs Djoser (ca. the Ba of the king is transformed into a spirit rejoining the Imperishables. the self-created initiator of the "first time" (zep tepi) of them all (cf. Re became a state god and Pharaoh the son of Re. the "Head of Mysteries". The battles of Horus and Seth do no disappear in the new. Sacred writing realizes its first internal structure : words joined .5m and height = 49m) and less painstaking methods of construction. "In the royal and state temple theology.the henotheist religion of Re As Papyrus Westcar puts into evidence. although an essential tension between both myths continued to exist throughout the Old Kingdom.160. On the contrary. and master of the mortuary rituals for the royals.ca. the Sun-god.2480 BCE) highpriest of Re and begotten by Re himself. King Unas included. or "Kheri-Heb" appears in scenes. The result was the birth of a divine child. He was a specialist. p. Six of the seven kings of this Vth Dynasty. It evidences a truly substantial reevaluation of the rigid monumentality of the previous Dynasty (cf.83. as the two faiths interpenetrated. The powerful influence of Re made the first Pharaoh of the Vth Dynasty (King Userkaf . 2001. we have just shown how he also tinctures the Solar teaching of the celestial kingdom of the dead with Osirian doctrines. These developments evidence an increased interiority. the beginning of the Vth Dynasty saw major changes in Egyptian religion. his divine family-drama became part of the cycle of the "Great Re". Osiris became the "Sun of the night". The main surviving architectural achievement of Pharaoh Userkaf was his temple dedicated to Re. were apparently not ousted from the royal mindset. the overarching & overseeing deity. and while he is there Solarized. and in the Vth Dynasty. The pyramid of Userkaf was built at North Saqqara. 1972. the Lectorpriest. a highpriest of Re. close to the northeastern corner of Djoser's enclosure. eclipsing the balance between the good Horus and the anarchic Seth." Breasted. The popular Osiris and the crucial battle between his son Horus and Seth. 2487 . but they become a smaller part within the general scheme of a single all-powerful creator. its small size : side = 73. These temples were personal monuments to each king's continued relationship with Re during life and in the afterlife. "From the 3th Dynasty we have the evidence for a new emphasis on a single creator. Re had visited the wife of Userra. He was attended by the "Heri-Shesheta". The result was thus inevitable confusion. Osiris is lifted to the sky. would do the same in the next eighty years. The funerary ritual was also elaborated." Quirke. classical Egyptian arrangement of divine powers. p. the creator-god Re. This is Atum. his son Pharaoh is present in more than hundred temples simultaneously and he alone effectuates the necessary rituals to make the god find his shrine pleasant and become united with his statue.2514 BCE) . the prototype of the regeneration brought by darkness and silence. The subject has no transparancy of its own. Internalization led to the formation of preconcepts. the original unity of the divine is not eclipsed. but under Khufu's son. The various natural types work together under the overarching order of Re. who is their beginning and end. Because of this emphasis on Re. To operate the multiple. he is the only one able to do so). his father. Subjectivity was expressed as a function of an objective state. In-between there is Osiris. However. His brother or half brother King Khephren (ca. 2548 . he is blessed by the latter and receives a "good Nile".together in simple sentences. Thanks to the tomb. Deities only communicate with other deities. Re surpassed all other deities. the "Ba of Nun". even Horus. 2540 . the royal titulary Changes in the royal funerary rituals had already been monumentally expressed by Kings Sneferu and Khufu. The dead would thus continue to rule and Egypt would last for millions of years . the potential to autogenerate floating in the inert waters of chaos. returns the "right order" to his father (as the sole god on Earth.. A human coming face to face with the god dies. and. To evidence unity. i. Likewise. The opacity of the material side of presence prevailed.e. the signs of far-reaching religious change become institutional.2540 BCE). who provided himself with the name "belongs to the firmament". The actions of the "I"-form are objective states which are not yet (self) reflective.. Pharaoh Radjedef (ca. being the son of Re. his residence and magical power to assure a "good Nile". is the first to bear the name "son of Re" ("sA Ra"). multiplicity is not eliminated. three central natural types emerge : on the one hand. a constellational henotheism ensued. Pharaoh Radjedef. his father may descend from the sky and assist his son. but functions as a "collective Self" walking the Lunar and Solar paths. on the other hand. in the royal cult. Because he worships his father properly (effectively). "father of the gods" and giver of life. the divine king. The deities are so many appearances of the creator. Every night they are reborn with him. Pharaoh. word-images created through imagination and the interplay of meaningful objective relational contexts. the sky god and emblem of the "Followers of Horus". p. the king received a "prenomen". thereby expressing the idea of the divine king being the human form of Re at birth. i. he received the "form" of kingship ritually (cf. "From this time onward every king of Egypt. "great names".incorporated the royal title "son of Re" in his official. the royal name was the "name of names". the royal Ka). became the King of the Gods. the star of stars.t") consisted of 5 titles or "rn wr". Banner name or Ka-name : designating the king as the manifestation of Horus. the elder sky god (Horus in the palace. the king becomes the "son of Re" in actu exercito only after having received his throne-name. the son of the unique creator-god and god of light. Thus it reflects the Solar horizon of the Sun-disk and assures the clear distinction between the divine and the profane. Re begets the king. the divine birth (not yet divine right) of the royal prince was underlined. In later days. preceded by "son of Re". The five names of the royal titulary. 1989. The "nomen" name is phenomenal. the royal placenta). the Horus name. he was the son of a divine father. By adding "son of Re" to the birth name. who rules over Egypt in the former's name. King Khephren added a fifth name to his four other titulary names. When enthroned.e. At his coronation. Both names were enclosed by an oval ring (suggestive of the Solar cycle). To know and understand Pharaoh's names revealed his power in life and to have one's own name written next to his. it was asserted by his priesthood that the god assumed the human form of a man and begot the king of Egypt. As the name of someone was crucial and all-important for his or her survival and effectiveness. a temporal as well as a spiritual declaration of divine rule. As a prince. As the "son of Re". Just as the "sah" is the result of "senetjer" or ritual consecration. but his divine nature was already present at birth (cf. a divine name referring to Re. Each of these express a specific view-point on kingship. are : 1. not . a cartouche. This enclosure may be compared with the wall surrounding the temple. when Amen. royal titulary. as divine king he is a Lone Star. called himself the 'son of Râ'. The definitive form of the royal titulary was attained : it began with the Horus Name of the Early Dynastic Period and ended with the name of the king at birth (as a prince).33. The "prenomen" name is for all of eternity. This titulary ("nxb. whether of Egyptian origin or not." Budge. or Amen-Râ. my italics. guaranteed success in the afterlife. Re. for he was conceived by Re himself. In the Early Dynastic Period. but it was given to him when he ascended the throne. The Ancient Egyptian name for this facade was "serekh". King Aha. His name of birth would not appear in official documents. such as we find in the facades of early tombs and in the false doors of many private tombs. but it was usually quite variable. each atop the basket for "Lady"). Golden Horus name or Falcon of Gold name : this name of gold. although both were confused). or "Horus who fights". here on a geographical level . The concept of the king embodying both goddesses. These two refer to the dual kingdom the king unites as "Lord of the Two Lands". at the bottom of which is seen a design of recessed panelling. son of Osiris. and to the royal gods Horus and Seth (Lower and Upper Egypt respectively). In the New Kingdom. it lost its importance to the prenomen en nomen from the end of the Old Kingdom on. Although it would continue to be used throughout the entire Ancient Egyptian history. The name might refer to the wealth and splendour of Pharaoh's divinity. was "Horus-Aha". On top of this "serekh" is perched the falcon of Horus. highlights the reconciliation of opposites to maintain the balance. this name is often used in modern texts as well. the perched falcon of Horus was part of the name of the king. The burial-chamber in the royal tombs of the New Kingdom was often called the "golden room". it was the king’s official name. This name was not the birth name of the king. the Nebti name or "Two Ladies" title : first met in the reign of Pharaoh Aha. The "Two Ladies" correspond to these "Two Lords". hence the appellation "Horus-name". a falcon atop a beaded collar (meaning "gold"). 2. as well as to his enduring qualities (gold was considered to be the untarnished "flesh" of the deities). When speaking of the (palace) facade. the "Followers of Horus". . ruled with this Horus name alone.yet Horus. for instance. the Field of Peace. The earliest divine kings. 3. the divine prototype and patron of the Egyptian kings. the Gold name. During the Early Dynastic Period and the early Old Kingdom. "Mighty Bull" was added at the beginning of the name. Horus is wearing the double crown and is accompanied by the Sun and an Uraeus . This name is often written within a rectangular frame. is first attested in the IVth Dynasty and is represented by a Horus falcon atop a beaded collar ("nbw" . In more elaborate New Kingdom examples. Nekhbet and Uadjit ("wADiit") were the protective goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt respectively (a vulture & a cobra. The notion of "gold" may thus be linked to neheh-time & its eternal repetition. The Papyrus of Ani (chapter 77) makes the Falcon of Gold refer to the Sekhet Hetep.gold). The systematic presence of the name of Re in the prenomen (starting with Pharaoh Khephren) indicates it was given to the king when he ascended the throne. The gold name may convey the same notion of eternity. The kings of old were named by their Horus name. Usually. 5. It affirmed Pharaoh was by birthright a god. "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" or "Dual Kingdom" and is enclosed (in a cartouche). honorific transposition) . On a single royal monument. expressing the wish that the king may be an eternal Horus.e. which translates as "he of the sedge and bee". his Throne name. the elliptical movement of the Earth around the Sun). 4. it was also enclosed in a cartouche. This conveys the notions of "eternity" and "encompassing the entire creation". King Amenhotep III was named "Nebmaatre". When only one name was used. or "Re is the Lord of Maat" and not "Amenhotep". it was also used when the king had died. More recent scholarship conjectures the name to be a statement regarding Pharaoh and his policies (instead of a theological statement concerning the god). suggestive of the . he and his kingdom endure . the name given to the royal prince at birth (indicative of his family lineage). The first known example of this title is dated to the reign of Pharaoh Den. when it was often combined with the Nebti-name. the celestial ecliptic (in reality. A "cartouche" or "royal ring" depicts a loop formed by a rope. The crucial role of "Tail-in-Mouth" in the VIth Hour of the Amduat refers to this "encircling of creation". an Egyptian priest of the third century BCE. all five names seldom appear together. the personal name of Pharaoh (nomen . written first (cf. It put him in a narrow relationship with the universal Solar god Re. but because it was there for all of eternity. avoiding the necessity to add numbers to the personal names. It was compounded with the name of the Sun god Re (including the hieroglyph of the disk of the Sun). by his contemporaries. the ends tied together. a method in vogue since the time of Manetho. For example. i. It would take until the end of the IIIth Dynasty before it came into use and eventually replaced the Horus-name as the most important official royal name.not (only) because of the presence of actual gold. The loop can be seen as the cycle of the Sun itself. who wrote a history of the Dynasties (of which only fragments have survived). It is the name given to the prince at birth. the Throne name was the most common. or "Amun is pleased". After coronation. the Throne name (prenomen) : is preceded by the "nswt-bitii" title.our family-name) : always preceded by the epithet "son of Re". the Throne name was preferred. the complete titulary of Pharaoh Amenemhet III (ca. 1818 . with a Ba becoming an Akh (soul becoming spirit). The nomen of the prince underlines his divine origination and vocation. Whenever used. the king is no longer called by his princely nomen name. Son of Re Amun at the Head the theology of Heliopolis In the theology of Heliopolis (the "On" of the Bible and today the Coptic . change. Once crowned. XIIth (Theban) Dynasty : Mighty Horus Great of Might He of the Two Ladies Taking possession of the inheritance of the Two Lands Horus of Gold Permanent of Life King of Upper and Lower Egypt Maat of Re (Nimaatre).1773 BCE) Middle Kingdom. only his Throne name is heard. After the theological changes brought about by the Old Kingdom Heliopolitans. His "name of names" conveys his extraordinary nature in the order of things.overseeing qualities of the Falcon flying over the "Two Lands". Although in the titulary. As a king. it is preceded by "son of Re". tries to encompass the supernatural effectivity of the presence of the divine king on Earth. The king is "divine" because he is an incarnated Akh. but without the "royal Ka". which is truly exceptional. the nomen is preceded by "the son of Re". He is a human being with a personal name. movement). he does not use this epithet as long as his father rules. The complexity of the titulary and the use of these names. but also a divine being. and also the only living being possessing a "Ba" or principle of transformation (dynamism. The latter is due to the autogenic activity of the sole creator-god Atum. The stars shining in Osiris' Netherworld are in the upper sky. Osiris was pulled out of his slumber and became the king of the "beautiful West" .. stellar & national. the agrarian. When Pharaoh Horus brought his restored eye to his father. the abode of the Imperishable Stars. 