Talking Pyramids: Ancient Egyptian Pyramids» Talking Pyramids: Ancient Egyptian Pyramids News

Deciphering the Pyramid Texts of Behenu

Vincent — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:35:21 +0000

Following on from Thursday’s post I’d like to focus a bit more on the Pyramid Texts found in Queen Behenu’s recently discovered burial chamber.

Offering texts on the north wall of the Unas sarcophagus chamber. Photo by Helmut Satzinger.

I’ve been investigating the particular way in which the Pyramid Texts are arranged in Behenu’s pyramid. Confining the analysis to just the one section of the north wall of Behenu’s sarcophagus chamber I began translating the middle section as it is the easiest to see.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the name ‘Behenu’ is the first word that is recognised. She has the title “Osiris Behenu”. Observe that Behenu’s name is not enclosed in a cartouche. This is because Behenu is a Queen. But she still takes the title of Osiris in death as all Kings do.

One phrase is repeated several times:

Osiris Behenu, take the Eye of Horus, ….

This is then followed by a particular offering that can be seen in smaller closed boxes at the bottom of columns. These include items such as bread, beer, geese, ox, fruit, vegetables, water, etc. This format is recognisable as the Offering Ritual which is found on the north walls of those pyramids inscribed with the Pyramid Texts.

So the next step was to compare the Behenu texts with the arrangement of the Unas texts.

There are some slight variations in spelling and the sections are arranged differently but Behenu’s texts are very nearly identical to those of Unas.

Although Behenu has the familiar three horizontal sections (registers) that is expected on the north wall of a pyramid inscribed with Pyramid Texts, the arrangement of the texts is slightly rearranged. Once again, comparing with the Unas layout. Here are the two compared:

Corresponding section on the north wall of Unas

Here is the translation of Behenu’s text based on James Allen’s translation of the Unas texts. It begins with the texts from the ‘Preparation of the Offering Table’:

First Register (A):

Utterance 82 (W55)
Thoth, get him with it.
He has come forth to him with Horus’s eye. – The Offering Table

Utterance 83 (W56)
Give him Horus’s eye, that he may become content with it. – Come with the King’s offering

Utterance 84 (W57)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye, with which he became content. – The King’s offering, twice

Utterance 85 (W58)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye and be content with it. – [Offering damaged]

Utterance 86 (W59)
Cause it to revert to you. Sit down, Be silent: the King’sinvocation – [Offering damaged]

Utterance 87 (W60)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye, ….

…
[Remaining columns missing or badly damaged]
…

Second Register (B):

Utterance 166 (W128)
[Osiris Behenu, accept Horus's eye,] which they have licked. – Two bowls of sidder-fruit

Utterance 167 (W129)
[Osiris Behenu, open your eyes ] and see with them! – Two bowls of sidder-bread

Utterance 168 (W130)
[Osiris Behenu, accept Horus's eye:] prevent him from netting it – Two bowls of carob beans

Utterance 169 (W131)
[Osiris Behenu, accept Horus's sweet eye,] return it to yourself – Two bowls of every kind of sweet stalk

Utterance 170 (W132)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye: allot it to yourself. – A bowl of every kind of young plant

Utterance 171 (W133)
Osiris Behenu, may what you have endure for you with you. – Dedicating the Offering

Second Register (C):

Utterance 108 (W70)
Osiris Behenu, gather to yourself the water that is in it. –  Two bowls of water

Utterance 109 (W71)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye, which cleaned his mouth – Two bowls of cleansing natron

Utterance 110 (W72)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye; gather it to your mouth – The “Mouth-washing” (meal): one loaf of bread, one jug (of beer)

Utterance 111 (W73)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye, which Seth trampled. – Two loaves of “trampled” bread

Utterance 112 (W74)
Osiris Behenu, accept Horus’s eye, which he pulled out. – One bowl of “pulled” bread

Utterance 113 (W75)
Osiris Behenu……

…
[Remaining columns missing or badly damaged]
…

Another section of the Pyramid Texts seems to be waiting to be deciphered on the peice of wall beside the sarcophagus…

More Pyramid Texts beside Behenu's sarcophgus

Sources:
Pyramid Texts Online
The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (Writings from the Ancient World), By Peter Der Manuelian (Editor) James P. Allen (Editor)
Photo of the Unas north wall by Helmut Satzinger.
Photo of the Behenu walls from the SCA.

Astronaut Sends Pyramid Photo via Twitter

Vincent — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:00:43 +0000

Astronaut Soichi Noguchi is currently flying through space aboard the International Space Station and he is using Twitter to communicate with us Earthlings. He goes by the name: @Astro_Soichi

He has just posted a photo of the pyramids at Dahshur. The Red pyramid and the Bent pyramid can easily be seen from space:

YES, you can see pyramid from space :-) Late afternoon in Egypt.

YES, you can see pyramid from space Late afternoon in Egypt.

Read Soichi Noguchi’s tweets at his his Twitter page.
View Soichi Noguchi’s Twitter photos
View a satellite photo of Dahshur on the Dahshur page.

Friday Photo: Pyramid Texts – Unas Blue

Vincent — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:09:51 +0000

The Pyramid Texts were first discovered in 1880 inside the Pyamid of Unas by Gaston Maspero. Unas was the first pyramid to be inscribed with the famous corpus of texts and of the inscribed pyramids, Unas is considered to contain the most complete form of the texts. Maspero published the texts from the pyramids of Unas, Teti, Pepi I, Merenre, and Pepi II before the discovery of the other five tombs. Actually, it was only the texts of Unas that were published in their entirety as the other four pyramids had not been completely cleared of rubble at that time and were only partially recorded.

