Home › Ancient Egypt › The Pyramid Texts
Ancient Egypt · Guide
The Pyramid Texts: What They Are and What They Mean
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest known body of Egyptian religious writing: hundreds of spells carved on the inner walls of royal pyramids at Saqqara, first in the pyramid of Unas at the end of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2350 BCE, conventional date). They were meant to protect the dead king, help him rise to the sky and join the gods, and they are a major source for Egyptian ideas about creation, the gods and the afterlife.
How to read this page
- Established: observed, measured, excavated or written in a source from the time. The only things we present as fact.
- Mainstream theory: what most specialists currently conclude. Reported accurately, not endorsed.
- Alternative theory: proposals outside or at the edge of mainstream scholarship. Contested, reported so you can see the debate.
- The book’s view: the argument of Echoes of History, always labelled as the author’s own.
The Pyramid Texts at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What | Spells (Egyptologists call them “utterances”) for the king’s resurrection and afterlife |
| Where | Burial chambers and corridors of pyramids at Saqqara |
| First | Pyramid of Unas, last king of the Fifth Dynasty |
| Later | Pyramids of Teti, Pepi I, Merenre and Pepi II (Sixth Dynasty), several queens, and the Eighth Dynasty king Ibi |
| How many | No pyramid has them all; scholars count roughly 800–1,000 distinct spells across all copies |
| Discovered | 1880–81, when Gaston Maspero’s team entered the pyramids of Saqqara |
Why the Giza pyramids have no texts
The great pyramids of Giza, a century or more earlier, have no inscribed burial chambers. The Pyramid Texts appear suddenly in Unas’s pyramid, already complex and polished. Mainstream scholars infer that the spells existed earlier in oral or papyrus form and were first carved in stone at this time. That inference is reasonable but unproven: we have no earlier copies.
What the texts say
- Protection: spells against snakes, scorpions and hostile forces.
- Offering and purification: texts recited as food, drink and incense were presented.
- Resurrection and ascent: the king wakes, rises and ascends to the sky by ladder, by smoke, on the wings of birds or as a star.
- Joining the gods: the king becomes one with Osiris, joins Ra in the sun boat and is welcomed by his father Atum.
- Creation: some spells preserve the earliest written versions of Heliopolitan creation, including Atum producing Shu and Tefnut.
How the texts were arranged
Egyptologists such as James P. Allen and Harold Hays have argued that the spells were arranged deliberately along the king’s path. Texts in the burial chamber relate to the body and offerings; those in the antechamber and corridor relate to the spirit’s rising and departure toward the sky. In this reading, the pyramid’s interior is itself a map of resurrection. It is an influential interpretation of the layout, based on careful study, but it remains an interpretation.
What do the Pyramid Texts mean?
The mainstream reading
The texts are royal funerary liturgy: words spoken by priests and inscribed so that they would work eternally, transforming the dead king into an akh, an effective spirit, among the gods.
Other readings
Some writers have read the star imagery, especially the king’s ascent to Orion and the northern stars, as evidence that the pyramids encode astronomical plans; others have seen the texts as preserving memories much older than the pyramids. These are alternative theories, not supported by most Egyptologists.
What is fact and what is theory
| Claim | Status | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| The Pyramid Texts first appear in the pyramid of Unas | ESTABLISHED | Inscriptions in situ at Saqqara |
| They describe the king’s ascent and union with the gods | ESTABLISHED | Content of the spells |
| The spells existed earlier in oral or written form | MAINSTREAM THEORY | Reasonable inference; no earlier copies survive |
| The spells were arranged as a path of resurrection | SCHOLARLY INTERPRETATION | Allen, Hays; widely respected, still interpretation |
| The texts encode star plans for the pyramids | ALTERNATIVE THEORY | Associated with Bauval; contested |
| The texts preserve older religious knowledge about the soul and its Creator | THE BOOK’S VIEW | The author’s interpretation |
What the book argues · the author’s view
Echoes of History discusses the Pyramid Texts of Unas, including a spell in which the king is addressed in relation to Atum, as evidence of how early and how developed Egyptian ideas of creation and the soul were. The author’s conclusions are presented as his interpretation.
From the author of this guide
Explore this question in Echoes of History
The Pyramid Texts appear in the chapters “The Religion of Egypt” and “The Pyramids of Giza” in Echoes of History.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Pyramid Texts?
The oldest known Egyptian religious texts: spells carved inside royal pyramids at Saqqara from about 2350 BCE to help the king rise and live forever among the gods.
Who discovered the Pyramid Texts?
Gaston Maspero’s team, who entered the inscribed pyramids at Saqqara in 1880–81.
Are there Pyramid Texts in the Great Pyramid?
No. The Giza pyramids have no religious inscriptions in their chambers; the texts first appear in Unas’s pyramid about two centuries later.
What language are the Pyramid Texts in?
Old Egyptian, written in hieroglyphs. They include very archaic forms, which is one reason they are hard to translate.
Where can I read the Pyramid Texts?
In English translations by James P. Allen (2005) and R. O. Faulkner (1969).
Further reading and resources
Book links in this list are affiliate links to Amazon and Bookshop.org. As an Amazon Associate, Jossef Salman earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
- The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts — James P. Allen, trans. (2005; 2nd ed. 2015)The modern standard English translation, arranged pyramid by pyramid.Amazon · Bookshop.orgPrimary text
- The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts — R. O. Faulkner, trans. (1969)The classic earlier translation.Amazon · Bookshop.orgPrimary text
- The Organization of the Pyramid Texts — Harold M. Hays (2012)How the spells were structured and used.AmazonScholarly
- The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife — Erik Hornung (1999)Places the Pyramid Texts among Egypt’s funerary literature.Amazon · Bookshop.orgReference
- Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt — Jan Assmann (2005)What the funerary texts reveal about Egyptian thought.Amazon · Bookshop.orgScholarly
- The Orion Mystery — Robert Bauval & Adrian Gilbert (1994)Reads the Pyramid Texts and Giza through astronomy.Amazon · Bookshop.orgAlternative view – contested