1986). Re travels (and countless Bas with him) on his Bark of Millions of Years. During the twelve hours of the night of the Netherworld. as the sole son of Re.  "Atum-Kheprer" : the unmanifested. the divine king of Egypt. in the Sun's domain. a perpetuum mobile at the core of (stellar) light. regional and variable Lunar spirituality of the common Egyptians.  "Atum" : unmanifested light diffused in Nun . a grasshopper or sacred smoke . projected near the Northern Circumpolar Stars .suburb of Cairo). the spirits of Re. the darkest point is reached. Thanks to the magic of Isis and Thoth. Re at dusk and his entry into the Netherworld to regenerate. the role of Osiris was as crucial as the yearly inundation (cf. He sails on Re's Bark of Millions of Years. ascends with a ladder or flies as a bird. There.  Grosso modo. the WEST dusk NORTH nadir . Here. the First Time. The four compass points and the Heliopolitan ritual. is a continuing cycle of renewal (in neheh-time). the powerful Sa-energy of the universal Heka-field can be harvested. Cannibal Hymn). ascends to the realm of Atum. fountain of rejuvenation and endless power. the king is ensured of an ongoing increase in spirituality (an efficiency due to the transformation of his Ba into an Akh. the unique supreme deity (cf. Sothic calendar) and the monthly cycle of fertility (cf. shared by the majority of Egyptians.  "Re" : the manifest presence of Atum as light on the primordial "hill". At midnight. complementing the contextual. Osiris rose in the realm of the dead. he arrives there as an awesome god (cf. He escapes the realm of Geb (the Earth) and the Duat of Osiris (the land of the dead). In the latter.. The lightland of Re. the pantheon. Isis & Osiris as Moon deities). this Heliopolitan ideology of the divine king was Solar. "Nun" : the unmanifested sameness of everything that is not light . a spirit of light) and a union with the only true source of life and youth. first occurrence of eternally recurrent light . Hornung. The entrance of the pyramid proper.Horus as a child . EAST dawn The rise of Re's rebirth at dawn. is almost diagionally opposed to the pyramid of Userkaf (ca. is at the South-western corner of Djoser's enclosure and the smallest of all known Old Kingdom pyramids. "Khepri". The ritual complex of King Unas the architecture King Unas.. the fierce battle between Horus and Seth and the justification of the former as the "avenger of his father" . p. The complex. 2487 2480 BCE). most likely of the middle or late Old Kingdom (. the heat of Seth. King Unas completed "a historical and architectural symmetry" (Lehner. Unis or Wenis (ca. p.Horus as king . in the Predynastic and the historical periods. opens at ground level in the pavement of the pyramid court (and not in the face of the pyramid). "Kemp has suggested that Egyptian religion. 1997.2348 BCE) was the last Pharaoh of the Vth Dynasty. Kemp (1989) and Lesko (1999) doubt whether.. . the end result of the nocturnal regeneration of the deities thanks to Re and his (re)union with Osiris . the founder of this Heliopolitan Dynasty. Heliopolitan henotheism was shared by the vast majority of unlettered Egyptians. Located between the enclosures of Djoser's pyramid and Sekhemkhet's. called "Perfect are the Placed of Unas". There are remnants of a small entrance chapel." Lesko. the inundation given by Osiris (Sothis). The culmination of Re at noon. as we know it from the formal.) to promote the divinity of the king of Egypt. is an intellectually manipulated construction of the historic period. the place of light. The pyramid temple was erected directly over the substructure of the IInd Dynasty tomb assigned to King Hetepsekhemwy.31. associating Heliopolitanism with elitism and Osirian faith with populism. the mourning of Isis. a model for subsequent rulers. in the middle of its North side. 2378 . The opposite seems to be true. state-approved written texts. the slaying of Osiris. the place of birth of the Egyptian state. 1999.154). rebirth and the Ka-statue (the false door). SOUTH zenith For good reasons.sons of Horus and Pharaoh. His pyramid at Saqqara. 3. but that of King Unas at Saqqara is in a good condition and hand been restored in modern times.155) Like most Old Kingdom pyramids. By the New Kingdom. p.2348 BCE). prisoners begging for mercy . with a slope of 56°. the complex of Unas included a pyramidcomplex. . woman bearing offerings. craftsmen working gold & copper. The processional causeway to the pyramid of Unas is 750m long and equal to Pharaoh Khufu's. restored it. In its roof. More than 1000 years after King Unas died. causing the famous name of Unas to live again .... granite cornices or lintels.. son of Ramessess II and high priest at Memphis. Most causeways have been destroyed. Coming in by boat. archers. harvesting scenes (grain. of which only fragments survive. the complex had fallen into ruins. Khaemwaset. bearded "Aziatics". and South of the second bend lay two boat pits (each 45m long). (after Lehner. deer hunted by greyhounds. 43 m high.Plan of the Pyramid-complex of Unas (ca. 2378 . scenes of starving people. One then proceeded uphill along a causeway. The causeway had two changes of angle. A wide array of scenes once covered the wall : boats transporting granite palm columns.75 m². a slit is left open. 1997. preparatory rituals took place in the valley temple. battles with enemies. a causeway and a valley temple below. adjacent to a canal. so a shaft of light illuminates the gallery of brightly painted reliefs. figs & honey). The Pyramid was 57. a long corridor with high walls and an insulating roof. The temple design itself is also lost.154) The pyramid-complex of Unas consisted of two parts separated by a long. and the pyramid reduced to a small heap of debris.Plan of the Valley temple and Pyramid-complex of Unas (after Lehner. inner temple included a hall with five statue niches. A network of storerooms enclosed these elements. . p. There the offerings and sacred objects for the royal ritual were kept. A temenos wall surrounded the complex. transverse corridor : the foretemple had an entrance hall and a pillared court and the secret. 1997. an antechamber (a high square room with in the middle a single granite pillar) and a sanctuary. Today it is in ruin. The West end of the sanctuary abutted the East wall of the pyramid. followed by the usual horizontal passage with three granite portcullis slabs. 25° (Pepi II) or 22° in the case of the pyramid of Unas. . it is necessary to bend over in order to move down the passage. serving as point of contact between the world of the living and the realm of the dead (the tomb below). It is not possible to stand upright. Once this barrier passed. the this-life ritual of regeneration of the divine king. 26° (Khafre). then the purpose of certain parts of the temple may be inferred by studying later examples. If the pyramid-complex of Unas became the model for the later pyramid temples. to be read from the inside of the pyramid out. In the latter. The passage is oriented to specific northern stars.Plan of the royal tomb underneath the pyramid of Unas. It slopes down to a corridor-chamber or vestibule. This West wall against the pyramid was covered by a granite stela. At its foot an altar was set up and offerings were brought by priests. Entering the pyramid from the North. the first hieroglyphs appear. the transverse corridor was adorned with reliefs illustrating the Sed festival. like Pepi II's pyramid temple. The slope is deliberate and varies between 28° (Khufu). In the East of the antechamber (on the left hand side when entering the tomb). directly under the pyramid's centre axis. On the ceiling of the tomb. left picture). one is surrounded on all sides by blue-tinted hieroglyphs. This entrance/exit corridor then opens into the antechamber.Plan of the royal tomb underneath the pyramid of Unas. Egyptologists are not sure about the role of this triple chamber. . forming a kind of shelf below it (cf. golden. a doorway opens to the undecorated and uninscribed tomb-chapel with three recesses. Standing up. The middle recess of this possible tomb-chapel lies lower but aligned with the false door of the sanctuary above. the so-called "serdab" or "cellar". The North and South walls of the antechamber and the burial-chamber stop short of the ceiling. pentagram-like stars were carved in relief on a sky-blue background. Sarcophagus West. western half of North & South walls in alabaster. we see a palace-façade design. viewed as "djedet". : The Pyramid of Unas.pyramid of King Unas. This has a black granite sarcophagus at its West end. through darkness) and "neheh". there are no texts. 1968. the emergence of light as Nefertem. Burial-chamber . . merging the finite life of the king (both alife & deceased ?) with the infinite life. In its immediate vincinity. eternal recurrent (as Re. the son of dawn. with reed-mats and a wood-frame enclosure. everlasting (as Osiris. This would make the royal ritual a ceremony of life. Together with the icon of two lotus flowers back to back. Princeton University Press . these motifs recur. A.Princeton. Instead. a passage-way leads to the burial-chamber. On the West of the antechamber (at the right hand side when entering the tomb and precisely opposite the Ka-chapel). possibly because the lotus represents dawn. an iconography derived from the royal mastaba tombs of the First Dynasty. through light).© Piankoff. acting as magical protection devices. precisely because in this way he became the sole guardian of the magical keys of the kingdom : a "good" Nile. The walls around the sarcophagus. The plateau being full. and what was only implied by the symbolic designs in the Unas pyramid was now openly expressed in words."All of these considerations may lead us to conclude that in the highly sensitive space surrounding the sarcophagus. was preeminently a symbols of breakthrough from one world to another. . whose manner of growth involves passing out of the water element in order to flower in the air. had to leave Giza. in order to erect their pyramid complex. the mummy is in the total darkness of Osiris. 2005. This is a motif that occurs in many Old Kingdom tombs and on tomb artifacts. 2005. In the West. after the reign of King Teti. the place of regeneration. allowing it to be reborn. touched by the rays of the sun.164. or lords of the four pillars of the physical world the deceased (or the high priest) has left. "One of the recurrent motifs is that of two lotus flowers with their stems but no leaves. It was referred to as "ankh". while the falso door was a place of communication between realms. meant to protect the four "ritual" elements of the physical body. The significance of this is that the sarcophagus was a place of transition between the physical and spiritual worlds. represented by the "sons of Horus". on which these designs were carved. Taken together." Naydler. p. and initiating oration. Sunk in the floor to the left (South) of the foot of the sarcophagus was the canopic chest. represented back to back. In the Old Kingdom. overtowered by the West Gable hieroglyphs. temples for the cult of the deities were usually made out of brick. are made of polished alabaster." Naydler. certain ritual events took place that were -in the pyramid of Unas.regarded as too delicate to reveal in words. but especially on sarcophagi and around false doors. these spiritual symbols learn us a lot suggesting the sacredness of this uninscribed area of the tomb. ascending to illumination. whereas all the other walls of the tomb are in Tura limestone. But in later times. The tombs of the divine kings were petrified. Only the king was the son of Re on Earth (cf. It is of for this reason that the pyramid of Unas contains so little textual reference to the Osirian rememberment : It was considered too delicate a matter to put into words. Alabaster is soft and translucent. the kings of the Vth Dynasty. King Userkaf) compensated for the distance. they lost their sight-line to Iunu (Heliopolis).162. or "life" and had a milky color (milk was also called "ankh was". a perishable material. Adding a Solar temple to the pyramid complex (cf. The lotus.was freed from this stricture. the immediate vincinity of the sarcophagus -especially the West wall. Heavenly Cow). In doing so. p. "the sap of life"). both the royal cult and the cult of the deities (in casu Atum-Re) took place in temples made out of lasting materials.Princeton. was also part of it. following the model of the pyramid complex. Princeton University Press .assuring the royal cult was directly associated with the son of Re on Earth. Hermopolitan. Without the . A. Later cult temples. These "Heliopolitan" Dynasties (Djoser . but there must have been more). Service to the father of the king.pyramid of King Unas passage-way West to Burial-chamber. Antechamber . a massive stone mound shaped like a squat obelisk was used. remained stone edifices.Unas ?). and creator of all deities. 1968. corridor North The royal cult is origin and goal of the traditional theologies of the Old Kingdom (Heliopolitan. As a result. To represent the link with the Sun. were exceptional & foundational. © Piankoff. Thanks to Re the deities endured. and situated riverside). The royal cult also served this-life purposes (of which the celebration of the Sed festival is an outstanding example. Memphite & Osirian). It stood at the back of an open court (the best example is King Neuserre's at Abu Ghurab. even disconnected from the royal cult. : The Pyramid of Unas. while the "pacification" of the "two lands" is his control & power. as in proto-rational cognition. by carving them in stone and thereby also endowing them with greater magical power. Centuries before Unas. is crucial to understand the "canon" of the Old Kingdom mentality and way of life. "The Pyramid Texts reflect not only an Egyptian vision of the afterlife but also the entire background of Old Kingdom religious and social structures. The ideal of divine kingship. a fairly unmixed. the living Horus-king guarantees a "good Nile" and his united administration creates economic surplus. carved and filled with blue pigment. contains. in particular its royal cult. . 