The Presence of Myth in the Pyramid Texts
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The Presence of Myth in the qnamid Texts A thesis submitted in conformity with the nquirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Near and Middk Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto National CiBrary Bibiioth ue nationale u*m of Canada du Cana% The author has granteci a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive ticence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, Ioan, distri'btûe or sen reproduire, prêter, disbn'buer ou copies of this thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/& de reproduction sur papier ou sur fomiat électronique. The author retains ownership ofthe L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the choit d'auteur qni protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantid exûacts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être miphés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. THE PRESENCE OF MYTH IN THE PYRAMID TEXTS Doctor of Philosophy 200 1 Jeder Elisabeth Hellum Graduate Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto The Pyramid Texts, written on the waUs of the entrance corridors, antechambers, and funerary chambers of the royal pyramids of the late Fiifth and entire Skth Dynasties, are filied with mythic statements and allusions, without using prose or poetic narrative. They hctioned as a holistic group, each distinct from the other, yet each working within the group to create a situation paraHehg the mythic, celestial worid of the afterlife. By this means, the king (and later, queen) were caused to enter and assume theY nghtful place in the afterlife as deities. The language of the texts provides evidence for the process by which this takes place: aiigning the royal with the deities by means of family tem. and using various literary methods of inserthg the king into the world of the myth. The placement of the texts has proved to be of interest because, while certain spells of protection or offering were placed around entrantes or around the Stone sarcophagus, the majority of the spelis show by their content that no qxdic placement was intended. Many speils are found on different waiis in dierent pyramids., in fact, &y are the same spek found in the same place in two pyramids- UltimateIy, the Pyramid Texts functioned as a passageway into the afterlife, dga mythic existence for the king (and queen), with the rooms of the pytamids used as the vehicle for this mation. 1 would like to acknowledge the hancial support of the University of Toronto, through the granting of University of Toronto Scholarships, the Sigmund Samuel Scholanhip, a graduate student bursary, and a UTAPS bursary. 1 would also like to acknowledge the hanciai support of the Govemment of Ontario for an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. 1 am most grateful for this much-needed support and am thanldul for the patronage of the Ontario govemment and the University of Toronto. There are a few necessary personal acknowIedgements. If 1 had not had the support of the foiiowing people, 1 wouid never have completcd this dissertation and Wedthe goal of a six-year-oId, standing in the schwlyard in Calgary, holding a muddy, trampled-on bubble-gum card of Tutankbarnun, and suddenly understanding (so young!) the enthrallment of ancient Egypt. Fit, 1would like to thaak Dr. Ron Leprohon for all his support and backing. I am grateful to have had him as a supervisor, knowbg as 1 well do . that he was a lone voice crying in the wildemess. Thanks, Ron. My codttee also deserves a round of applause, for Ietting me get on with what had to be done, and not troubhg (TOO much) about the deW. Next, I'd like to thank everybody I ever met who said 'Wow, that's cool" when 1 told them what I was doing. In so doing, thty thereby re- instilleci in me the irnpetus to finish, together with the fealisation that "Ya, indeed, it IS cool," and, most hportantly, ~kindiedmy love of this subject aIl over again. I'd me to thank my parents for putting up with me and dways, ALWAYS Mgthere when 1 needed them, as 1 so often did during this Ûial by fjre. You caxmot know how vev important that has ben, boda youse. Together with parents, go sibs. I'd iike to thank, too, all the fiiends with whom 1have been blesse& who have cheered me on and picked me up when 1 shimbled. Fuially, the biggest 'without whom' goes to my mentors, Diane EGiger and Cindy Nimchuk Had Chdy not appmached me to start a group with her and Diane, 1 quite literally wouid never have f~shedthis and would never have known the sheer joy of complethg a tremendously mcult, seemingly overwhelrning, and hally immensely satisfjhg task. To Diane