Some of the blue colouring that remains on the hieroglyphs in the pyramid of Unas

There are ten pyramids in all that have parts of the Pyramid Texts inscribed on their walls, the other five being excavated by French expeditions in the early 20th century. The ten pyramids in chronological order are:

It wasn’t until 2001 that the pyramid of Ankhesenpepi was cleared and found to contain Pyramid Texts. Each additional pyramid discovered containing the texts adds to our knowledge and understanding of these enigmatic utterances.

With the discovery of portions of the Pyramid Texts inside the pyramid of Behenu, wife of Pepi I or Pepi II, the number of pyramids known to contain the magical texts rises by one more.

Photo Unas Blue, by Jon Bodsworth

Burial Chamber with Pyramid Texts Discovered

Vincent — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:24:51 +0000

Pyramid Texts from the north wall

A burial chamber containing a pink granite sarcophagus with a black basalt lid has been discovered at South Saqqara by a French archaeological mission.

Although badly damaged, the walls are covered in texts which contain the name of the tomb’s owner, ‘Behenu’, thought to be the Queen of either Pepi I or Pepi II, and dates to the Sixth Dynasty over 4000 years ago.

Leader of the French team Dr Philippe Collombert, said that it is not clear whether Behenu was the queen of Pepi I or Pepi II, who’s pyramids are also in the South Saqqara region.

“It is a well-preserved granite sarcophagus engraved with the queen’s different titles, but says nothing about the identity of her husband”.

One of these titles was “the king’s wife and beloved.”

The black basalt lid was found beside the sarcophagus prompting suggestions that it might belong to another sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is full of sand and it is not yet known if the body still lies inside, burried underneath the sand.

Some of the north wall remains and texts can be seen inscribed on it’s inner side. Painted green to symbolise regeneration and rebirth, these texts are recognised as the Pyramid Texts, first discovered in the pyramid of Unas. The texts form part of the offering rituals and the following words are repeated over and over on the wall:

“Osiris Behenu, take the Eye of Horus …”

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The pyramid of Behenu, which was first discovered in 2007, is located to the west of Pepi I’s pyramid, in the north-west corner of the Queens’ complex. It is marked in the satellite image below with a green marker pin:

View South Saqqara in a larger map

Pepi I's Queens complex. Photo copyright Su Bayfield.

So far the mission has determined the location of seven pyramids belonging to the Sixth Dynasty. These are thought to belong to the followng queens: Inenek, Nubunet, Meretites II, Ankhespepy III, Miha, and an as yet unidentified queen.

However, Collombert said that Behenu’s pyramid is only the second pyramid that contained religous texts on it’s walls.

Dimensions:
Pyramid: side of 25 meters and the burial chamber itself measuring 10 by 5 meters.
Sarcophagus: 2.6-meters long.

Sources:
Discovery
Yahoo!
Reuters

Photographs of Behenu’s tomb courtesy of SCA.
Photograph of Pepi I’s Queens’ complex used with permission, copyright Su Bayfield.

Friday Photo: First Steps Into Khufu Pyramid

Vincent — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:02:02 +0000

First Steps into Khufu's Pyramid, by Sean Ellis

Access to the interior of the Great Pyramid is not through the original entrance as many would think. That entrance is now sealed with a locked gate and instead, tourists enter through the crude tunnel dug by Calif Mamun and his men when they broke into the pyramid in 820 A.D.

Looking back towards the entrance, by Cathleen Shattuck

The dark blue that can be seen in the photo above is the night sky, indicating how far into the pyramid the photographer is standing.

A bit further along the visitor comes to the end of the Mamun’s tunnel where it joins the beginning of the ascending passage.

The end of Mamun's tunnel. Photo by Andrew Currie

First Steps into Khufu’s Pyramid by Sean Ellis. Some rights reserved.
The Theives Tunnel by Cathleen Shattuck. Some rights reserved.
Inside Cheops I by Andrew Currie Some rights reserved.

Entering New Egyptian Pyramids

Vincent — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:34:07 +0000

Amenemhet III's 'Black' pyramid

A series of lectures will be given by Egyptologist Gayle Gibson at the Royal Ontario Museum on the last Wednesday of each month.

ROM Egyptologist Gayle Gibson returns to Egypt in January 2010. This time she will be in Dashur crawling around in three of the biggest Pyramids in Egypt. The Blunt Pyramid has been open to the public for about ten years, but the Bent and the Black Pyramids are just now opening to the public. Be an armchair traveler with Gayle and through her be one of the first to lay eyes inside these massive, ancient, and mysterious tombs. Not to be missed!

The Bent, the Blunt and the Black: Entering New Egyptian Pyramids

Location: Royal Ontario Museum, Level 1 Gloria Chen Court

Cost: Included with Museum admission.

Date/Time: (5 Sessions):

Wednesday February 24, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday March 31, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday April 28, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday May 26, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday June 30, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

See the site for more details.

Friday Photo: Sphinx, Camel, Wall

Vincent — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:01:27 +0000

An unusual shot of the Sphinx from dannebrog shows the Giza wall in the background. The size of the camel resting beside the wall in the shade indicates the height of the wall.

The Sphinx as viewed from the north shows the Giza wall in the background