1969) known "utterances". In the "ideal" of the Heliopolitan priests. Great Speech and Maat. passage-way & burial-chamber. The Unas text. p. not only of Egypt. It precedes the textualization of the Vedas. No doubt. IVth & Vth Dynasties. The area around the sarcophagus and the serdab are left uninscribed. antechamber. 1900 BCE (Unas died ca. a unity of temporal and spiritual activities. the intellectual elite produced concrete concepts.king. this state ideology was already fully in place (cf. but a composition to be viewed as an integrated whole. albeit in early ante-rational thinking. as light to darkness. The decision on Wenis's part has provided for us the earliest collection of religious texts. "But one cannot help suspecting that a fundamental revision of the ritual coincided with the decision to immortalize these spells. truth & justice. It is not a loose set of funerary spells. It explains royal magic (effectiveness). the great building projects).36. the brilliance of his Great Mansion. namely in its corridor. but the culture at large was still steeped in myth and pre-rational pre-concepts." Hornung. The divine nature of the king is the core myth holding Ancient Egyptian society together. pristine strand of this culture is revealed. remaining very situational and with limited functionality. previously handed down on perishable papyrus. The Unas text is a literary masterpiece summarizing the best theology of the moment. reckoned at ca. This coincides with a general increase of writing in general in the later Vth Dynasty. Especially in the IIIth. the texts King Unas was the first to include hieroglyphic inscriptions in his royal tomb. but of all humankind. 2348 BCE). the first historical account of the (Heliopolitan) religion of the Old Kingdom. The Nile records his magic. 1999. there is no Maat and the created world returns to chaos. in 228 of the 759 (Faulkner. forms & intentions). Technically.2205 BCE) of the VIth Dynasty. 2270 . There can indeed be no reasonable doubt that inscriptions themselves were copied immediately from papyrus text. the sacred words to be recited is. p. Ipwet and Oudjebeten) are also inscribed. more material had come to light. The one introduced by Sethe (1910.13. the acclaimed standard English translation. For him. Merenre & Pepi II (ca. Mercer published the first English version and in 1968. in ways that seem to imply copying and then collation from a more cursive original. as well as the earliest example of extended writing worldwide (including a rich pallet of various styles. enabling him to restore many lacunae. 2005." Allen. Pepi I. the "standard edition" of the Pyramid Texts. Pharaohs Teti. Integrating both variables underlines the effort to bring out the dramatic & ritualistic features of these texts. is an inventory of all texts. incomplete and never revised by its author. my italics. . allowing for a classification.12. with 714 utterances). The small pyramids of the three wives of King Pepi II (Neith. irrespective of the kind of text or its placement in the tombs. the Unas text had been buried and left undisturbed for ca. 4200 years. with new & refreshing grammatical & semantic perspectives. with a significant number of corrections. i. "to say" or "to say the words". Sethe's work was bulky. 2002." Eyre. whereas in the last half of the previous century great advances in Ancient Egyptian had been made. later translated into German. In 1952. as is that of King Iby (VIIIth Dynasty).e. so called because the expression "Dd mdw" ("Dd" = "word" . Faulkner published his The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. the Pyramid Texts are a corpus consisting of "utterances" or "spells". both to the original ink draft and to the carved signs. atop most texts. as a rule. Piankoff translated the text in his The Pyramid of Unas. The quality of these inscriptions is however relatively crude and they are not part of the inventory realized by Sethe (1908). these compositions form the first known religious corpus in world literature. Meanwhile. Discovered by Maspero in 1881. p. "mdw" = "speech"). Finally in 1969.and they incorporate an ancient worldview much different from that of more familiar cultures. "The actual inscription of text on the walls of the Pyramid of Unas shows considerable redactional care. An untainted primary religious source ! Together with the texts found in the tombs of King Unas' successors. i. prayers and magical spells. hymns. calling for revision. magical texts." Faulkner. containing the texts found in 10 tombs (besides the canonical five. No doubt. providing the standard approach to the theology of the Old Kingdom. the Pyramid Texts were a free collection of magical . p. Maspero (1884.. This is also the best preserved body of text representing a complete set. imposing on the modern reader problems of grammar and vocabulary . prayers.. Allen published The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. For Sethe (1908). In 2005. glorifications. etc. the Unas texts were evidently regarded as an integral work in their own right.. 1969. They offer a glimpse of an African. divine offerings. rebirth & illumination. Wedjebetni & Ibi). a continuous manuscript tradition and an underlying archival tradition. litanies. p.The list of tombs containing Pyramid Texts is apparently never final. ".1759 BCE) tomb of the official Senwosret-Ankh. The Unas text was copied in the Middle Kingdom (ca. his arrival & settling in heaven." Naydler. and there are many mythological and other allusions of which the purport is obscure to the translator of today. as well as offering translations of passages beforehand deemed untranslatable. authors realized they include drama. this translation by Allen excells Faulkner's and is a humbling experience for anyone studying these texts for years.v. charms.149. nor has our knowledge of Ancient Egyptian stopped advancing. the ascension of Pharaoh. he also includes Ankhesenpepi II. but suffering damage). and seem to have acquired 'canonical' status . 4. This clear translation of the Unas text is in many ways remarkable and most welcome. in particular regarding the use of verbal forms. The interpretation of the Pyramid Texts "They include very ancient texts among those which were nearly contemporary with the pyramids in which they were inscribed. Neith. suggesting the presence of a separate corpus (on papyrus ?).. dominated by Re-Atum of Heliopolis (Pepi II has the most complete surviving texts of the later pyramids. anterational perspective on death. p. 2005. In the previous century. the orthography is apt to be unusual .3) assumed these texts were exclusively funerary and divided them in ritual texts. 1938 .e. Iput II. high priest of Ptah. offering rituals. Schott (1945) & Ricke (1950) advanced the thesis that at the time of the funeral. were inscribed in a prominent place where they could be seen by the dead person resting in his sarcophagus.40. (.utterances. Words made these rituals work. once properly recited (by the dead and/or the living. dispensing with the need for daily priestly offerings to his Ka (in the pyramid temple above) as well as elaborate monumental buildings. the so-called "voiceofferings"). i. however. p. "We have already pointed out that the spells of the so-called sacrificial ritual. inscriptions and architectural features of the complex itself. The presence of offering-texts feeds the subtle bodies of the deceased. my italics. but embody their double (cf. The sarcophagus chamber texts have to be read first. The Ba of the deceased reads the words and the latter manifest their meaning. they become efficient (for all of eternity).229. This view was challenged by Arnold (1977)." Morenz.. 2001. who tried to discover the function of the pyramid complex by examining the wall reliefs.e. The hidden. by virtue of their presence. no fish)." Traunecker. p. He himself uttered the words of power to regenerate himself and rise up. These refer little to funerary rituals ! Schott discovered three literary forms : (a) dramatic . corridors and courts through which the procession passed on its way to the pyramid. the causeway to the entrance corridor. The valley temple corresponded to the vestibule. did not suffice to maintain the divine forces. the outer pyramid temple to the antechamber and the sanctuary to the burial-chamber. Hence. This was the nucleus around which the texts crystallized. "Food offerings alone.. assisted the divine king in his resurrection & ascension de opere operato. the texts used in the provision of supplies. These forces were nothing without ritual and efficacious speech. 1996. these texts were recited in the various chambers. secret.g. even when they conformed to the prescriptions regarding purity and dietary taboos (e. dark potential of hieroglyphs is evidenced by the sacrificial rituals found in the extended mortuary literature. guaranteeing a safe passage to the afterlife. no pork. statues. which. the Lascaux pictures and the Eastern desert petroglyphs). Sacred words or hieroglyphs not only describe objects. texts were written down so that the dead themselves could 'proclaim the provision of supplies' ("nis dbHt-Htp") instead of this being done by unreliable priests. This is the standard funerary interpretation.) In other words. But it was not easy to identify where each spell was recited. For Faulkner (1969). The purpose of the magical & mythical formulae. Hence. Likewise.228-229. involving transfiguration and deification. It entails rebirth. traveling in the Solar Barque. They describe the king's postmortem journey to the stars . learned and ingenious interpretation can properly be accessed only by one who has examined it in terms of the vast and diverse material. Their placement reflects the entry of the funerary procession into the tomb. Re-Atum.texts recited by the participants in a ritual drama. moves to the antechamber for the king's ascension and projects his final deification in the burial-chamber. In 1960. the text begins on the West wall of the entrance corridor. Again a different order from that of Sethe. the king being immortal like the other deities. ascent. In his translation. hymns and petitions was to guarantee the king's resurrection and new birth. As for Scott the funerary procession terminated in the inner pyramid temple (corresponding with the sarcophagus room). continue in the burial-chamber and re-enter the antechamber on its South wall. According to Mercer (1952). 1996. culminating in union with the godhead. the Pyramid Texts are to be regarded as religious and funerary literature. my italics. Like Schott. p. When this is done. (b) hymns assisting the ritual drama and (c) transfiguration spells. Scott and Ricke ! Spiegel is the first to claim the sarcophagus chamber represents the Duat and the antechamber the Akhet. Morenz wrote : "This bold. for Piankoff (1968) the texts describe a postmortem mystical journey.. we have to read the texts in the burialchamber last ! For Spiegel (1953 & 1971) the texts are an integral part of the funerary ritual performed in the tomb and hence recited in the area were they were inscribed. Mercer follows Sethe's classification." Morenz. These conjectures were criticized. only the offering liturgy (on the North wall of the burial-chamber) belongs to the funerary ritual proper. it appears that quite serious objections may be levelled against numerous points in the argumentation and thus against the thesis as such. absorption of the substance of the deities and exaltation in the embrace of Re-Atum. prayers. in which the scene happens in the spirit worlds while the king speaks through the reciting priest. Piankoff begins to read the text in the corridor leading into the tomb. ending on the East wall of the entrance corridor . They reflect the royal burial ritual taking place solely in the tomb underneath the pyramid.. The goal of these texts extended beyond the short duration of the actual funerary ritual. as well as in the tomb. Barta accepts that the Duat might be accessible to the king while he is still living. assisting him in the process of his deification. but the texts themselves are intended to help the deceased king . Osing (1986) & Allen (1988) compared the location of the texts within the tomb of Unas with other Old Kingdom pyramids and the tomb of SenwosretAnkh at Lisht. The texts are used by the king in the afterlife. Horus. he isolates three main sections : (a) the funerary procession and actions on the mummy (censing. and Altenmüller all see the key to understanding the Pyramid Texts as lying outside the texts themselves. "Allen's analysis of the sequence of spells in the pyramid of Wenis defines . Altenmüller (1972) agrees with Schott & Ricke that these texts were recited in the pyramid temple. He attempts to explain every utterance in terms of the mortuary rituals. "Schott.. further complementing the importance of symbolism in the general layout of the mortuary complex in general and the royal tomb in particular. The position of particular groups of texts within Unas' pyramid corresponds with the placement of the same texts in other pyramids. There is a spatial semantic at work. Spells recited during the burial ritual were thus eternalized as divine words on the walls. Barta returns to the interpretation of Sethe. The order is determined by the thematic relationship of the texts to the architectural symbolism of the two chambers and their four quarters. He based his order of the text on (a) the sequencing found in the tomb of SenwosretAnkh and (b) his conjectured order of the royal funerary ritual as portrayed in the later Middle and New Kingdom private tombs.180. 2005. In the Unas text. Barta (1981) doubts whether the Pyramid Texts belong to the funerary ritual at all. involving priests assuming the god-forms of Re. Seth and Thoth.. Allen was able to establish a coherent model describing the funerary ideology of these royal tombs without reference to conjectured stages of a funerary ritual. (b) the offering ritual and (c) the burial ritual on the West wall of the antechamber.and transformation into one (Faulkner. providing him knowledge and magical power. His translation again follows Sethe's classification. p." Naydler. libation. 1966). opening of the mouth). relying mostly on mythological references and worldplay to determine which text corresponds to which representation. Spiegel. They serve the king in the afterlife. circumpolar (imperishable) Stars. It is separate from the sky and reached prior to it. (. It is a zone of transition and a "radiant place". through the doorway leading to the corridor -ascending by ladder. flying to the Northern. the locus of the becoming "Ax" ("Akh"). Eyre. The Horus-king has perpetuated offerings. the "land of the blessed".  .. a secret interstitial zone reached and crossed by boat.to heaven (pet). Note (as did Allen. or passing like the setting sun from the west to his rising from the mouth of the horizon in the east.  the Imperishable sky (northern corridor) : the process of transfiguration (ultimate spiritualization) being completed.  the Horizon (antechamber) : "Axt" ("Akhet"). p. The horizon is the place of becoming effective. that the Cannibal Hymn. the Akhspirit leaves the tomb and ascends to the northern stars. 1988). The process of spiritualization ends with the emergence of the new light .the architecture as a material representation of the passage of the king through death to resurrection. The direction of the texts was thus identical with the soul's path through the tomb. the Duat (burial-chamber) : though a part of the world (Earth). and stands at the door of the horizon to emerge from the Duat and start his spiritualization . The Field of Reeds is the realm of the deceased and the deities and the mystery of Osiris.. From the darkness of the earth he passes to life in the light of the sky. translated as "horizon". 2002. progressing from the burial chamber as underworld (duat) through the antechamber as horizon (akht) where he becomes Akh. through the antechamber (the Eastern horizon or "Akhet").) Allen's analysis focuses on the principle whereby the position of discrete units of ritual text asserts a functional identity between the theology of the text and the architectural symbolism of the pyramid substructure. thematically belongs in its place (the East Gable). the Netherworld is inaccessible to the living and outside normal human experience. becoming an Imperishable One. It summarized the king's passage through the night sky to the Sun at dawn. to the outside of the pyramid via the second northern tunnel. or exploiting the image of the king passing from his sarcophagus -the womb of Nut.through her vulva to birth at the door of the horizon. is both the junction of sky and Earth and a place in the sky underneath this point (before eastern dawn and after western dusk). moving from the innermost parts of the burial-chamber (the "Duat" in the West). reaching the Field of Offering.44-45 & 47. an effective spirit. exploiting themes familiar in the Underworld Books of the New Kingdom. but neither Nun or sky. and so the reality of the king's passage to resurrection". the Pyramid Texts : "are largely concerned with the deceased's relationship to two gods. p. however. evidenced that the Pyramid Texts in general and the Unas texts in particular." Allen." Eyre. . Egyptologists once considered these two themes as independent views of the afterlife that had become fused in the Pyramid Texts. reveal an experiential dimension. the texts of the burial-chamber). resurrection. by suspending the funerary interpretation. and safe passage to the afterlife is not. According to Allen (2005). and so also represent this-life initiatic experiences consciously sought by the divine king (cf. Naydler (2005). already at work in the Sed festival. 2005.7. and the markedly initiatory form of parts of the mortuary literature must be taken as a pointer to contemporary 'this-life' ritual that is otherwise lost from the archaeological record. a concern purely of funerary ritual. Recently. Osiris and the Sun. but more recent research has shown that both belong to a single concept of the deceased's eternal existence after death . These may be classified in two categories : Osirian rejuvenation (cf.72. the texts in the antechamber). Apparently the former was celebrated regularly. 2002. Egyptian initiation). whereas the latter is foremost funerary.Eyre (2002) suggests the training and initiation of the funerary priests points to this-life rituals. and Heliopolitan ascension (cf. Perhaps the king rehearsed his forthcoming burial during life ? "The promise of divine assistance. p.a view of the afterlife that remained remarkably consistent throughout ancient Egyptian history. and realize each monarch . as seen in the tomb. this points to the Solar & regenerative movement from West to East.conjectured symbolism of the compass points Many variations regarding the reading direction of the pyramid texts of Unas prevail. ritualistic interpretation of these ancient magical texts. However. Allen's interpretation of Spiegler's conjecture (identifying the burialchamber with the Duat and the antechamber with the Akhet) seems very interesting and has been adapted. my sequencing of the texts differs from both Allen & Naydler. PT 219 on the South Wall continues on the East Wall. 5. For example. nor that in the antechamber PT 260 on the West Wall continues on the South Wall. and this for variant reasons. confirmed by what he sees as examples of inverse quioning. If we understand these texts as magical devices. Allen (2005) is not impressed that in the sacropagusroom. For Naydler (2005). the mind & magic of Re Let us try to integrate these various perspectives. used in architecture to avoid making the joint between two blocks in the corner. taking into consideration the cognitive texture of the ante-rational mind as well as the dramatic. An integration of perspectives. the self-created essence of Re. Both represent the basic functions of the divine mind : overarching understanding (overviewing the Two Lands) hand in hand with authority. In the books of the Netherworld. maybe adding a few spells of his own. In the Old Kingdom. when Atum-Kheprer hatched out of the primordial egg floating in Nun. and might be equated with the mind of Re. he left to posterity an elaborated theo-literary testament with magical effectivity. Sia is the divine functionary at the right side of Re. Maat represents the impersonal idea of  . "sia" is related to "knowledge". titulary choice out of the available body of religious literature (available on papyrus). Late New Kingdom) . "perception". strength and weight.had his own political and theological preferences. which involved a return to the First Time ("zep tepi") of Atum-Khepri. the everdynamical energy of creation. "intelligent plan". and is always depicted together with Sia. To speak words of power is immediate and carries conviction. This going back to the Golden Age lay at the core of both this-life and afterlife rituals. but it has immediate effectiveness and causal power. then it seems likely each divine king. elevating him above all possible beings and making him rise even above most deities (cf. The king is such a powerful cause that creation bows before the son of the Creator . He is mostly depicted or mentioned together with "Hu". his royal cult was active and assured his renewal (as the Sed festivals testify). For the Memphites. holding the god's sacred papyrus scroll. and (b) the "primordial field" underpinning creation. "Hu" is also deified. to define his own royal cult. they are represented near Re on his Sacred Barque . Re with his functions : "sia" (understanding) : often wrongly associated with "wisdom" ("saa").  "heka" (magic) : the creative power contained in the divine word of Atum. Not only does the king's Great Speech know it all and carry the power of conviction & authority. the mind of Re was the heart of Ptah (cf. Both concepts pre-figurate the omiscience & omnipotence of the Judeo-Christian God . issued from the word of Atum when he created himself as Atum-Kheprer. it became exemplary. the Cannibal Hymn). But also during life on Earth. made his own.  "maat" (truth & justice) : daughter of Re. If so. and spouse of both Heka and Thoth (deities of magic). or "understanding".  "hu" (authorative utterance) : the creative word of the supreme creator-god is uttered by his tongue. weight & power of command. serving Pharaoh's welfare in the afterlife. This was his magical Great Speech. By doing so. This magic is part of the logic of the Great Speech. "Heka" is used to denote (a) the "primordial Sa". Sa-energy was present from the beginning. who offers "truth" to his father Re. or vital energy. represented by a feather (H6). namely the end result of the activities of the living person. embodied by the divine king. quantification (analysis. with the sole purpose of rebalancing. In Middle Egyptian. their "practical method of truth" springs to the fore : serenity. the Witness of the Balance. observation. By it. Maat is the plummet of the balance of justice. Responding likewise. but always from two different angles : on the one hand. according to its stance. reequilibrating & correcting concrete states of affairs. to flow between all . balance This New Kingdom exhortation by Anubis.30B. summarizes the Egyptian practice of wisdom and pursuit of justice & truth.cosmic order. using the plumb-line of the various equilibria in which these actual aggregates of events are dynamically -scale-wise. the truth of the cosmic order of the world. spatiotemporal flow. concentration." Papyrus of Ani 18th Dynasty Chap. the "common" view of "the heart". the word "maat" ("mAat") is used for "truth" and "justice". form or representation of the balance : "Pay attention to the decision of truth and the plummet of the balance. at peace with itself. the divine view of truth & justice.involved. Truth is an equilibrium (a bringing together hand in hand with a keeping apart).3 Anubis measures & represents this precise attention of the divine guardian & psychopomp. U38 "mxAt". measurements) & recording (fixating). while the input of sensation is recorded (mind) by Thoth. measurable as the state of affairs given by the image. on the other hand. pl. The activities of the divine king cause : (a) Maat to be done for them and their environments and (b) the proper "Ka". reciprocity : the two sides of everything interact and are interdependent (the beam of the balance) . I avoid adjectives as "shamanic" or "shamanistic" (cf. 3. In my opinion. unmeasurable. In Ancient Egypt. occultism (knowledge of the invisible worlds between heaven and Earth) and mysticism (direct. those falling outside empiricoformal consciousness . witnessing consciousness : the operation of measuring the whole balance is witnessed with precise and concentrated attention and recorded for further comparison and retuning. "art of weighing". radical experience.cf. The "logic" behind the operation of the balance involves four rules : 1. 1986.parts of creation (truth and justice are personified as the daughter of Re. mystery plays). comparative religions and mysticology allow us to distinguish between psi-events (parapsychology). Erik Hornung." Hornung. : Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts. Can one do otherwise but disagree with a most rewarding sources of inspiration and learning. these phenomena cannot be distinguished. clearly out of the ordinary. asymmetry : flow is the outcome of inequality (the feather-scale of the balance is a priori correct) . the Heliopolitan priesthood was too well organized to be called "Shamanistic". inversion : when a concept is introduced. 2. the "totaliter aliter"). Naydler. entering and leaving the Duat) and mysticism . "out" + "stasis". 4. which is more neutral and devoid of the historical connotations implied by historical Shamanism (the art & science of controlled trance). who wrote about the Egyptians : "... radical experience of the Divine. the occult (initiation.cf. and prefer "ecstatic". "maati" as the Greek "dike"). Parapsychology. 2005). although this does preclude shamanistic components in the sacred spells (compare this with the presence of trance oracles & dagger-liberations in Tibetan Buddhism today). prayers. its opposite is also invoked (the two scale of the balance) . The word "ecstatic" comes from the Greek "ex". Clearings. any sort of ecstasy appears quite alien to their attitudes. the variety of ecstatic experiences may be classified as personal piety (offerings. 2006). multiplicity-in-oneness : the possibilities between every pair are measured by one standard (the plummet) 5. and refers to an extraordinary. "standstill" or "statikè". festivals. equivalent with the Greek Themis. magic (psievents). J.e. Although in immature instances of meta-nominal experience (i. daughter of Zeus . one of the five local gods promoted to national deities : Osiris of Abydos. Ptah of Memphis. so he. As each divine king had his own titulary. 1996. The royal cult was both regenerative as mortuary. "In each instance Maat is in concrete forms undoubtedly the divinelyestablished pattern of government. It will at once be clear that in this process the king is not regarded as an individual person but as the bearer of the royal office. With the tomb as cosmos. each Temple being the home of the "supreme" god of each system. we witness the return of this royal Solar cult. it was a means to continuously regenerate the powers of the divine king to perform his office efficiently. But the royal cult was much more. reflecting a variety of local (nomic) traditions at work around the divine king and soliciting his . and he alone uttered the Great Speech. Thoth of Hermopolis or Amun of Thebes. During life. who was the sole reference-point here. transforming the king into a spirit efficient enough to bless his son with a "good Nile". the royal cult In order to understand the Pyramid Texts." Morenz. both during and after the king's life. of course influenced by the prevailing dynastic theology. i. All areas of the temple complex may have been used in this magico-religious empowerment of the divine king. receives it substantially like a sacrament.121. with king Akhenaten. So the "djed medu" or the recitative use of these texts should not be surprising. The latter is found in the spirituality of the divine king and his high priests. in the invisible Duat as well as in the afterlife. The overall Egyptian mentality seems to favour an enduring canon of broad schemes adaptable to immediate circumstances. p. the material image of the texts magically assist the process of the Pharaonic rite of passage. or political statement. meeting the deity "face to face" in their temples or transforming into one during life (as a living Osiris during the Sed festival). Much later. ti was accompanied by great magic & divine protection. He was the "Great House" or "Great Mansion" of the Old Kingdom (Memphis).e. magical. One must assume that the Maat at work in the ruler was thought to be of benefit to each individual Egyptian. The pyramid-complex may well have been the place of the royal cult. and the pharaoh. by virtue of his divine nature. occult & funerary elements should be combined.proper. the ecstatic. guarantee of the unity of Egypt. had his own regeneration-ritual & burial ritual. Re of Heliopolis. as supreme High Priest. ca. Through them. His burial provided him with a ladder between heaven and Earth. 2348 BCE (the death of king Unas). The latter was the magical proof of the king being blessed by the spirit of his father . the written language had considerably developed. 1250 BCE . His death was thus a major calamity. archaic quality of the literary style was pronounced and remains. Ba of Ani rejoining the mummy . The Ba could return with its Ka. 3000 BCE (the beginning of the Dynastic Period) and ca. could guarantee.. and the texts carved in Unas' tomb were and/or became canonical.Ba leaving the tomb Papyrus of Ani . But although words could be joined together in simple sentences and the latter in pragmatical groups (dealing with honors & gifts. The destruction of a tomb or a temple. being divine. the language of the texts In the ca. legacies. 650 years between ca. The Egyptians existed by the grace of the "good Nile" the king alone. inventories. they were present to the priests. light. It is bright. conflicts and death. and so the first thing the glorified (spiritualized) king would do arriving in the sky (pet. was to provide Egypt with a new king and a "good Nile". the additive. testaments. . heaven). radiant and efficient.favours. implied the end of its role as "interphase" with "the other side" of the false door. and could perturbate the agricultural cycle. etc. some compositions were considered more sacred than others. While they stay in the sky. the spirits make their souls and doubles come down and unite with their statues. The liberated "Akh" has freedom of movement and time. endowments.. Of course. leading to famine. offices.New Kingdom. This reciprocal function of the tomb has to be emphasized.). transfers. conjecture these utterances were part of the ceremonies of the royal cult. Subjectivity is still objectified. The language of these compositions. grammatical. These texts are to a large extent a composition. although the archeological record is limited. resurrection (in the Duat or Netherworld) and ascension of the divine king (via Akhet. if not very difficult to understand. antithetic. ecstatic. Pre-operatoric activity is limited to the immediate material context.more like the Psalms than any other book of the Old Testament. of contrast. Older structures were mingled with new ones and many traces of earlier periods were left over. which has the style of the "records" of the Old Kingdom. Various types of parallelism occur : synonymous (doubling or by repetition). Osirian. Although proto-rationality is most of the time lingering. is often additive and offers little self-reflection (which starts with the literature of the First Intermediate Period). of purpose and of identity. Didactic poetry (precepts) and lyrics in which personal emotions & experiences are highlighted are nearly absent. Heliopolitan. etc. death. Certain registers go back to the oral tradition of the Predynastic Period. for they suggest the political context of Egypt before its final unification (as Sethe pointed out). rebirth (Sed festival). The blend itself is most interesting. enjoying a broader perspective. founding fathers of Egyptology accepted Maspero's funerary interpretation." Mercer. 1956. sky). They are entirely anonymous and of uncertain date.The Pyramid Texts pose their own particular problems & difficulties. cognition and epistemology). were used in this-life rituals (Naydler. six. occult. combined. royal. The tensions are not resolved but stratified. seven or eight lines occur (the fourfold being the most popular). funerary. five. p. 2005). in which these texts form a set of symbolical "heraldic" utterances (great speeches) dealing with the promotion of the welfare of the divine king in the afterlife. And they are religious literature which reflect more or less clearly the conditions of religious thought in ancient Egypt previous to the Seventh Dynasty . especially those relating to the coronation. magical. Most. the composition between semantic groups is loose. allowing for several registers to be identified : Predynastic. In the Old Egyptian of the Pyramid Texts. if not all. symmetrical. Metrical schemes of two. Hermopolitan. to Pet. "The Pyramid Texts were not the work of a single man or of a single age. a compilation and joining of earlier texts which must have circulated orally or have been recorded on papyrus many centuries earlier. and must have had initiatoric connotations. Others. . of analogy. three. four. But. the overall framework of the composition is pre-rational (cf.2. horizon. funerary. of constraint. Egyptian writing is ambiguous qua grammatical form. but at least we shall have circumscribed the area within which his meaning lay. We all make mistakes. my italics. I would add the rule that one has to take into consideration all hieroglyphs (also the determinatives) and try to circumscribe the meaning by assessing the context in which words and sentences appears . pp. The notion of "semantic circumscription" was derived from this quote by Gardiner : "If the uncertainty involved in such tenuous distinctions awake despondency in the minds of some students. is prone to large discrepancies. especially in sophisticated literary context. anthropomorphisms and picturesque expressions and puns are also found. Zába prompted us to respect the original text and made it his principle. Furthermore. more attention to lexicography (a discussion of individual words) and the rule that at least one certain example of the sense of a word must be given were considered as crucial. ellipses." To the latter. This is not the correct attitude. artistic and practical. 1946). the benefit of the doubt (Zába) : amendments should be introduced with great caution and for very good reasons. semantic circumscription (Gardiner) : to those unaware of the semantical problem in mythical. to them I would reply that our translations. metaphors. He wrote : Gardiner. and consider that Egyptian scribes were careless and prone to mistakes. pictoral. Ancient Egyptian literature is a treasure-house of this ante-rational cognitive activity. nevertheless at the worst give a roughly adequate idea of what the ancient author intended . Gardiner spoke of "interpretative preferences" (Gardiner. Some of its defects can not be overcome and so a "consensus omnium" among all sign-interpreters is unlikely. some egyptologists change the original text with great ease. we may not grasp his exact thought. indeed at times we may go seriously astray. metathesis. Translating Ancient Egyptian literature calls for special considerations. depending on the consonantal roots. which may be summarized as follows : 1.72-73. Not surprising a thorough understanding of these texts is lacking. Personally. Alliteration. The meaning or conception of the sense of certain words. Indeed. . 2. and with that achievement we must rest content.The play of words is the commonest literary feature. pre-rational and proto-rational thought and its literary products. despite major grammatical discoveries. 1946. the differences between various translations may be disconcerting. though very liable to error in detail. and its "logic" is entirely contextual. we must consider the converse situation in which one single problem is correlated with several natural phenomena. pp. (. p."Pour ce qui est la traduction d'un texte égyptien dans une langue moderne. They display a meaningful inconsistency. consulté d'autres textes et ne pouvant expliquer la difficulté autrement. each concept was valid within its own context. (.. as does comparative cultural anthropology with its methodology of participant observation. integral acceptation (Zimmer) : in his study of Eastern religions and exegesis of Hindu thought. there lies the main source of the inconsistencies which have baffled and exasperated modern students of Egyptian religion.. whether encountered in paintaings or in texts. mais en vain. One should approach and interprete its cultural forms as little as possible using standards which does not fit in." 4. . Each image.16-20) explains : ".. Their "method" being not linear.11. that with the origin of the existing world to another. and not poverty but superabundance of imagination.. This is what I have called a multiplicity of approaches : the avenue of preoccupation with life and death leads to one imaginative conception. plutôt. l'habitude. Zimmer (1972.qui consists à ramener ce qui n'est pas familier Zába.) et ce n'est donc qu'après avoir longement..) This discussion of the multiplicity of approaches to a single cosmic god requires a complement . should not be dismissed in the usual derogatory manner. (.) m'a amené au principe dont je me suis fait une règle. This means that one. Frankfort (1961.. multiple approaches (Frankfort) : one has to assimilate the Egyptian way of thinking before engaging in explaining anything. It is in the concrete imagery of the Egyptian texts and designs that they become disturbing to us . which focus on subjects which were of no interest to it (like the colour of the hair of royal mummies) or which reduces it to what is already known.. que je suis enclin à croire que le texte est altéré.) Here then we find an abrupt juxtaposition of views which we should consider mutually exclusive.. accepts the culture at hand without prejudices and projections." 3. p. the German scholar Heinrich Zimmer introduced a principle which implies that before one studies a culture one has to accept that it exists or existed as it does and claims.. (. We might call it a 'multiplicity of answers'. axiomatic (definitions & theorema) or linea recta. à savoir de considérer a priori un texte égyptien comme correct et de m'en expliquer chaque difficulté tout d'abord par l'aveu de ne pas connaître la grammaire ou le vocabulaire égyptien aussi bien qu'un Egyptien... 1956.) And yet such quasiconflicting images. l'étude de divers textes (.. the coexistence of different correlation of problems and phenomena presents no difficulties.3) explains himself : "La méthode ou. when we try to interprete a text. pre-rational and proto-rational modes of thoughts.. monumental or ornamental equivalent. but tried to invoke the magic of the "numen praesens". toujours revouvelée.. with an amalgam of approaches placed next to each other without interference . Elles ne sont pas des cadavres. Ce n'est point notre sort d'être submergés. the question before us is : in what mode or modes of thought was this written (which kind of text is this) ? Indeed. Groupings always involved the use of imaginary squares or rectangles ensuring the proportioned arrangement. important hieroglyphs were given their architectonic. mais bien des esprits possesseurs. (. Besides Schwaller de Lubicz. Symmetry-breaks bring the importance of an item to the fore. This allowed for slight imperfections. discussed earlier. the Ancient Egyptians left old strands of thought intact. capables d'exercer une influence effective. par les eaux divines et fécondantes du Nil. indéfinissable et pourtant logique avec elle-même. language).) Faute d'avoir adopté une attitude d'acceptation. 6.à ce que l'on connaît bien. nous nous voyons refuser la faveur d'un entretien avec les dieux.. to wit : the mythical. Avec un rire soudain. que les images du folklore et du mythe défient toute tentative de systématisation. we can assess the Egyptian heritage with the standards of ante-rational thought. Ce qu'elles exigent de nous ce n'est pas de monologue d'un officier de police judiciaire." 5. is only one (late) example of the principles of spatial organization which governed Egyptian from the start (besides honorific or graphic transpositions). Thanks to Piaget's description of the genesis of cognition. which each have their specific modus operandi. C'est parce qu'elles sont vivantes. spatial semantics : Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was more than a way to convey well-formed meaning (i. Spatial semantics was at work in large monumental constructions as well as in small stela or tiny juwelery and important tools (for Maat is at work in both the big and the small) . mais le dialogue d'une conversation vivante.. nous ne recevons rien . possédant le pouvoir de faire revivre. egyptologists have not given this aspect of Egyptian "sacred geometry" the attention it deserve leaving the . non-abstraction : egyptologists are aware that the cognitive abilities of the Ancient Egyptians were not the same as the Greeks. Unsightly gaps and disharmonious distributions were rejected. sur le plan de la destinée humaine. elles se jouent du spécialiste qui s'imagine les avoir épinglées sur son tableau synoptique. comme le sol d'Egypte. Furthermore. The Shabaka Stone.e. et un brusque saut de côté. involving the use of artistic space (a contemporary equivalent is the Zen garden) as a additional element in the composition of meaning. Hence.. because of the multiplicity of approaches. a de tout temps mené à la frustration intellectuelle. p. Piankoff.. metaphors and other sophisticated literary devices. I myself tend towards the analogical (which was closer to the Egyptian way of life). one should be content with Gardiner's view that to circumscribe sense is the best one can do. It goes without saying. Some egyptologists tend to rewrite this to comfort the contemporary readers. translators make a compromize between literal and analogical renderings. which simply does not exist. When somebody grabbed his meat violently. that all the hermeneutical rules-of-thumb in the world will not guarantee a "perfect" translation.5). The Italian dictum "traduttore traditore" (the translator is a traitor). is especially true for Egyptian. they associated this activity with praise and the glorification of light. etc.. but one has to acquire the habit of looking up the same word or expression in various contexts across time (lexicography). As a function of their intention to try to really grasp the sense..") .horizon wide opened to wild stellar. . Faulkner & Allen) is the best option.. when once the exigencies of grammar and dictionary have been satisfied and these leave a large margin for divergencies. Some hymns speak in images. but also with regard to their literary inclinations. p.. leaving room for explicative notes and comments. metaphorical inclination : Ancient Egyptians "spoke in images"." Allen (2001. Middle Egyptian can be especially difficult in this regard . large scale comparison of all available translations (in this case.is an intuitive appreciation of the trend of the ancient writer's mind. "Although we can approach its grammar in an orderly fashion (. Not only has the text to be contextualized. historical & anthropological speculations . This holds true in a linguistic sense (namely their use of pictograms).) we are often puzzled and even frustrated by the continual appearance of exceptions to the rules. The epithets of the deities too are full of visual elements. This harms the fluid nature of the texts and makes them dry and gray.389). When they saw the Sun rise and heared the baboons sing. the Egyptian thought of the voracious crocodile who has no tongue and who has to grab his food with his teeth and swallow it in one piece. Literary and metaphorical meaning overlap and interpenetrate (for example : "He who spits to heaven sees his spittle fall back on his face. those of Mercer. 