The texts of the pyramids - the oldest work of Egyptian religious and funeral literature , has come down to us [2] . They got the name at their location: they cover the walls of the interior of the pyramids located in Saqqara , the necropolis of the Pharaohs of Memphis , and built somewhere between 2350 and 2175. BC e. In these pyramids were buried: the pharaoh Unis of the V dynasty (mid XXIV century BC) and four pharaohs of the VI dynasty - Aunts , Pepi I , Merenra and Pepi II Neferkara (XXII century B.C. ). Thus, the pyramids containing the Texts were erected over a century and a half [3] . The texts themselves are most likely older than the pyramids, and were created long before the unification of Northern and Southern Egypt (about 3000 BC) [4] .
| Pyramid Texts | |
|---|---|
| Genre | religious texts, funeral texts |
| Original language | |
| Date of writing | about 3000 BC e. |
It should be borne in mind that in all the largest, the so-called " Great Pyramids " of the IV dynasty, there are no "pyramid texts" on the walls of the premises. Some rare badges, inscriptions, drawings, numbers, leveling marks in them were left by builders on stone blocks, and had no ritual purpose.
Content
Opening
The texts of the pyramids were partially discovered by Mariett in 1880 , when he began the survey of the Saccar pyramids at the initiative of Gaston Maspero . After the death of Marietta Maspero continued excavations in 1881 and by 1894 published all the texts he found, providing them with a translation [5] .
Translation
Despite the fact that a relatively small number of texts suffered from time and tomb robbers, their reading, translation and interpretation to this day pose a lot of problems. The texts are very complex both in grammatical and in lexical relations, and spelling is unusual (because of its antiquity). They contain many hints of myths and legends unknown to us. The first attempt to translate texts belongs to Gaston Maspero, who in 1882 began to take turns publishing hieroglyphic texts and their translations. They were later published in one volume in 1894 [6] .
In 1910, Kurt Zete carried out the next edition of The Texts [7] . He systematized them, grouping them in “Sayings” (Sprüche), numbered (his numbering of texts is still used by scientists). The texts were translated and published in French (G. Maspero, L. Speleers), German (C. Zeta) and English (S. A. B. Mercer, R. O. Faulkner, A. Pyankov). The Russian translation began, but did not complete, by the Russian scientist A. L. Kotseyovsky , a student of the founder of Russian Egyptology, B. A. Turaev . Currently, a full translation of the Pyramid Texts in Russian does not exist. In 2000, a book was published with a translation of part of the texts (chapters 1–254) by A. L. Kotseyovsky [8] .
Contents
S. Mercer distinguishes among the Texts of the Pyramids the following plots [9] :
- The funeral ritual with the offering of gifts, which is associated with the idea of the reunion of the parts of the decayed body, its revitalization and resurrection of the late king.
- Magical formulas in defense against troubles and misfortunes.
- Ritual of worship.
- Religious hymns.
- Mythical formulas identifying the late king with one or another deity.
- Prayers and prayers on behalf of the late king.
- Glorification of the greatness and power of the late king in heaven (praise).
For a long time, scientists believed that the individual texts of the pyramids are in no way connected with each other, do not constitute a single text, and their location inside the pyramid is determined only by the desire of the person who wrote them there. However , M.E. Mathieu in 1947 [10] proposed a new procedure for reading texts (from the entrance to the pyramid to the sarcophagus of the pharaoh). She also expressed the view that the Texts of the Pyramids are the words of a single funeral ritual that was pronounced during the part of this ceremony that took place inside the pyramid.