and Cindy for their support and constancy and wondemil fnendship, 1 owe everiasting love and thanks. F.O., you guys. Thanks for hanging in. What's next? TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One Introduction Chapter Two - An 'Egyptian' Definition of Myth? Introduction Myth Elucidated? - Definition and Recognition Myth and the Egyptians Myth in the Pyramid Texts Conclusions Concerning Myth and the Egyptians Chapter Three - The Mythic Foundations of the Pyramid Texts Introduction The Foundational Myths The King within the-~oundationdMyths Mythic Imagery and the King Royal and Divine FdalConnections A Holistic Sense of Text Chapter Four - Textual Placement in the Pyramids Introduction Enhance Comdor Texts The Waiting Room Mythic Elements of the Entrance Corridors Antechamber Texts Serdab-Antechamber Corridor Texts Antechamber-Funerary Chamber Comdor Texts Mythic Eiements of the Antechamber and Its Corridors Funerary Chamber T&s Mythic EIements of the Funerary Chamber Conclusions Chapter Five Conclusion Appendix A - King$ Pyramids Floor PIans Unas Teti Pepi I Merenre Pepi II CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The Pyramid Texts are a corpus of religious literature insded on the walIs of the pyrarnid tomb chambers of the last king of the Vth Dytastyf Unas, and all the kings of the VIth Dynastyf Teti, Pepi I, Merenre, and Pepi II, and on the walls of the funerary chambers of Pepi II's queens, Apouit, Oudjebten, and Neith. They were divided, by the anaent Egyptians, into separate portions which are distinguishable by the words dd mh,or "words to be spoken," and modem Egyptologists have, therefore, called each portion an Utterance. In total, there are over 759 Utterances, dthough the complete number are present in no single pyramid, and new Utterances or variants of those alteady known have been discovered during the excavations of Jean Leclant in the pyramids of Pepi 1 and II. These new discoveries have yet to be published in one single monograph; however, Ledant has, admirably, published the discovery of new Utterances in a series of articles and lectures1. The Texts in the kings' ppmids are found in the entrance comdors, the antechambers, the passages between the antechambers and the funer~llychambers, and in the funerary chamber itself. In one pyramidf Teti's, the passage between the serdab2 and the antechamber was &O inscribed. For these, see bibIiographyY 2 A serdab is a room meant to contain statues of the king and, perhaps, his relatives. In the pyramid of Djoser, the &ab is accessibk to the public to bring offerings to the ka, m the fonn of a statue, of the kins and in mastabasof the OId Kingdom, the sdabs were often no more th mciosed niches, with smd h01e~,at the statues' eyelevel, m the wdfacing the outside The In none of the pyramids, including those of the queens, were the serdabs inscribed. A study such as this pursues one goal from the outset, that of elucidating the use of myth in the Pymmid Texts and examining that use from as many aspects as are practical. The aspects chosen for this partidar study are placement and overall content. It was deemed necessary to begin with an understanding of myth, which was done with the express intention of providing an understanding for use in the +amid Texts alone. Given the extreme length of Egyptian history, as compared with our own, such a restriction was necessary. Myth in the Old Kingdom, and specifically the end of the Vth and all of the VIth Dynasties, would likely not be exadly comparable to myth in the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, or any of the Intermediate Periods, and would certainly not be applicable in the Late Period with cultural intrusions having made their mark from the XXVIth Dynasty on. Even within the various pyrarnid corpora, some differences in the use of mythology and the extent to which it was employed can be glimpsed, aIthough it is rardy more than a glimpse and the ice is thin out there. The easiest answer to the impiiat question proposed by this study, "Ts myth present in the Pyramid Texts?", is "Yes." Of course, if the question's logical corollary, "If so, how and in what form?", is also proposed, the anmer becomes considerably more diffidt and cornplex. As with many studies of this kind, one -- - serdabs of the pyramids of the iate Old Kmgdom hgs,the mes dixiosed here, were fotmd empty, witttout statutes, although each serdab m pyramids, with the exceptions of the queens', contained large fioor-to-ceiling niches which might have once contained üfesued statues. These, begins with an intuition, necessarily subjective, and the consequent research is an effort to hunt down evidence for that intuition and pin it, buttedy-like, to reason.