7. The contrary (leaving these images intact) works confusing when Egyptian literature is new." Gardiner (1925. But even then. As with all texts of Antiquity.. poetical phrases. "The only basis we have for preferring one rendering to another. the pre-rational mode of thought is mostly at hand. In the case of the Pyramid Texts. the present author claims no authority over a "new" English translation of this monumental work. no concrete "closure" is realized. based on abstract cognitive activity initiated by the Greeks. Faulkner & Allen. In other parts (as in the ascension texts).55. For the goal of these Ancient Egyptian studies is not to translate Egyptian texts ab ovo. "The ordinary consideration of the Egyptian symbol reduces it to a primary arbitrary. the present English version of the Unas text The present English version of the Unas text makes use of the hieroglyphs to choose between alternative views on the text as proposed by Sethe. Especially in the case of an Opus of such scope as the pyramid texts of Unas. In the Pyramid Texts. amendments can always made without cutting trees. utilitarian and singular meaning. but try to avoid a Predynastic figure. This means mythical.Put aside the obvious difficulties encountered when trying to translate texts 4300 years old. 100 years). the "inventor of stone" and his vizier Imhotep. and presents his work as the ongoing result of constantly (re)studying direct (the hieroglyphs) & indirect sources (new translations). a more subtle problem is posed by the mentality of the Egyptians themselves. 1978. King Djoser. "the Pillar". and amending his choices. mistrusting the presence of literary antecedents. It pays homage to their magisterial translations and is indebted to them. comparisons with the architectural language of the period.which does not exclude the necessity of being 'simple'. Indeed. or knowing how to 'simply look' at the symbol. pre-rational and proto-rational strands are at work." Schwaller de Lubicz. We must not be entrapped by projecting on Ancient Egyptian literature our own rational approach. the Egyptians had the conceptual framework of the Pyramid Texts at their disposal. makes it likely that under Pharaoh Djoser. layed the foundations of the Old Kingdom "canon" ruling all aspects of the life of the . Hermetism and the Hermetic Keys). Piankoff. The contemporary school of egyptological literalism equates the earliest temporal layer of any text with its historical date of composition. Egyptian civilization is ante-rational. Mercer. Because these texts only exists on the WWW. p. whereas in reality it is a synthesis which requires great erudition for its analysis and a special culture for the esoteric knowledge that it implies . which is not supported for all the texts. they would agree to push the date of inception with a few centuries (the margin of error for this period being ca. Hence. proto-rationality is suggested. the "great seer" (or prophet) of Re at Iunu. but to bring together a basket of texts allowing us to appreciate Ancient Egyptian wisdom teachings and clarifying the relationship with Greek philosophy (cf. composition : the texts form a literary unity insofar as they represent a careful and conscious selection out of the available body of ritual utterances (cf. they bring together all what is needed to bring about for the divine king his regeneration (in the Lunar Duat) and ascension (via the Solar Akhet) to the stellar Imperishables. Here is Sethe's standard edition of the Pyramid Texts (1910) and Mercer's translation (1952). art & religion. a "power of powers" and "image of images". a god one with Atum . There is matter of choice guided by spatial semantic. rise of Re). The composition is not available as a linear narrative. a living Osiris (rejuvenated by the Sed festival) and. some connotations may seem pointless to a contemporary reader. both during his life on Earth (namely through Lunar regeneration). To project the beginning of the IIIth Dynasty (ca. and in the afterlife (to ascend to Re) . magical texts. those found in the tomb of his successors plus very likely others). finally. sapience. spatial semantics : there is a spatial symbolism at work in the actual placement of the texts in the chambers. 2670 BCE) as the date of inception of most (not all !) of these texts is altogether a reasonable guess. etc. protective charms and divine offerings. his arrival in heaven. magical. dusk). Hermopolitan. Predynastic. cognitive limitations : to back the unstable concepts of pre-rationality. contextuality and multiple approaches.elite. Summarizing :      aim of the texts : to assist the divine king in his royal cult. nor the pyramid complex. the ascension of King Unas. hermeneutical typology : the Unas text contain short pieces of drama. although an overall story-line is discernable . offering rituals. prayers. false door. the sky of Re). They are not narrative and do not represent the actual funerary ritual. settling in heaven. both as a living Horus (a reigning monarch). As a lot of these myths are meaningless today. As a ritual and magical anthology. Careful study of the images and the actual hieroglyphs used is often rewarding but seldom conclusive . Osirian. a regression into myth is a common strategy. ecstatic. South (cyclic stars. royal. a divine ancestor. litanies. occult & . glorifications. funerary. including writing. passage-way & corridor : Lunar Duat (sarcophagus room) and Solar Akhet (antechamber) are at work in four directions : West (Duat. sarcophagus. They invoke the regeneration of Osiris King Unas. The texts circumambulate the theme of the king's glorious being. hymns. Heliopolitan. eating the deities. North (Imperishables. the inundation) & East (Eastern Horizon. as are conservatism. beautified and stellar body ("sAH"). if not decisive. is completed when Osiris receives the Eye of Wellness (the Left Eye) from Horus. The role of Osiris in the Unas text. lasting for more than three millenia.funerary registers can be isolated. Without the female side of Nature. But. both agrarian (grain. Whether Osirian faith was already popular in the Early Dynastic remains disputed. the shamanistic beliefs of old are maintained but refined. Restored. But this remains largely speculative. including in their musings his assassination. wandering. Dynastic Egypt remembered the mythical family of (Lunar) Osiris. restoration. A patrilineal system is invented. although a Predynastic origin of Osirian faith concurs with the fertility cults of the Neolithic (the "Bull of his Mother" pointing to his role as consort of the great Neolithic fertility goddess). as we can see in the First Dynasty Abydos burials. resurrection and rejuvenation. contextualized. With it. Its state approved mythology was largely based on the Solar and stellar considerations. The royal nation state is given an administrative body. given by Isis thanks to Re and Thoth. receiving a jurisdiction of his own. Re had given to Osiris a separate jurisdication. making its unity and integration (in one tomb) even more remarkable . the role of women was of extreme. the Lunar. In the Old Kingdom. People identified and played the dramatic episodes of their lives. the Lunar Eye of Re. flood) as communal (just ruler). 6. matriarchal line of transmission (of which the original root is Upper Palaeolithic) was never relinquished. with Memphis as royal residence and focus of culture. The mystery of his becoming the "king of the Duat" completed the picture. The divine king is nurtured by the milk of the goddesses and in all major dynastic turns. resurrected and resuscitated. The "djed" may point to a crucial link between history and Prehistory : this backbone of Osiris serves as a mortuary amulet of stability and everlastingness. . The restoration of the body of Osiris and his "resurrection" in the noble. and so he was feared by humans & gods alike. Osiris then becomes the "king of the Duat" and. 2670 BCE). a kingdom of his own. It is a necessary aid in the transformation of the human body into the spiritual body of glory assumed by the dead in the afterlife. his wife Isis and their son Horus. in the more popular strands of the Egyptian cultural form. The divine dead bone is there to transmute. spiritualized. 1992). importance. the king affirms the divine status of his "Ba" by partly assimilating the Lunar deities of old (Hassan.  date of inception : the beginning of the IIIth Dynasty (ca. no balanced equation is possible. dismemberment. A central element of the later Osiris myth. Osirian faith appealed to the common majority. Khentiamentiu. unique creator of it all. It was a time of enthusiasm and rejuvenation for the people. Oxen were driven around the walls of Memphis . Dating to the Late Predynastic Period." Frankfort. the priests raised up the "djed" Pillar. They establish a bridge between nature and man.182. In the Heliopolitan account. Deceased Badarians faced West (ca. 1978. Seth and Nephthys are the differentials or natural types covering the ideal state of affairs for human beings." Wilkinson. the pairing of Horus and Seth. His cult was popular in the First Dynasty (cf. those sustaining the mythical kingdom of plenty of Atum-Re. rejuvenation and rebirth (associated with the Duat rather than the sky). The steady rise of kingship and piecemeal centralizations followed. and all payed homage to the symbol. Heliopolitan theology associated him with Osiris. He also navigated Re's nightly voyage in the Duat. The majority of cemeteries were situated to the West of the Nile. the region where the Sun set. empowered not by patrilineal logic. Osiris was the mythological form of the dead ruler forever succeeded by his son Horus. seals of Kings Den and Qaa). On the first day of Shomu. People conducted mock battles between good and evil. We have to wait until the First Intermediate Period before Abydos becomes a cult centre explicitly dedicated to Osiris.. His . The Solar horizon had been assimilated.. perhaps under the name Khentiamentiu. 5000 . p. "The four children of Geb and Nut are not involved in this description of the universe. he represented the myth of the "perfect king".The "djed" Pillar Festival was held annually. is attested from the middle of the First Dynasty. As the "Bull of his mother". "Although the god Osiris is not attested by name until the Fifth Dynasty Pyramid Texts.4000 BCE). who also bore the epithet "the Foremost of the Westeners". the sole. Isis. Osiris. and that in the only manner in which the Egyptians could conceive such a bond . Osiris belonged to the last generation of deities. but by the self-possessed and unalienated power of the great goddess and her dark secrets of resurrection.292. the season of harvesting. Already in the Neolithic. p. "the Foremost of the Westeners". the West was the principal mortuary direction. the probable antiquity of many of these texts makes it not unlikely that he was recognized at an earlier period.through kingship. was depicted as a jackal. 1999. the god of the Abydos necropolis. assassination by Seth evokes the discontinuum of moral evil ("isefet"), rooted in a natural divine will to harm, hurt and cause suffering for the sake of dominion, love of power and the persistent gratification of perverse desires (cf. the Isis & Horus cycles of the Delta). It underlines the power of evil and destruction, and invokes the fragility of life and order, in all directions under seige by evil, annihilation, death and chaos. The tragedy of evil's power does not lead to pessimism, for in Egyptian thought, the soul of chaos is the author of light, life and order. If chaos itself is to be avoided, not so its efficient, auto-generative potential. The latter regenerates the deities and sustains creation. This distinction drawn a line between the blind lust to destroy (as in "Apophis", the giant snake of destruction) and the divine will to harm (or "Seth", who controls the snake). "But it will be discerned at once that the Osiris myth expressed those hopes and aspirations and ideals which were closest to the life and the affections of this great people. (...) In the Osiris myth the institution of the family found its earliest and most exalted expression in religion, a glorified reflection of earthly ties among the gods." Breasted, 1972, p.37. Paradoxically perhaps, a pyramid tomb is not an expression of Osirian faith as profound as the "Heb Sed" or "Sed festival", in which the divine king assumed the costume and insignia of Osiris, enjoying the same resuscitation by Isis and Horus. This does not (as Egyptian thought teaches) exclude Osirian components, connotations or assimilations (such as a subterranean chamber). But the Pyramid Age was of Heliopolitan inspiration. Pharaoh finally adheres to his own divinity ("son of Re") and evidences his authority on a gigantic scale. In the Pyramid Texts, Osiris is present but at times avoided. King Unas passes-by Osiris (and is, as the latter, resurrected in the Duat as "this Osiris King Unas"), but does not stay in the Duat. As a bird or as incense, he flies away to be transformed into a stellar spirit, joining his father Re in the sky. A strange division is, at times, maintained between Osiris in the Duat and Re in the sky. In the pre-rational mode of cognition, such conceptual tensions are left unresolved. Nothwithstanding royal this-life rituals, a pyramid complex was, after the king had died, the tomb of a divine king of Egypt, and so the focus of a temple complex, with a dedicated priesthood and regular priests, daily maintaining the Ka of the deceased king to gratify its Ba or soul and clearing a safe passage to and fro the tomb. As such, a royal mortuary temple was an spirito-economic motor, employing people and redistributing goods for the sake of a spiritual economy of transformation of material offerings into "food" for the Ka of the king, who would bless Egypt. A funerary complex was also a "false door" or "gate" allowing the enlightened spirit of the deceased (justified to realize the station of the Akh-spirits) to return as Ba and/or Ka. This divine presence of the spirit in its tomb on Earth, is always indirect (never absolute). It happens through the intermediate states of consciousness, such as the Ba and Ka of the divine son of