Excerpts [11]
Chapter 1 1a. The bright great Nut says the words: This is my son, the first-born name of the rivers [12] , which opens the forest. b. This is my favorite. I calmed down for him [13] . Chapter 2 c. Geb says the words: This is my own son and. R. __ __ __ d. __ __ __ Chapter 3 2a. The great one, in the middle of the Lower House, Nuth says the words: This is my son and. R., my favorite. b. Hebe raised to the throne, who calmed down for him, with. who gave him his legacy before the great Ennead. 3a. All the gods are in jubilation. They say: Beautiful and. R. His father Geb calmed down for him. Chapter 4 b. Nuth says the words: I. p.! I gave you your sister Isis. c. She grabs you, she gives your heart to you, your body. Chapter 5 d. Nuth says the words: I. p.! I gave you your sister Nephthys. e (a). She grabs you, she gives your heart to you, your body. Chapter 6 4a. Great Neheb Nuth says: My favorite is my son and. R. 4b. I gave him horizons: he takes possession of them, that is, the horizontal Horus. c. All gods say: Verily, and p. most loved by you among your children. d. For him, an amulet was chosen, eternity [14] . Chapter 7 5a. The great one, who is in the middle of the house of encirclement, Nut speaks the words: I. p. this is the son of my heart. b. I gave him a Duat, he rises [15] into it [16] he, that is, Horus, the head of the Duat. c. All gods say: d. Your father Shu knows that you love more and. p. than his mother Tefnut. |
See also
- Sarcophagus Texts
- Mouth opening
- Book of the dead
Notes
- Wolfgang Kosack : Die altägyptischen Pyramidentexte. In neuer deutscher Uebersetzung; vollständig bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Wolfgang Kosack Christoph Brunner, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-9524018-1-1 .
- ↑ Russian Wikipedia - 2001.
- ↑ Faulkner RO The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts Translated into English. Oxford, 1969. P. V — VIII // Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine; Summer Garden , 2000.- S. 294-300.
- ↑ Mathieu M. E. Texts of the Pyramids - a funeral ritual (on the order of reading the Texts of the Pyramids). // Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine; Summer Garden , 2000.- S. 369-414
- ↑ Mercer SAB The Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentary. Vol. I. New York; London Toronto, 1952. P. VIII and 1-12 // Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine; Summer Garden , 2000.- S. 228-254.
- ↑ Maspero G. Les inscriptions des Pyramides de Saqqarah. Paris, 1894.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Sethe K. Die Altägyptischen Pyramidentexte. Bd. I — IV. Leipzig, 1908-1922. And also: Sethe K. Übersetzung und Kommentar zu den ältaguptischen Pyramidentexten. I — IV. Gluckstadt — Hamburg, 1935-1939.
- ↑ Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine; Summer Garden , 2000 .-- 464 c., Ill. (Library of Alexandria, series "Egypt").
- ↑ Mercer SAB The Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentary. Vol. I. New York; London Toronto, 1952. P. VIII and 1-12. // Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine; Summer Garden , 2000.- S. 228-254.
- ↑ Mathieu M. E. Texts of the Pyramids - a funeral ritual (on the order of reading the Texts of the Pyramids) // Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine; Summer Garden , 2000 .-- S. 369-414.
- ↑ Translated by A. L. Kotseyovsky on the publication: Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine; Summer Garden , 2000 .-- 464 c., Ill. (Library of Alexandria, series "Egypt").
- ↑ The name was absent in the original text and was inserted in order to adapt the text for the imperial funeral cult. The book is transmitted as "and. R. (= name of rivers). "
- ↑ Can be translated "on it."
- ↑ It may be more correct to translate: "eternal protection has been chosen for him."
- ↑ The Duat, apparently, originally - covering part of the sky with the reflections of the morning dawn. Therefore, the solar god has to rise in order to get into the Duat from the underworld.
- ↑ Egyptian female duat. Here is an untranslatable pun.
Literature
- in Russian
- Pyramid tests / Tomashevich OV // Peru - Semitrailer [Electronic resource]. - 2014. - P. 238. - (The Big Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004—2017, vol. 26). - ISBN 978-5-85270-363-7 .
- Texts of the Pyramids / Under the general. ed. A. S. Chetverukhina. - St. Petersburg: The Neva Magazine ; Summer Garden , 2000 .-- 464 c., Ill. (Library of Alexandria, series "Egypt").
- Texts of the Pyramids. Translation into Russian by Timofei Shmakov ( https://www.academia.edu/7712009 )
- in other languages
- Wolfgang Kosack : “Die altägyptischen Pyramidentexte.” In neuer deutscher Uebersetzung; vollständig bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Wolfgang Kosack Christoph Brunner, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-9524018-1-1 .
- Maspero G. Les inscriptions des Pyramides de Saqqarah. Paris, 1894.
- Sethe K. Die Altägyptischen Pyramidentexte. Bd. I — IV. Leipzig, 1908-1922.
- Sethe K. Übersetzung und Kommentar zu den ältagyptischen Pyramidentexten. I — IV. Gluckstadt — Hamburg, 1935-1939.