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Writings from the Ancient World #23
The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest body of extant literature from ancient Egypt. First carved on the walls of the burial chambers in the pyramids of kings and queens of the Old Kingdom, they provide the earliest comprehensive view of the way in which the ancient Egyptians understood the structure of the universe, the role of the gods, and the fate of human beings after death. Their importance lies in their antiquity and in their endurance throughout the entire intellectual history of ancient Egypt. This volume contains the complete translation of the Pyramid Texts, including new texts recently discovered and published. It incorporates full restorations and readings indicated by post–Old Kingdom copies of the texts and is the first translation that presents the texts in the order in which they were meant to be read in each of the original sources.
471 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2101
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About the author
James P. Allen
36 books26 followersJames P. Allen (Ph. D., Univ. of Chicago, 1981), Wilbour Prof. of Egyptology, Brown University, has published extensively on ancient Egyptian language, religion, and history.
Allen, James P., 1945-, Library of Congress Authorities
Allen, James P., 1945-, Library of Congress Authorities
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 8, 2016
Unis is the sky’s bull, with terrorizing in his heart, who lives on the evolution of every god, who eats their bowels when they have come from the Isle of Flame with their belly filled with magic.
The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts are old. Like really, really old. They date to around 2400-2300 BCE and were inscribed on the inner-most tombs of Pharaohs’ pyramids. Considering writing was only invented around 3000 BCE, and they must have taken ~500 years to figure out it was useful for more than just counting sheep or taxes, we are looking at some of the oldest literary creations in history. And unlike the prosaic “Book of the Dead” these texts are vigorous and intimidating. Mostly incantations or spells that aided a Pharaoh’s journey into the afterlife, they were not meant for human eyes: the scribes were likely killed after inscribing them and the royal tomb was sealed off forever.
I’ll be looking at one text in particular, the Cannibal Spell for King Unis. Written ca. 2325 BCE, this spell presents the now-dead Unis as a newly born star or constellation, ascending the sky and devouring the other gods for their powers. The story is violent and methodical; as Unis moves inexorably across the horizon his servants aid him in butchering old gods, ending with him undisputed as king of the sky. He rules the universe and is immune from evil; the old deities merely shadows in his wake. I imagine Unis to mirror the sun’s ascendancy. As stars and lesser gods litter the night sky, the Pharaoh is the sun whose blaze wipes the horizon clean, only to perch at its center during mid-day (when life is in its prime). As night creeps back and the King weakens, he must be reborn the next morning. Or replaced? Regardless, it’s a spectacular process.
The spell is super fun to pick apart. We smell themes of human sacrifice (the ritual would likely have been performed by killing oxen, but I have my suspicions); a keen sensitivity to the constellations and the sun’s supremacy; a pre-civilized affinity with the natural world; magic as more significant cultural phenomena than institutionalized religion; political propaganda; and the eternal reality of death and rebirth: sons will take from their fathers, Kings will replace one another, and day will always succeed night. The visceral fascination with the body and its power is both horrific and actually refreshing. So often does later educated, civilized life attach significance to the soul, or intellect, or even the abstract ‘heart’ that we lose a basic sense of flesh-and-blood vigor. These writers, awed by the physical wonder of the human life-force, could express it only in terms of violent cannibalism. Playful nibbles during sex, sometimes escalated in the heat of the moment, retain much of the same primal intensity.
The key here is the power of artistic imagery. It’s something we’ve seen before with cave paintings and ancient music, but I relish seeing it in this medium. The spell would not work if the scribe lazily belched out commands at an indifferent cosmos. The magic is his ability to evoke scenes in our imaginations. He hopes the imagery translates into real life, but before we get skeptical let’s consider the possibility that he was successful. An Ancient Egyptian didn’t just see the sun rising and falling day by day. He saw the kings of his past. He saw them ascend to their rightful place in the heavens and consume all lesser deities in their wake. The Ancient Egyptian looked at the most common routine in the solar system—the orbit of celestial objects—and saw a magnificent story. To envision that story is nothing short of magical, and to communicate it well leaves us spellbound. I see no reason to doubt their incantation, factual or otherwise.
