CHAPTER II

THE PYRAMID TEXTS

"Pyramid Texts" is the name now commonly given to the long hieroglyphic inscriptions that are cut upon the walls of the chambers and corridors of five pyramids at Sakkārah. The oldest of them was built for Unas, a king of the fifth dynasty, and the four others were built for Teta, Pepi I, Merenrā, and Pepi II, kings of the sixth dynasty. According to the calculation of Dr. Brugsch, they were all built between 3300 and 3150 B.C., but more recent theories assign them to a period about 700 years later. These Texts represent the oldest religious literature known to us, for they contain beliefs, dogmas, and ideas that must be thousands of years older than the period of the sixth dynasty when the bulk of them was drafted for the use of the masons who cut them inside the pyramids. It is probable that certain sections of them were composed by the priests for the benefit of the dead in very primitive times in Egypt, when the art of writing was unknown, and that they were repeated each time a king died. They were first learned by heart by the funerary priests, and then handed on from mouth to mouth, generation after generation, and at length after the Egyptians had learned to write, and there was danger of their being forgotten, they were committed to writing. And just as these certain sections were absorbed into the great body of Pyramid Texts of the sixth dynasty, so portions of the Texts of the sixth dynasty were incorporated into the great Theban Book of the Dead, and they appear in papyri that were written more than 2000 years later. The Pyramid Texts supply us with much information concerning the religious beliefs of the primitive [10]Egyptians, and also with many isolated facts of history that are to be found nowhere else, but of the meaning of a very large number of passages we must always remain ignorant, because they describe states of civilisation, and conditions of life and climate, of which no modern person can form any true conception. Besides this the meanings of many words are unknown, the spelling is strange and often inexplicable, the construction of the sentence is frequently unlike anything known in later texts, and the ideas that they express are wholly foreign to the minds of students of to-day, who are in every way aliens to the primitive Egyptian African whose beliefs these words represent. The pyramids at Sakkārah in which the Pyramid Texts are found were discovered by the Frenchman, Mariette, in 1880. Paper casts of the inscriptions, which are deeply cut in the walls and painted green, were made for Professor Maspero, the Director of the Service of Antiquities in Egypt, and from these he printed an edition in hieroglyphic type of all five texts, and added a French translation of the greater part of them. Professor Maspero correctly recognised the true character of these old-world documents, and his translation displayed an unrivalled insight into the true meaning of many sections of them. The discovery and study of other texts and the labours of recent workers have cleared up passages that offered difficulties to him, but his work will remain for a very long time the base of all investigations.

