Pyramid Texts
E56946
The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian religious inscriptions carved inside Old Kingdom pyramids, intended to protect and guide the pharaoh in the afterlife.
Observed surface forms (2)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Pyramid Texts inscriptions | 3 |
| The Rising of the Ba of Sahure (approximate translation) | 1 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
ancient Egyptian religious text corpus
ⓘ
funerary text ⓘ inscription ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
pharaohs of the Old Kingdom
ⓘ
royal funerary cult ⓘ |
| contains |
hymns
ⓘ
incantations ⓘ ritual instructions ⓘ spells ⓘ |
| cosmology |
Osirian afterlife beliefs
ⓘ
solar afterlife beliefs ⓘ |
| culture | ancient Egyptian civilization ⓘ |
| earliestAttestation |
Sixth Dynasty of Egypt
ⓘ
late Fifth Dynasty of Egypt ⓘ |
| feature |
formulaic spell structure
ⓘ
parallelism and repetition ⓘ use of first-person speech by the king ⓘ |
| foundIn |
Saqqara necropolis
ⓘ
Pyramid of Merenre ⓘ
surface form:
pyramids of Merenre I
Pyramid of Pepi I ⓘ
surface form:
pyramids of Pepi I
Pyramid of Pepi II ⓘ
surface form:
pyramids of Pepi II
pyramids of Teti ⓘ Pyramid of Unas ⓘ
surface form:
pyramids of Unas
|
| genre |
funerary liturgy
ⓘ
religious text ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
earliest large corpus of religious texts from ancient Egypt
ⓘ
one of the oldest known religious texts in the world ⓘ |
| influenceOn |
Book of the Dead
ⓘ
Coffin Texts ⓘ |
| inscribedOn |
burial chambers of pyramids
ⓘ
corridors of pyramids ⓘ walls of pyramids ⓘ |
| language | Egyptian language ⓘ |
| locationOfEarliestExamples |
Pyramid of Unas
ⓘ
surface form:
pyramid of Unas at Saqqara
|
| materialContext | limestone pyramid walls ⓘ |
| medium | stone inscriptions ⓘ |
| purpose |
to guide the pharaoh in the afterlife
ⓘ
to protect the deceased king in the afterlife ⓘ |
| religion | ancient Egyptian religion ⓘ |
| religiousFunction |
assist the king’s ascent to the sky
ⓘ
ensure resurrection of the king ⓘ unite the king with the god Osiris ⓘ unite the king with the sun god Ra ⓘ |
| scholarlyField | Egyptology ⓘ |
| script | Egyptian hieroglyphs ⓘ |
| studiedBy |
historians of religion
ⓘ
philologists ⓘ |
| timePeriod | Old Kingdom of Egypt ⓘ |
Referenced by (22)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Pyramid Texts inscriptions
this entity surface form:
Pyramid Texts inscriptions
this entity surface form:
Pyramid Texts inscriptions
this entity surface form:
The Rising of the Ba of Sahure (approximate translation)