The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts are old. Like really, really old. They date to around 2400-2300 BCE and were inscribed on the inner-most tombs of Pharaohs’ pyramids. Considering writing was only invented around 3000 BCE, and they must have taken ~500 years to figure out it was useful for more than just counting sheep or taxes, we are looking at some of the oldest literary creations in history. And unlike the prosaic “Book of the Dead” these texts are vigorous and intimidating. Mostly incantations or spells that aided a Pharaoh’s journey into the afterlife, they were not meant for human eyes: the scribes were likely killed after inscribing them and the royal tomb was sealed off forever.
I’ll be looking at one text in particular, the Cannibal Spell for King Unis. Written ca. 2325 BCE, this spell presents the now-dead Unis as a newly born star or constellation, ascending the sky and devouring the other gods for their powers. The story is violent and methodical; as Unis moves inexorably across the horizon his servants aid him in butchering old gods, ending with him undisputed as king of the sky. He rules the universe and is immune from evil; the old deities merely shadows in his wake. I imagine Unis to mirror the sun’s ascendancy. As stars and lesser gods litter the night sky, the Pharaoh is the sun whose blaze wipes the horizon clean, only to perch at its center during mid-day (when life is in its prime). As night creeps back and the King weakens, he must be reborn the next morning. Or replaced? Regardless, it’s a spectacular process.
The spell is super fun to pick apart. We smell themes of human sacrifice (the ritual would likely have been performed by killing oxen, but I have my suspicions); a keen sensitivity to the constellations and the sun’s supremacy; a pre-civilized affinity with the natural world; magic as more significant cultural phenomena than institutionalized religion; political propaganda; and the eternal reality of death and rebirth: sons will take from their fathers, Kings will replace one another, and day will always succeed night. The visceral fascination with the body and its power is both horrific and actually refreshing. So often does later educated, civilized life attach significance to the soul, or intellect, or even the abstract ‘heart’ that we lose a basic sense of flesh-and-blood vigor. These writers, awed by the physical wonder of the human life-force, could express it only in terms of violent cannibalism. Playful nibbles during sex, sometimes escalated in the heat of the moment, retain much of the same primal intensity.
The key here is the power of artistic imagery. It’s something we’ve seen before with cave paintings and ancient music, but I relish seeing it in this medium. The spell would not work if the scribe lazily belched out commands at an indifferent cosmos. The magic is his ability to evoke scenes in our imaginations. He hopes the imagery translates into real life, but before we get skeptical let’s consider the possibility that he was successful. An Ancient Egyptian didn’t just see the sun rising and falling day by day. He saw the kings of his past. He saw them ascend to their rightful place in the heavens and consume all lesser deities in their wake. The Ancient Egyptian looked at the most common routine in the solar system—the orbit of celestial objects—and saw a magnificent story. To envision that story is nothing short of magical, and to communicate it well leaves us spellbound. I see no reason to doubt their incantation, factual or otherwise.
December 26, 2017
This was pretty difficult for me to read, and I feel like I would have done a lot better if I knew more about ancient egyptian religion and mythology. This must be how someone feels when they randomly decide to read one of the Vedas with no prior knowledge of Hindu mythology and religion. But in any case, it was pretty interesting. These are texts-- largely spells-- which come from an era of human religious evolution which is usually not preserved in texts. The texts usually pertain to individual kings who were ascending into heaven, and served a magical purpose and were in that sense technical or mechinistic, or transactional, rather than poetic or intended to serve the people hearing it. A lot of the texts are rather creepy, referring to conflict, dark horrors, or strange macabre happenings, opaque to me. One of the other reviews on this page elucidates one of the spells a bit. I feel the text would have been helped by having more footnotes to explain to a layman like myself what exactly is going on. But it is fascinating to read words written by people *this* long ago. Probably the oldest text i've ever read.
April 22, 2012
First of all this book is by James P. Allen, it is edited by Peter Der Manuelian. The "Pyramid Texts are older than the more famous "Book of the Dead" texts and belong to the Old Kingdom (2300 to 2100 BC). Yet both were concerned with re-uniting the dead person's personality soul (Ba, the sound of a baby babbling) with his life force (Ka, possibly the sound of the Bennu bird which may have originally been a crow instead of a water bird) so he could live forever with the gods. The Egyptian religion of the time was much more nature based and simpler than later. The Sun (the god Ra, Re, or Atum) was the source of all earthly life while the god Osirus regenerated the Sun's own life throughout the night so it could appear again the next morning. As the ruler of the day the Sun was identified with the Pharoah's personal power god Horus. Significantly, and unlike almost all other mythologies the sky was considered feminine (the goddess Nut) while earth was considered masculine (the god Geb).