The Pyramid Texts, and the older texts quoted or embodied in them, were written, like every religious funerary work in Egypt, for the benefit of the king, that is to say, to effect his glorious resurrection and to secure for him happiness in the Other World, and life everlasting. They were intended to make him become a king in the Other World as he had been a king upon earth; in other words, he was to reign over the gods, and to have control of all the powers of heaven, and to have the power to command the spirits and souls of the righteous, as his ancestors the kings of Egypt had ruled their bodies when they lived on earth. The Egyptians found that their king, who was an incarnation [11]of the "Great God," died like other men, and they feared that, even if they succeeded in effecting his resurrection by means of the Pyramid Texts, he might die a second time in the Other World. They spared no effort and left no means untried to make him not only a "living soul" in the Tuat, or Other World, but to keep him alive there. The object of every prayer, every spell, every hymn, and every incantation contained in these Texts, was to preserve the king's life. This might be done in many ways. In the first place it was necessary to provide a daily supply of offerings, which were offered up in the funerary temple that was attached to every pyramid. The carefully selected and duly appointed priest offered these one by one, and as he presented each to the spirit of the king he uttered a formula that was believed to convert the material food into a substance possessing a spiritual character and fit to form the food of the ka, or "double," or "vital power," of the dead king. The offerings assisted in renewing his life, and any failure to perform this service was counted a sin against the dead king's spirit. It was also necessary to perform another set of ceremonies, the object of which was to "open the mouth" of the dead king, i.e. to restore to him the power to breathe, think, speak, taste, smell, and walk. At the performance of these ceremonies it was all-important to present articles of food, wearing apparel, scents and unguents, and, in short, every object that the king was likely to require in the Other World. The spirits of all these objects passed into the Other World ready for use by the spirit of the king. It follows as a matter of course that the king in the Other World needed a retinue, and a bodyguard, and a host of servants, just as he needed slaves upon earth. In primitive times a large number of slaves, both male and female, were slain when a king died, and their bodies were buried in his tomb, whilst their spirits passed into the Other World to serve the spirit of the king, just as their bodies had served his body upon earth. As the king had enemies in this world, so it was thought he would have enemies in the Other World, and men feared that he would [12]be attacked or molested by evilly-disposed gods and spirits, and by deadly animals and serpents, and other noxious reptiles. To ward off the attacks of these from his tomb, and his mummified body, and his spirit, the priest composed spells of various kinds, and the utterance of such, in a proper manner, was believed to render him immune from the attacks of foes of all kinds. Very often such spells took the form of prayers. Many of the spells were exceedingly ancient, even in the Pyramid Period; they were, in fact, so old that they were unintelligible to the scribes of the day. They date from the time when the Egyptians believed more in magic than religion; it is possible that when they were composed, religion, in our sense of the word, was still undeveloped among the Egyptians.

When the Pyramid Texts were written men believed that the welfare of souls and spirits in the Other World could be secured by the prayers of the living. Hence we find in them numerous prayers for the dead, and hymns addressed to the gods on their behalf, and extracts from many kinds of ancient religious books. When these were recited, and offerings made both to the gods and to the dead, it was confidently believed that the souls of the dead received special consideration and help from the gods, and from all the good spirits who formed their train. These prayers are very important from many points of view, but specially so from the fact that they prove that the Egyptians who lived under the sixth dynasty attached more importance to them than to magical spells and incantations. In other words, the Egyptians had begun to reject their belief in the efficacy of magic, and to develop a belief of a more spiritual character. There were many reasons for this development, but the most important was the extraordinary growth of the influence of the religion of Osiris, which had before the close of the period of the sixth dynasty spread all over Egypt. This religion promised to all who followed it, high or low, rich or poor, a life in the world beyond the grave, after a resurrection that was made certain to them through the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Osiris, who was the incarnation [13]of the great primeval god who created the heavens and the earth. A few extracts illustrating the general contents of the Pyramid Texts may now be given.

I. Mention has already been made of the "opening of the mouth" of the dead king: under the earliest dynasties this ceremony was performed on a statue of the king. Water was sprinkled before it, and incense was burnt, and the statue was anointed with seven kinds of unguents, and its eyes smeared with eye paint. After the statue had been washed and dressed a meal of sepulchral offerings was set before it. The essential ceremony consisted in applying to the lips of the statue a curiously shaped instrument called the Pesh Kef, with which the bandages that covered the mouth of the dead king in his tomb were supposed to be cut and the mouth set free to open. In later times the Liturgy of Opening the Mouth was greatly enlarged and was called the Book of Opening the Mouth. The ceremonies were performed by the Kher-heb priest, the son of the deceased, and the priests and ministrants called Sameref, Sem, Smer, Am-as, Am-khent, and the assistants called Mesentiu. First of all incense was burnt, and the priest said, "Thou art pure," four times. Water was then sprinkled over the statue and the priest said, "Thou art pure. Thou art pure. Thy purifications are the purifications of Horus,[1] and the purifications of Horus are thy purifications." This formula was repeated three times, once with the name of Set,[2] once with the name of Thoth,[3] and once with the name of Sep. The priest then said, "Thou hast received thy head, and thy bones have been brought unto thee before Keb."[4] During the performance of the next five ceremonies, in which incense of various kinds was offered, the priest said: "Thou art pure (four times). That which is in the two eyes of Horus hath been presented unto thee with the two vases of Thoth, and they purify thee so that there may not exist [14]in thee the power of destruction that belongeth unto thee. Thou art pure. Thou art pure. Pure is the seman incense that openeth thy mouth. Taste the taste thereof in the divine dwelling. Seman incense is the emission of Horus; it stablisheth the heart of Horus-Set, it purifieth the gods who are in the following of Horus. Thou art censed with natron. Thou art established among the gods thy brethren. Thy mouth is like that of a sucking calf on the day of its birth. Thou art censed. Thou art censed. Thou art pure. Thou art pure. Thou art established among thy brethren the gods. Thy head is censed. Thy mouth is censed. Thy bones are purified. [Decay] that is inherent in thee shall not touch thee. I have given thee the Eye of Horus,[5] and thy face is filled therewith. Thou art shrouded in incense (say twice)."[6]

The next ceremony, the ninth, represented the re-birth of the king, who was personified by a priest. The priest, wrapped in the skin of a bull, lay on a small bed and feigned death. When the chief priest had said, "O my father," four times, the priest representing the king came forth from the bull's skin, and sat up; this act symbolized the resurrection of the king in the form of a spirit-body (sāhu). The chief priest then asserted that the king was alive, and that he should never be removed, and that he was similar in every way to Horus. The priest personifying the king then put on a special garment, and taking a staff or sceptre in his hand, said, "I love my father and his transformation. I have made my father, I have made a statue of him, a large statue. Horus loveth those who love him." He then pressed the lips of the statue, and said, "I have come to embrace thee. I am thy son. I am Horus. I have pressed for thee thy mouth.... I am thy beloved son." The words then said by the chief priest, "I have delivered this mine eye from his mouth, I have cut off his leg," mean that the king was delivered from the jaws of death, and that a grievous wound had been inflicted on the god of death, i.e. Set.

[15]Whilst these ceremonies were being performed the animals brought to be sacrificed were slain. Chief of these were two bulls, gazelle, geese, &c., and their slaughter typified the conquest and death of the enemies of the dead king. The heart and a fore-leg of each bull were presented to the statue of the king, and the priest said: "Hail, Osiris! I have come to embrace thee. I am Horus. I have pressed for thee thy mouth. I am thy beloved Son. I have opened thy mouth. Thy mouth hath been made firm. I have made thy mouth and thy teeth to be in their proper places. Hail, Osiris![1] I have opened thy mouth with the Eye of Horus." Then taking two instruments made of metal the priest went through the motion of cutting open the mouth and eyes of the statue, and said: "I have opened thy mouth. I have opened thy two eyes. I have opened thy mouth with the instrument of Anpu.[2] I have opened thy mouth with the Meskha instrument wherewith the mouth of the gods was opened. Horus openeth the mouth and eyes of the Osiris. Horus openeth the mouth of the Osiris even as he opened the mouth of his father. As he opened the mouth of the god Osiris so shall he open the mouth of my father with the iron that cometh forth from Set, with the Meskha instrument of iron wherewith he opened the mouth of the gods shall the mouth of the Osiris be opened. And the Osiris shall walk and shall talk, and his body shall be with the Great Company of the Gods who dwell in the Great House of the Aged One (i.e. the Sun-god) who dwelleth in Anu.[3] And he shall take possession of the Urrt Crown therein before Horus, the Lord of mankind. Hail, Osiris! Horus hath opened thy mouth and thine eyes with the instruments Sebur and An, wherewith the mouths of the gods of the South were opened.... All the gods bring [16]words of power. They recite them for thee. They make thee to live by them. Thou becomest the possessor of twofold strength. Thou makest the passes that give thee the fluid of life, and their life fluid is about thee. Thou art protected, and thou shalt not die. Thou shalt change thy form [at pleasure] among the Doubles[4] of the gods. Thou shalt rise up as a king of the South. Thou shalt rise up as a king of the North. Thou art endowed with strength like all the gods and their Doubles. Shu[5] hath equipped thee. He hath exalted thee to the height of heaven. He hath made thee to be a wonder. He hath endowed thee with strength."