Re. The pyramid ensured Maat, the turning of days and seasons, as well as a "good Nile". How ? It allowed the deceased king to "transform" ("kheperu") into an "Akh", a glorified spirit-being of light, effective and equipped in the afterlife. The pyramid was his way to ascend. Arrived in heaven as an Akh, the king allowed his divine incarnation to pass to his son (from Osiris to Horus) and the pyramid "is better understood as the meeting point of life and light with death and darkness" (Lehner, 2001, p. 20). After mummification, it became a "cosmic exchange engine" set in motion by the appropriate funerary rituals, bringing the glorified body ("sah") into being (cf. the ritual of "Opening the Mouth"). As an Akh-spirit, the deceased king could then choose to bring down his souls and doubles on Earth. If so, he would use his tomb and mummy as a point of entry into the physical plane of existence. In this way, the presence of the ancestor could continue to influence the living, in particular the new Horus-king. The names given to the pyramids or associated with them, reflect the crucial spirito-economical role of royal tombs : "horizon", "radiant place", "endures", "flourish", "established", "pure", "divine", "perfect" etc. Indeed, the focus of any tomb, including the king's, was the "false door" and adjacent "offering place". This imaginal gate was the point of departure to or return from the Netherworld. The success of this bi-directionality of the justified, blessed deceased in the afterlife (from the tomb to the sky and back) depended on the funerary rituals, as well as on the offerings placed in the tomb. During their daily rituals, the priests (endowed by the son) fed the Ka of his father and placed the sacrifices near the "false door". In this way, the "lowest" point of the transformational chain would be kept active. The subtle energy (or "Ka") of the offerings gratifies the Ba and attracts the attention of the Akh, who returns in the tomb in its "sah", completing the cycle by uniting with the mummy. This ideal of Egyptian religious life was only attained by the deities and the justified dead. Pharaoh ascended, while common men hid ... Can may be argued that, in order to operate properly, every state needs to stay in touch with its people. So the Heliopolitan, Solar Atum-Re assimilated (before the Vth Dynasty) a human generation of deities, namely Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys, entangled in a Lunar family drama ? Already present since ever, they would then become the great-grand children of Atum-Re, and represent the human side of the "Golden Age" of Egypt, the epoch when the gods reigned on Earth, a time when the eternal equilibrium of the First Time had not yet been broken by Seth. This was the time of Osiris, the Lunar deity of vegetation, reigning over the whole of Egypt, making her living, healthy and prosperous, bringing bread & wine. By doing so, the theologians of Atum-Re assimilated the popular (Predynastic) Lunar cult, and made it part of the royal ritual, especially in terms of the physical regeneration & resurrection of the divine king (during and after life), whereas the latter's ascension remained Solar and spiritualizing. "While there is some effort here to correlate the functions of Re and Osiris, it can hardly be called an attempt at harmonization of conflicting doctrines. This is practically unknown in the Pyramid Texts. (...) But the fact that both Re and Osiris appear as supreme king of the hereafter cannot be reconciled, and such mutually irreconcilable beliefs caused the Egyptian no more discomfort than was felt by any early civilization in the maintenance of a group of religious teachings side by side with others involving varying and totally inconsistent suppositions. Even Christianity itself has not escaped this experience." Breasted, 1972, pp.163-164. Although historical traces of Osirian faith predating the Pyramid Texts are sparse, popular Osirian beliefs must have, during the previous Dynasties, slowly infiltrated the Solar state religion. Had Predynastic religion identified Osiris with the fertile waters of the inundation, with soil and vegetation (cf. Orion and the Dog-Star in the South, the direction of the inundation) ? The ever-waning and ever-reviving life of Egypt's soil through the Nile was entrenched by the story of the murder & resurrection of Osiris and the triumph of his son Horus over Seth, the evil uncle. As a result, and despite its popular origin, Osirian faith entered into the most intimate relationship with the ideology of divine kingship, causing a fundamental tension no prerational structure could resolve. When, in the "classical" Middle Kingdom (XIIth Dynasty), proto-rationality blossomed, and Osiris, as netherworldly god of the dead, was increasingly seen as the nocturnal aspect of Re (cf. the New Kingdom Solar theology, the Amduat). So, although the religion of state was Solar and focused on the divine king, the Pyramid Texts evidence an ambiguous relationship with Osiris, the god of the common people and popular beliefs. The Predynastic Osiris cult, probably local to the Delta, involved a forbidding, stern & repellent hereafter. Osiris was a Nile-god and a spirit of vegetable life, a harvest-god. But, as a king of Egypt, he had been killed by his brother Seth, recovered and restored by his wife Isis (with the help of the secret name of Re) and resurrected by his son Horus, who avenged his father by overcoming Seth in a battle presided by Thoth. When Osiris migrated up the Nile from the Delta, he was identified with the old mortuary jackal-god of the South, "the First of the Nun the local.) In the mergence of these two faiths we discern for the first time in history the age-old struggle between the state form of religion and the popular faith of the masses.. one powerful enough to alert the gods. Do not open your arms to him . he enjoys a juridiction of his own. with all the splendor and the prestige of its royal patrons behind it . these tensions would be resolved in the Middle Kingdom. As in the New Kingdom Amduat. monarch of a subterranean kingdom. § 1267. where it merged into the Netherworld. Heliopolitan Solar theology got slowly Osirianized.. There are exorcisms intended to retain Osiris to enter the Solar tomb with evil intent. pp. efficient principle of Nun Bi-sexual Atum is self-created within Nun simultaneously s/he generates the LUNAR OSIRIS . ". while in that of Osiris we are confronted by a religion of the people. SOLAR RE ." Breasted.. which made a strong appeal to the individual believer. He became the king of the dead below the Earth. a millennium later. monthly cycle of agriculture Osiris is created by Re-Atum Osiris is left behind in the Duat mostly passive himself. in the Solar faith we have a state theology. (.. 1972. the popularity of Osiris among the common people forced the theologians to incorporate him into their Solar creed. the "Lord of the Duat"..DIURNAL the eternal cycle of dawn/dusk/dawn the seasonal cycle of the Two Lands Re-Atum hidden in Nun the diffused. His kingdom was conceived as situated below the western horizon. Osiris is reassembled by Isis & healed by the Eye of Horus . which in turn gave rise to the New Kingdom books of the Netherworld.NOCTURNAL the perpetuity of darkness . Assiut).." Pyramid Texts. nothing in these primordial myths proved Osiris to have a celestial afterlife. utterance 534. the Pyramid Texts evidence survivals from a period when Osiris was even hostile to the Solar dead. the Duat. Indeed. However. "May Osiris not come with his evil coming. In this way.140-141.the Westeners" (Abydos. Eventually. According to Breasted. below which it is also extended (Breasted). the Ka Burial-chamber Osiris room The resurrection of Osiris by Horus and the restoration of his body was affirmed to be the king's privilege. In the Osirian cult. in the vincinity of the horizon. Osiris was now called "Lord of the Sky" (PT. who is the father of the king of the living). The Osirian hereafter was celestialized. the Duat became the lower region of the sky. An important link between Re and Osiris was the former's death every day in the West. we find the king ascending to the sky and then descending among the dwellers in the Duat (PT. The dead king and the dying Sun corresponded well. § 1164). 966a) and the king was announced to Osiris in the sky precisely in the same way as he had been announced to Re in the Solar theology. primordial nature of light "neheh" the Akh Antechamber Re chamber Osiris refers to everlastingness and the endurance of absolute sameness. the prima materia "djedet" the Ba. implying that the Duat became (via the North) somehow accessible from the sky. Hence. Atum belongs to pre-creation Atum is the sole Lord of Creation Atum is the spirit of matter or the awareness of consciousness (of itself) Atum refers to eternity-ineverlastingness the recurrent hatching within Nun & the indestructible. §§ 964. the place of the dead. the backbone of being. as did the resurrection of Osiris (as king of the dead) and the dawning of the Sun (as the child Harpocrates. .Ennead he. the Lord of Eternity Atum thrones the Akh-sphere Osiris thrones the Duat Osiris is bound to creation & the Duat Osiris receives a separate jurisdiction Osiris is the matter of spirit or the substrate of consciousness : energy. 1989."The fact remains. dragged into the Nether World to illumine there the subjects of Osiris in his mortuary kingdom. p. to close lips or eyes.1).14) of (1) the divine king and through him the whole of creation. i. situated as the Unique. Osiris is lifted to the sky." Breasted. Frankfort. The Egyptians maintained a series of rituals aimed at "a constantly renewed regeneration" (Hornung. then. The active continuity between life and death found in Egypt.the regenerative phase through which he passes before 'rising in the eastern side of sky like the Sun' (Pyr. Faulkner. Among the people Re is later. But what used to be viewed as a separate "Osirian" destiny of the king "has more recently been recognized as one aspect of his celestial cycle . 2000. or "cosmic beings. fostering "escapism" (the "body" as a "prison" . and while he is there Solarized. Egyptologists like Morenz. 1465d-e). as it were. The result was thus inevitable confusion. 1972. p. as the two faiths interpenetrated. p. 2001. and of (2) their supreme deity.55). pp." (Allen. and the later subterranean kingdom of Osiris and Re's voyage through it are still entirely in the background in these royal mortuary teachings. 7. Hornung or Allen have good reasons to stress the difference between the Greek and the Pharaonic perspective on initiation (from the Latin "initio". The Pyramid Texts evidence the emergence of a composite doctrine. we have just shown he also tinctures the Solar teaching of the celestial kingdom of the dead with Osirian doctrines.159-160." (Allen. that the celestial doctrines of the hereafter dominate the Pyramid Texts throughout. But they had no "science of the Hades" as in the Amduat. hidden. secret . In the royal and state temple theology. Self-Begotten Great One at the core of a henotheist constellation of deities. like the Egyptians. As such. they existed on a scale far removed from that of ordinary human beings. Piankoff. of which funerary rituals and the interaction between the living and their dead (cf. Egyptian versus Greek initiation.e. Assmann. introduce into a new life) and the mysteries (from the Greek "muoo". the Greeks. the letters to the dead) are examples. At best. contradicts the closed and separated interpretation of the Greeks. "mustès" = "initiate"). Atum-Re. induced the point of death (assumed the "death posture") in order to glimpse into Darkness and "see" the divine to be renewed. the elements and forces of nature. Mercer. and this is one of the most convincing evidences of the power of Osiris among the lower classes. For both life and the afterlife depend on identical conditions : offerings . the Ars Obscura of the Hidden Chamber). Although the Platonic philosopher "preparing for death and dying" is like the initiate of the Eleusinian mysteries (cf. the initiatic. according to these authors. of his priests and of his worshippers. His energy had no limitations and with it he sustained creation by offering the right order of nature (cf. If dualism fits Greek religion. So. sustaining the Hellenistic approach of contemporary Egyptology regarding religious experience in Ancient Egypt. Amduat. It is not because a text is found in a tomb that it is necessarily funerary. but are imaginal constructions and wishful thinking about the afterlife. in the Duat and in the sky.out of which one needs to escape. as did the Egyptian initiate and the Shaman of old. Book of Gates. the dogma being : Ancient Egyptian religion is funerary & mortuary. Phaedrus and Phaedo). the divine father) was the gate to a resurrection for the benefit of the living (Horus. In Egypt." . This assumption of the death posture is a universal characteristic of the spiritual process of emancipation of Homo Sapiens sapiens (cf. the divine son). Book of the Heavenly Cow. In Egypt. Physical death (of Osiris. either directly to the deities through the divine king or indirectly to the Ka of the deceased. the Great Hymn to the Aten). found in the religious text and on the monuments of Egypt. Potentially. He was a god on Earth. "As we have already seen. This position is rejected. 'secret rites' and then subsequently as the tomb of the king. the "tertium comparationis"). divorced from the plane of Earthly life).ruled by the "third". There was no question of initiation being linked with the separation caused by physical death. the king and his high priests encountered the deity "face to face" every day. Coming out into the Day. the "Hades" as a place of shades. triadism rules Egyptian theologies (while duality takes on the dual "form" or "land". the divine king.) these great scholars evidence Hellenocentrist prejudice. it is perfectly feasible for the same pyramid to have been use both for the Sed festival. death is "more" life. By the exclusive funerary interpretation given to the religious literature of Ancient Egypt (Pyramid Texts. gratifying the Ba. etc. do not reflect direct spiritual experiences. Coffin Texts. or "nswt". But the living king (Horus) could also ritually assume death (as "Osiris King N") to resurrect (himself and Egypt) while his physical body had not died (as in his Heb Sed festival). and so may come to the point of death to see into the invisible (spiritual) worlds. the Greek knows that he will never find wisdom in all its purity in any other place than in the next world. this-life experiences of the king. no "new" life was necessary. the world of magic and of the dead. structure & dynamics of the sphere of their action .. He will stand among the Lord of Provision as one justified by the Council of Re who reckons the differences. has to be addressed : is there a mystical dimension or direct experiential contact with the divine beyond the first three studied by Egyptology (Assmann. political residence of the deities. the cosmic : the emergence. It will be useful for him upon Earth . the mystic : the direct experience of the deities or the objective spiritual realities encountered by the divine king. so that rebirth "could have been genuinely experienced in this life now". Indeed. 