September 16, 2018
I doubt at any point in my life I'll ever properly appreciate what the Pyramid Texts are, this books by James P. Allen or anyone else who dares to compile the Texts. I'm not versed in ancient Egyptian mythology, death rituals, or the reigns of the kings and queens of the Old Kingdom. I'll probably never will. It's just not something I'll be dedicating a large chunk of my life to. However, that won't stop me from appreciating what's accessible to me. The Ancient Egyptian Texts gives a quick introduction to the rulers and the layout of their tombs before transcribing the full death rituals--the instructions, the spells, everything. For just a few people included such as Unis and both Pepis, this book accumulated over 400 pages of text. Truly, Allen kept his descriptions brief and let the Egyptians author almost all of the book. Over 4000 year old written language, the third oldest surviving today, I can read in as raw form as the English language can take advantage of. Despite understanding so little, I appreciate so much.
July 29, 2022
Mi refugio es mi Ojo
Mi protección es mi Ojo
Mi fuerza es mi Ojo
Mi poder es mi Ojo
Oh vosotros qué podrías venir contra mi para obstaculizarme, venid a mi, venid a mi (como amigos), por qué soy el altérname ego de mi padre, la flor de mi madre.
Detesto viajar en la oscuridad, por que no puedo ver, y puedo caer en la confusión; aparezco hoy por qué puedo administrar justicia, ya que ella está conmigo, y no seré abandonado a vuestro temperamento, dioses.
Mi protección es mi Ojo
Mi fuerza es mi Ojo
Mi poder es mi Ojo
Oh vosotros qué podrías venir contra mi para obstaculizarme, venid a mi, venid a mi (como amigos), por qué soy el altérname ego de mi padre, la flor de mi madre.
Detesto viajar en la oscuridad, por que no puedo ver, y puedo caer en la confusión; aparezco hoy por qué puedo administrar justicia, ya que ella está conmigo, y no seré abandonado a vuestro temperamento, dioses.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2024
While I cannot speak to the accuracy of Allen's translations, they succeed at presenting the Pyramid Texts as written in a poetic and evocative language replete with symbolism and beauty. The nature of the texts does result in some longer, drier sections - even with lines seen in prior pyramids being removed from later ones - with some ideas repeating ad nauseam even within a single text. Between this and some of the pyramids simply having few truly striking verses, at times it can be a bit of a slog. However, this is in no way the fault of the author, and the text can provide even a reader less-learned in ancient Egyptian religion with an enticing view into a dense and interwoven set of beliefs.
May 20, 2021
Interesting to be sure.
It is amazing that a lot of Ancient Egyptian Mythology is based off of these texts, as it appears near impossible to glean such colorful storylines from such inscriptions/transcriptions, but this is coming from someone who has delved into this topic from a 'top-down' perspective, versus finding these texts and tearing them apart to further define a lost culture from the bottom. I'm sure if I were the original founder of these, connecting the dots would have been quite exciting. Now I will get more or less of a giggle when I see someone cite Pyramid Texts, but I can dig it.
It is amazing that a lot of Ancient Egyptian Mythology is based off of these texts, as it appears near impossible to glean such colorful storylines from such inscriptions/transcriptions, but this is coming from someone who has delved into this topic from a 'top-down' perspective, versus finding these texts and tearing them apart to further define a lost culture from the bottom. I'm sure if I were the original founder of these, connecting the dots would have been quite exciting. Now I will get more or less of a giggle when I see someone cite Pyramid Texts, but I can dig it.
May 15, 2025
Mostly just read Neith’s section, but all were basically variations of each other. I would’ve liked more visuals and better explanations of unpopular mythologies.
September 16, 2025
Save for some moments (‘your bone is boned and you are boned’) where I got rather giggly and juvenile, I do love reading this sort of ancient spell-text.
November 20, 2012
Not nearly as good as the Faulkner translation.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews