Talking Pyramids

This week’s photo shows the western end of the burial chamber of Unas. Sarcophagus in the burial chamber of Unas. Photo: Jon Bodsworth The texts above the sarcophagus are considered the most important of all the texts in the pyramid of Unas. These are the only texts near the sarcophagus and contain many protective spells [...]

The new library at Pyramid Texts Online The Pyramid Texts Online website has had a major update with the addition of the Library. Sit down and relax with an old classic, flick through the pages on-screen thanks to the Internet Archive’s Flip Book. Due to the antique age of most of these books it is [...]

This week’s photo is of the western wall of the Unas Antechamber, courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum. Click on the image to view the same wall as it appears today. Looking into the burial chamber of Unas

This week’s ‘Photo of the Week’ is of the Unas Sarcophagus chamber. This photo shows the chamber’s ceiling near the eastern end of the north wall. The texts that can be seen in the lower section of the photograph detail the purifications and presentation of offerings.

Professor Richard Steiner’s interpretation of Semitic passages in Egyptian texts, and the subsequent press release around the world prompted a response from Professor Dr. Thomas Schneider, Chair in Egyptology, Department of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology at the University of Wales Swansea, UK. Schneider objected to Steiner’s proposition and suggested that Steiner was not familiar [...]

In the news a year ago today (OK it was really yesterday) was this story by National Geographic. I have included an image cropped from my website: www.pyramidtextsonline.com that contains the text in question: Utterrances 238-242 from the Unas pyramid. It is suggested that the hieroglyphics read: “Mother snake, mother snake says mucus-mucus.” when read [...]