The ceremonies that followed concerned the dressing of the statue of the king and his food. Various kinds of bandlets and a collar were presented, and the gift of each endowed the king in the Other World with special qualities. The words recited by the priest as he offered these and other gifts were highly symbolic, and were believed to possess great power, for they brought the Double of the king back to this earth to live in the statue, and each time they were repeated they renewed the life of the king in the Other World.

II. The Liturgy of Funerary Offerings was another all-important work. The oldest form of it, which is found in the Pyramid Texts, proves that even under the earliest dynasties the belief in the efficacy of sacrifices and offerings was an essential of the Egyptian religion. The opening ceremonies had for their object the purification of the deceased by means of sprinkling with water in which salt, natron, and other cleansing substances had been dissolved, and burning of incense. Then followed the presentation of about one hundred and fifty offerings of food of all kinds, fruit, flowers, vegetables, various kinds of wine, seven kinds of precious ointments, wearing apparel of the kind suitable [17]for a king, &c. As each object was presented to the spirit of the king, which was present in his statue in the Tuat Chamber of the tomb, the priest recited a form of words, which had the effect of transmuting the substance of the object into something which, when used or absorbed by the king's spirit, renewed the king's life and maintained his existence in the Other World. Every object was called the "Eye of Horus," in allusion to its life-giving qualities. The following extracts illustrate the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings:

32. This libation is for thee, Osiris, this libation is for thee, Unas.[1] (Here offer cold water of the North.) It cometh forth before thy son, cometh forth before Horus. I have come, I have brought unto thee the Eye of Horus, that thy heart may be refreshed thereby. I have brought it and have set it under thy sandals, and I present unto thee that which flowed forth from thee. There shall be no stoppage to thy heart whilst it is with thee, and the offerings that appear at the command[2] shall appear at thy word of command. (Recite four times.)

37. Thou hast taken possession of the two Eyes of Horus, the White and the Black, and when they are in thy face they illumine it. (Here offer two jugs of wine, one white, one black.)

38. Day hath made an offering unto thee in the sky. The South and the North have given offerings unto thee. Night hath made an offering unto thee. The South and the North have made an offering unto thee. An offering is brought unto thee, look upon it; an offering, hear it. There is an offering before thee, there is an offering behind thee, there is an offering with thee. (Here offer a cake for the journey.)

41. Osiris Unas, the white teeth of Horus are presented unto thee so that they may fill thy mouth. (Here offer five bunches of onions.)

[18]47. O Rā, the worship that is paid to thee, the worship of every kind, shall be paid [also] to Unas. Everything that is offered to thy body shall be offered to the Double of Unas also, and everything that is offered to his body shall be thine. (Here offer the table of holy offerings.)

61. O ye oils, ye oils, which are on the forehead of Horus, set ye yourselves on the forehead of Unas, and make him to smell sweet through you. (Here offer oil of cedar of the finest quality.)

62. Make ye him to be a spirit-soul (khu) through possession of you, and grant ye him to have the mastery over his body, let his eyes be opened, and let all the spirit-souls see him, and let them hear his name. Behold, Osiris Unas, the Eye of Horus hath been brought unto thee, for it hath been seized for thee that it may be before thee. (Here offer the finest Thehenu oil.)

III. As specimens of the hymns in the Pyramid Texts may be quoted the following: the first is a hymn to Nut, the Sky-goddess, and the second is a hymn to Rā, the Sun-god.