2005. 2002) ? To wit : 1. or "what is said about the gods". It is very very useful for a man upon Earth. 2. names. political identity . the mythic : the sacred tradition. Osirian faith allowed non-royals to have direct spiritual access to the Duat." Amduat." Amduat.. the cultic : the local. "He who know these words will approach those who dwell in the Netherworld. The Books of the Netherworld are usually very explicit about this. the New Kingdom Amduat and Book of Gates bring "the future into the present". the Egyptian mysteries revolved around the concept of "voluntary death".. genealogies etc. p. experienced before the actual physical death of the body. These texts point to a this-life magical knowledge (assisting the mystical .. For Wente (1982). popular in Egyptology the last 50 years. introductory text of the Ninth Hour. his priests and worshippers ? For Moret (1922). pilgrimage & personal piety. "The mysterious Cavern of the West where the Great God and his crew rest in the Netherworld. He who knows their names while being upon Earth will know their seats in the West as a contented one with his seat in the Netherworld. This is executed with their names similar to the image which is drawn in the East of the Hidden Chamber of the Netherworld.109. either as belonging to a particular place and/or as state deities functioning as symbols of the collective. 4. This "dead posture" preludes spiritual rebirth or "peret-em-heru" : going out into the day . In these latter contexts. And this.Naydler. most likely through festivals. their cultural memory as set down in myths. 3. the validity of an exclusive funerary interpretation of the Pyramid Texts (or for that matter of the complete corpus of religious texts. concluding text of the Second Hour. in which Western spiritual culture is given fresh vigor by its reconnecting to its Egyptian roots. It is a secret. The initiate entered the invisible Duat at will and was free as a bird to stride and experience. albeit in ante-rational terms. While it would make little sense to try to resurrect the religion of ancient Egypt today. Although found in tombs. 1982).. the spiritual impulse that issues from ancient Egypt into contemporary culture may nevertheless encourage us to persue paths of inner development appropriate to our own period in history . or "bs" again. The Egyptians understood the revitalizing logic of plunging into the darkest night of the spirit-world and particularly focused on regeneration. Egyptian initiations. In Egyptian. reveal. This could lead to the possibility of a new Egyptian-inspired Renaissance.329. 2005. and in initiatic (cf.quest for union with godhead. p. the verb "bs" ("bes") has two nuances : inductive and secretive :  inductive : to introduce. rejuvenation and rebirth both in this life and in the afterlife. were not meant to release the applicant from the solid chains of the world and its destiny. or the Ba of Re and the body of Osiris in the Books of the Netherworld). indicative of words .. This task is to open ourselves once more to those realms of spirit that we are presented with in the mystical literature of Egypt. And once we acknowledge the presence of a mystical dimension. they move beyond funerary concerns (cf. Of course. unlike the Greek. completing the standard cycle of human spirituality en vogue since the Cro-Magnon. but also put into evidence an experiential register. install ." Naydler. we beg the question of how to operate the magic ? Is there a particular series of rituals enabling one to experience the objective spiritual realities behind three thousand years of spirituality today ? "And so the study of ancient Egyptian religion may lead us to conceive of a task that we have to fulfill in the present day. He also returned.  secretive : to initiate. What is revealed should never be said. This happened by an "embrace" of objective spiritual principles projected upon recurrent natural cycles (like Horus and Osiris in the myth of Osiris. bring in. Duat) and ecstatic (cf. a return to the "first time" of the "Golden Age"). quite on the contrary. Wente. but with one more determinative added (that of a papyrus scroll. Akhet) mindsets. the first thing to do is to lift the funerary restrictions put on the available corpora. he was ready for his ascension.. Osiris would not be able to lay his hands on him as he escaped the Lunar world and entered the Solar. Nobody escaped destiny. the afterlife was depicted as a realm of shadows and any hope of individual survival was deemed ephemeral. and would escort Re in the sky. the "initiates" were foremost the divine king and those Egyptian priests who belonged to the higher priesthood. and end the cycle of metempsychosis. enthroned in its naos at the back end of the inner sanctum. in epithets of divine beings. Middle Egyptian points to the Egyptian initiate as someone who had seen the hidden image of the deity "face to face". ". "I am a priest knowledgable of the mystery. mystical. but rather experimental speculations with . the word "mustikos" (root of "mystic. The "secret of secrets" was the secret image of the deity or "bsw" ("besu"). After death.. misery and possible "eschaton" : a world-fire invoked by these wrathful deities themselves. 1966. hidden away. and was prepared for the afterlife. The initiate had gone and come back. who's chest never lets go what he has seen !" Chassinat. hidden. Both perspectives (a negative view on matter and reincarnation) are absent in the Egyptian mindset. With the verb "bes". Transformed. except the deities and the lucky few elected. The latter "escaped" from the world and its sordid entropic fate.11-12. He had faced judgment. mysterious. but able to recreate the world in a whim ! Escape from this fated comedy was offered through the Greek mysteries dedicated to certain Deities. he or she had received more life-power (balancing the natural depletion). the successive return of the soul in other physical bodies. But in the Greek mysteries. had been regenerated and transformed on Earth as he would be in the afterlife. inexplicable. mysticism") also means "hidden". This high priest was the representative of the king. refers to the mysterious secrets themselves. Another word for "secret" is "StA" ("Shtah"). They would erase the cause of the heaviness of the soul and its attachment to Earth. Only they were allowed to enter the sanctuary of the temple and perform rituals there (the offering hall. and had become thus more complete. Only one member of this higher priesthood saw the deity "face to face".related to writing and thinking). the divine "son of Re" and the "Lord of the Two Lands". In Greek. unforgiving of man's tragi-comical sins. the inner sanctum). also meaning : "secretive. Clearly then." "Shtahu". pp. what appears in the fifth century is not a complete and consistent doctrine of metempsychosis. the ambulatory. triggering a secret experience. Late Hellenism was flooded by astral fatalism and Oriental mysteries adapted to Greco-Roman standards and tastes. Thanks to a "general rehearsal" of what would happen. As a temple ritualist. nor invite its adepts to leave the material plane without ever returning. The Greek spiritual experience was rational (decontextual). Rituals make his body fully participate in this inner experience. a God or Goddess. the adept would have no surprises in the afterlife. was deemed "liberated" from nature.300. mysterious layer of reality and contacts this plane directly. The Greek initiate. never leaves his physical body behind in a passive. 1985. in order to be transformed and "see" the deity directly. matter was perceived as "gross" and more in tune with the world of becoming. The efficient adept escorted Re in the sky. All other initiates remain in the Lunar Duat and find their use in the dark kingdom of Osiris. p. Plato and Aristotle). which meant done for their own sake (decontextualized). alone and without intermediaries. and the spirits of the deceased existed together with the living. Indeed. or else it runs forever in a circle through all spheres of the cosmos . Fully awake. Osiris was the prototype of this Lunar quest. sheer chance decides on the reincarnation. Egyptian initiation was not redemptoric (elimination of guilt). it is morally blameless conduct that guarantees the better lot or else the bare fact of ritual initiation that frees from guilt. The Egyptian initiate was "deified" by nature. or else a judgement of the dead . trance-like state (compare this with what happens in the Hermetic Poimandres or in Classical Yoga). hylemorphism).contradictory principles of ritual and morality. formal distinction between the conditions of becoming and those of being. except for the doubles (Kas) and the souls (Bas). albeit on another plane of existence (cf. A marked contrast with the Greek mentality ensues : the Greeks had assimilated a rational. and a groping for natural laws : the soul comes from the gods and after repeated trials returns to them. more profound. Deities or demons were invoked to erase a preassigned fate or to control destiny. His initiatoric this-life rituals intended to prepare him for what was bound to happen in the afterlife. Linear order was the standard of Greek conceptual . between potentiality and actuality (cf. The Egyptian adept did not enter the sanctuary with a confused idea about death. But with the end of the Polis States. a great fear had taken hold. ideas and their contemplation were deemed of a "higher" order. Concepts. In general. my italics. did not intend to break away from the (inexistent) cycle of reincarnation." Burkert. the laws of life (the deities) were operational in the afterlife as well as on Earth. he enters into a deeper. the Egyptian initiate. In Greek thought. in the Greek mysteries. mysteries began to feed on the hopes of individuals with universal speculation and sought to overcome the chilling isolation of man in death.203. These were suggestive of the "perfect forms" of the world of ideas (or those perceived by the "active intellect"). most men are meaningless shades in the Hades ("hidden" as Pluto).197. because of the difficulties involved with magic and initiation. Only in its death was true liberation found (later. than ruler over all the perished dead. Finally. while priests were consecrated in (local) induction rituals (leaving the "ultimate" experience to . 1985. The dead Archilles brushes aside Odysseus' words of praise. the Discourse of a Man with his Ba). 1985. the Greek mysteries anticipate a rupture between the living and the dead.rationality and the afterlife was envisaged as a gloomy land of no return. antinomies. The regular movements of the planets followed precise geometrical conditions. The body was negative and had to be made passive in order for it to "see" the Divine light. astrology was used to divinate destiny and fate ("heimarmene" and "ananke"). but equally there is no comfort and no hope. saying : 'Do not try to make light of death to me . my italics. p. In the Egyptian way of life. wiping out unluck. "And when. no imaginings of decomposition.' In the dreary monotony everything becomes a matter of indifference. dualities easily become oppositions (contradictions." Burkert. Hence. and no clatterings of dead bones . Again the material world appeared in negative. this was for a long time more a complement than a dangerous rival to the Greek system. Hence. "The living are not at the mercy of the dead .). commoners sought a happy life to satisfy their souls (cf. p. a man without lot and without much to live on. depreciative terms (cf. Magic was addressed as a means to overcome one's preassigned fate. theurgy came into being. a "special knowledge" was aimed at. by drawing on repressed or non-Greek traditions. this Greek prejudice was made dogma by all three "religions of the book"). Let this difference stand out : the Egyptian mysteries anticipate a continuation of communication between the diurnal and nocturnal sides of creation. evil as "privatio boni" in Neoplatonism and Roman Catholicism on original sin and the cause of evil). There are no ghostly terrors." Burkert. dualities always remain complementary. In Gnosticism. etc. the shades are without force and without consciousness. etc. alien to the living. But. A decisive release from the forces of fate & mortality was invisaged by working directly with the Deities. which had many branches. In the Egyptian conception. I would sooner be bound to the soil in the hire of another man. 32 . 81 . 108 . "teleirtan" (to die) and "teleisthai" (to be initiated) are alike.212) l VI (23.243) l II (23.276) l XII (277 . like those of Abydos. 25. Busiris and Karnak ? Such ritual activity would prepare them for the afterlife and transform them into "initiates" on Earth (adepts "justified" while alive) ? "Follow the god as far as his place. Is it possible that the higher priesthood also participated in the Osirian mysteries of death and resurrection.171) l III (213 .205. 199.96.301) l XIII (313 317 & 318 . The mysterious initiation of the Lord of Abydos !" Griffith. that is to be initiated" Plato CENTRAL PLAN OF THE TOMB OF KING UNAS The Unas Text is divided in thirteen sections : I (226 . 25. 32. in his tomb which is found at the entrance of the cavern. 207.224) l V (204 . lines 238-239.253) l VIII (254 . 200 & 244 .260) l IX (260 . tombe I.the high priest). (in) the sacred valley of the Lord of Life.219) l IV (219 .321) Unas text in English . 238. "to die.57 / 72 . But Egyptian and Greek initiations had this in common : both involved a confrontation with a symbolical death.312) l XI (273 . ca.272) l X (302 . In Greek. Anubis sanctifies the hidden mystery of Osiris. followed by a new state of being alife.116 / 117 . 209.XIIth Dynasty. held in major temples of Egypt.79 . 210 .246) l VII (247 . "<" from right to left or ">" from left to right "<" or ">" between numbers = sequence of the text . "<" or ">" underneath / above numbers = direction of the signs "<" (face left) or ">" (face right) underneath / above numbers = direction of the signs .