[O] Nut, thou hast extended thyself over thy son the Osiris Pepi,
Thou hast snatched him out of the hand of Set; join him to thyself, Nut.
Thou comest, snatch thy son; behold, thou comest, form this great
one [like] unto thyself.
[O] Nut, cast thyself upon thy son the Osiris Pepi.
[O] Nut, cast thyself upon thy son the Osiris Pepi.
Form thou him, O Great Fashioner; this great one is among thy children.
Form thou him, O Great Fashioner; this great one is among thy children.
Keb [was to] Nut. Thou didst become a spirit.
Thou wast a mighty goddess in the womb of thy mother Tefnut
when thou wast not born.
Form thou Pepi with life and well-being; he shall not die.
Strong was thy heart,
Thou didst leap in the womb of thy mother in thy name of "Nut."
[O] perfect daughter, mighty one in thy mother, who art crowned
like a king of the North,
Make this Pepi a spirit-soul in thee, let him not die.
[19] [O] Great Lady, who didst come into being in the sky, who art mighty.
Who dost make happy, and dost fill every place (or being), with thy
beauty,
The whole earth is under thee, thou hast taken possession of it.
Thou hast encompassed the earth, everything is in thy two hands,
Grant thou that this Pepi may be in thee like an imperishable star.
Thou hast associated with Keb in thy name of "Pet" (i.e. Sky).
Thou hast united the earth in every place.
[O] mistress over the earth, thou art above thy father Shu, thou hast
the mastery over him.
He hath loved thee so much that he setteth himself under thee in
everything.
Thou hast taken possession of every god for thyself with his boat (?).
Thou hast made them shine like lamps,
Assuredly they shall not cease from thee like the stars.
Let not this Pepi depart from thee in thy name of "Hert" (ll. 61-64).

The Hymn to the Sun-god is as follows:

Hail to thee, Tem! Hail to thee, Kheprer, who created himself.
Thou art the High, in this thy name of "Height."
Thou camest into being in this thy name of "Kheprer."
Hail to thee, Eye of Horus,[1] which he furnisheth with his hands
completely.
He permitteth not thee to be obedient to those of the West;
He permitteth not thee to be obedient to those of the East;
He permitteth not thee to be obedient to those of the South;
He permitteth not thee to be obedient to those of the North;
He permitteth not thee to be obedient to those who are in the earth;
[For] thou art obedient to Horus.
He it is who hath furnished thee, he it is who hath builded thee,
he it is who hath made thee to be dwelt in.
Thou doest for him whatsoever he saith unto thee, in every place
whither he goeth.
Thou liftest up to him the water-fowl that are in thee.
Thou liftest up to him the water-fowl that are about to be in thee.
Thou liftest up to him every tree that is in thee.
Thou liftest up to him every tree that is about to be in thee.
Thou liftest up to him the cakes and ale that are in thee.
Thou liftest up to him the cakes and ale that are about to be in thee.
Thou liftest up to him the gifts that are in thee.
[20] Thou liftest up to him the gifts that are about to be in thee.
Thou liftest up to him everything that is in thee.
Thou liftest up to him everything that is about to be in thee.
Thou takest them to him in every place wherein it pleaseth him to be.
The doors upon thee stand fast [shut] like the god Anmutef,[2]
They open not to those who are in the West;
They open not to those who are in the East;
They open not to those who are in the North;
They open not to those who are in the South;
They open not to those who are in the middle of the earth;
But they open to Horus.

He it was who made them, he it was who made them stand [firm], he it was who delivered them from every evil attack which the god Set made upon them. He it was who made thee to be a settled country in this thy name of "Kerkut." He it was who passed bowing after thee in thy name of "Nut." He it was who delivered thee from every evil attack which Set made upon thee (Pepi II, ll. 767-774.)

IV. The following passages describe the power of the king in heaven, and his felicity there:

"The sky hath withdrawn the life of the star Septet (Sothis, the Dog-star); behold Unas a living being, the son of Septet. The Eighteen Gods have purified him in Meskha (the Great Bear), [he is] an imperishable star. The house of Unas perisheth not in the sky, the throne of Unas perisheth not on the earth. Men make supplication [there], the gods fly [thither]. Septet hath made Unas fly to heaven to be with his brethren the gods. Nut,[1] the Great Lady, hath unfolded her arms to Unas. She hath made them into two divine souls at the head of the Souls of Anu, under the head of Rā. She made them two weeping women when thou wast on thy bier (?). The throne of Unas is by thee, Rā, he yieldeth it not up to anyone else. Unas cometh forth into heaven by thee, Rā. The face of Unas is like the [faces of the] Hawks. The wings of Unas are like [those of] geese. The nails of Unas are like the claws of the god Tuf. [21]There is no [evil] word concerning Unas on earth among men. There is no hostile speech about him with the gods. Unas hath destroyed his word, he hath ascended to heaven. Upuatu hath made Unas fly up to heaven among his brethren the gods. Unas hath drawn together his arms like the Smen goose, he striketh his wings like a falcon, flying, flying. O men, Unas flieth up into heaven.

"O ye gods of the West, O ye gods of the East, O ye gods of the South, O ye gods of the North, ye four groups who embrace the holy lands, devote ye yourselves to Osiris when he appeareth in heaven. He shall sail into the Sky, with his son Horus by his fingers. He shall announce him, he shall make him rise up like the Great God in the Sky. They shall cry out concerning Unas: Behold Horus, the son of Osiris! Behold Unas, the firstborn son of Hathor! Behold the seed of Keb! Osiris hath commanded that Unas shall rise as a second Horus, and these Four Spirit-souls in Anu have written an edict to the two great gods in the Sky. Rā set up the Ladder[1] in front of Osiris, Horus set up the Ladder in front of his father Osiris when he went to his spirit, one on this side [and] one on the other side; Unas is between them. Behold, he is the god of the pure seats coming forth from the bath (?). Unas standeth up, lo Horus; Unas sitteth down, lo Set. Rā graspeth his hand, spirit to heaven, body to earth."

The power of the king in heaven was almost as absolute as it was upon earth, and in a very remarkable passage in the text of Unas, which is repeated in the text of Teta, we have a graphic description of the king as a mighty hunter, who chases the gods and lassoes them, and then kills and eats them in order that he may absorb their strength and wisdom, and all their divine attributes, and their power of living eternally. The passage reads:

"The skies lower, the Star-gods tremble, the Archers[1] quake, the bones of the Akeru[1] gods tremble, and those who [22]are with them are struck dumb when they see Unas rising up as a soul, in the form of the god who liveth upon his fathers, and who turneth his mothers into his food. Unas is the lord of wisdom, and his mother knoweth not his name. The adoration of Unas is in heaven, he hath become mighty in the horizon like Temu, the father that gave him birth, and after Temu had given him birth Unas became stronger than his father. The Doubles (i.e. vital strength) of Unas are behind him, the soles of his feet are beneath his feet, his gods are over him, his serpents are [seated] upon his brow, the serpent-guides of Unas are in front of him, and the spirit of the flame looketh upon [his] soul. The powers of Unas protect him. Unas is a bull in heaven. He directeth his steps where he willeth. He liveth upon the form which each god taketh upon himself, and he eateth the flesh of those who come to fill their bellies with the magical charms in the Lake of Fire. Unas is equipped with power against the spirit-souls thereof, and he riseth in the form of the mighty one, the lord of those who dwell in power (?). Unas hath taken his seat with his back turned towards Keb (the Earth-god). Unas hath weighed his words[2] with the hidden god (?) who hath no name, on the day of hacking in pieces the firstborn. Unas is the lord of offerings, the untier of the knot, and he himself maketh abundant the offerings of meat and drink. Unas devoureth men, and liveth upon the gods, he is the lord of envoys whom he sendeth forth on his missions. 'He who cutteth off hairy scalps,' who dwelleth in the fields, tieth the gods with ropes. Tcheser-tep shepherdeth them for Unas and driveth them unto him; and the Cord-master hath bound them for slaughter. Khensu, the slayer of the wicked, cutteth their throats, and draweth out their intestines, for it is he whom Unas sendeth to slaughter [them], and Shesmu[3] cutteth them in pieces, and boileth their members in his blazing caldrons of the night. Unas eateth their magical powers, and he swalloweth their spirit-souls. The great ones among them serve for his meal at daybreak, [23]the lesser serve for his meal at eventide, and the least among them serve for his meal in the night. The old gods and the old goddesses become fuel for his furnace. The mighty ones in heaven light the fire under the caldrons wherein are heaped up the thighs of the firstborn; and he who maketh those who live in heaven to go about for Unas lighteth the fire under the caldrons with the thighs of their women; he goeth about the Two Heavens in their entirety, and he goeth round about the two banks of the Celestial Nile. Unas is the Great Power, the Power of Powers, and Unas is the Chief of the gods in visible forms. Whatsoever he findeth upon his path he eateth forthwith, and the magical might of Unas is before that of all the spirit-bodies who dwell in the horizon. Unas is the firstborn of the firstborn gods. Unas is surrounded by thousands, and oblations are made unto him by hundreds; he is made manifest as the Great Power by Saah (Orion), the father of the gods. Unas repeateth his rising in heaven, and he is crowned lord of the horizon. He hath reckoned up the bandlets and the arm-rings [of his captives], he hath taken possession of the hearts of the gods. Unas hath eaten the Red Crown, and he hath swallowed the White Crown; the food of Unas is the intestines, and his meat is hearts and their words of power. Behold, Unas eateth of that which the Red Crown sendeth forth, he increaseth, and the words of power of the gods are in his belly; his attributes are not removed from him. Unas hath eaten the whole of the knowledge of every god, and the period of his life is eternity, and the duration of his existence is everlastingness. He is in the form of one who doeth what he wisheth, and who doth not do what he hateth, and he abideth on the horizon for ever and ever and ever. The Soul of the gods is in Unas, their spirit-souls are with Unas, and the offerings made unto him are more than those that are made unto the gods. The fire of Unas is in their bones, for their soul is in Unas, and their shades are with those who belong unto them. Unas hath been with the two hidden (?) Kha (?) gods, ...; the seat of the heart of Unas is among those who live upon this earth for ever and ever and ever."

[24]The following extract is from one of the later Pyramid Texts:

"Pepi was brought forth by the god Nu, when there was no heaven, when there was no earth, when nothing had been established, when there was no fighting, and when the fear of the Eye of Horus did not exist. This Pepi is one of the Great Offspring who were brought forth in Anu (Heliopolis), who have never been conquered by a king or ruled by chiefs, who are irresistible, whose words cannot be gainsaid. Therefore this Pepi is irresistible; he can neither be conquered by a king nor ruled by chiefs. The enemies of Pepi cannot triumph. Pepi lacketh nothing. His nails do not grow long [for want of prey]. No debt is reckoned against Pepi. If Pepi falleth into the water Osiris will lift him out, and the Two Companies of the Gods will bear him up on their shoulders, and Rā, wheresoever he may be, will give him his hand. If Pepi falleth on the earth the Earth-god (Keb) will lift him up, and the Two Companies of the Gods will bear him up on their shoulders, and Rā, wheresoever he may be, will give him his hand.... Pepi appeareth in heaven among the imperishable stars. His sister the star Sothis (the Dog-star), his guide the Morning Star (Venus) lead him by the hand to the Field of Offerings. He taketh his seat on the crystal throne, which hath faces of fierce lions and feet in the form of the hoofs of the Bull Sma-ur. He standeth up in his place between the Two Great Gods, and his sceptre and staff are in his hands. He lifteth up his hand to the Henmemet spirits, and the gods come to him with bowings. The Two Great Gods look on in their places, and they find Pepi acting as judge of the gods. The word of every spirit-soul is in him, and they make offerings to him among the Two Companies of the Gods.

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