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Reading the Pyramid Texts in the pyramid of Unas
14 October 2026
Inside the Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara, the walls of the burial chamber, the antechamber and part of the corridor are covered in columns of hieroglyphs filled with blue paint. These are the oldest Pyramid Texts, carved around 2350 BC: spells to carry the dead king up to the sky, join him to the sun god and keep him fed for ever.
You do not need to read the spells to find your way through them. Start with the king's name, which appears in almost every column, then look for a handful of signs that keep coming back.
The spells call Unas by name
The spells were written for one man, and they speak to him or about him by name, often in a call: "O Unas!"
His cartouche reads wnis, said "wenis". Unas and Unis are modern spellings of the same name. The hare (E34) gives wn, the ripple of water (N35) n, the flowering reed (M17) i, and the folded cloth (S29) s. Look for the hare inside an oval.
Painted stars cover the burial chamber
The burial chamber has a gabled ceiling painted with stars, and the king's dark stone sarcophagus at its west end. The walls round the sarcophagus are carved as the front of a palace, with panels in place of text. Everywhere else the columns of spells run from floor to ceiling.
Many spells promise that the king will join the stars that never set, the ones circling the northern sky. The star (N14) writes them in the text, and the same sign is painted over your head.
The Cannibal Hymn runs high on the antechamber's east wall
The antechamber carries more spells on every wall, with the king's cartouche in each. High on its east wall is the text modern scholars call the Cannibal Hymn, in which the king hunts the gods and feeds on their power so that it becomes his.
Look for the cloth on a pole (R8), nṯr, "god", said "netjer". It runs through the whole text, and in this hymn it marks the gods the king overpowers. The sun disc (N5) marks spells where he joins Ra.
Each offering comes with its own short spell
A long part of the texts is an offering ritual: bread, beer, cloth, oils and much more, each gift paired with a short spell. Bread on an offering mat (R4) and the tall loaf (X2) repeat down the columns, and the ka (D28), the raised arms of the life force, is what the food is offered to.
Other short spells protect the king from snakes and other dangers on his way.
Khaemwaset left his own text on the south face
Before you go in, look at the south face. A son of Ramesses II, Prince Khaemwaset, left an inscription there more than a thousand years after Unas, recording that he restored the king's name.
The cartouche of Unas is the sign group to find.
Six signs carry you through these rooms
Learn these before you go:
| Sign | Name | Sound | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cartouche ring V10 | holds the king's name | ||
| Hare E34 | wn | the first sound of Unas | |
| Star N14 | the sky the king will join | ||
| Sun disc N5 | Ra | the sun god | |
| Cloth on a pole R8 | nṯr | god | |
| Raised arms D28 | kꜣ | the ka |
A torch held to one side shows shallow carving
The passage down is low, so put the phone on a wrist strap. Flash is usually forbidden inside. Light from one side shows shallow carving better than light from straight ahead.
The texts run in columns, read from top to bottom. Birds and people in a column face the start of the line, so walk toward their faces to follow the reading. The blue paint makes the signs stand out for the camera. Where the paint has gone, photograph the wall and trace the sign over the picture.
Questions
Who found the Pyramid Texts?
Workmen first entered inscribed pyramids at Saqqara in 1880, starting with that of Pepi I. Gaston Maspero, the new head of Egypt's antiquities service, went into the Pyramid of Unas in 1881 and published its texts in a journal from 1882.
Are the Pyramid Texts the same as the Book of the Dead?
No. They are some eight centuries older and were carved only for kings and, later, some queens. Many spells lived on, reworked in the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom and then in the Book of the Dead.
Can I read the Pyramid Texts in English?
Yes. Raymond Faulkner published a full translation in 1969, and James P. Allen a newer one in 2005, arranged pyramid by pyramid.
Which other pyramids have Pyramid Texts?
After Unas, the Sixth Dynasty kings Teti, Pepi I, Merenre and Pepi II had them carved in their pyramids at Saqqara, as did several queens and, later, the Eighth Dynasty king Ibi.
Glossary
- Book of the Dead
- A collection of spells written on papyrus and placed in burials from the New Kingdom on, to guide the dead through the afterlife. Egyptians called it the Spells for Coming Forth by Day.
- cartouche
- An oval ring drawn around a royal name, a loop of rope tied at one end. Kings wrote their two main names in cartouches.
- coffin
- A box for the body, of wood or stone, often shaped like a person and painted with spells, names and gods. Rich burials nested several coffins inside a sarcophagus.
- Coffin Texts
- Spells painted inside coffins of the Middle Kingdom, many of them taken over from the Pyramid Texts.
- dynasty
- A line of kings counted together, usually one family. Egyptologists number Egypt's kings in about 30 dynasties, following the priest Manetho.
- hieroglyphs
- The picture signs of ancient Egyptian writing, used from about 3200 BC to AD 394. A sign can stand for sounds, for a whole word, or for the kind of thing a word means.
- Middle Kingdom
- The age when Egypt was united again, about 2055 to 1650 BC. Its texts became the classic form of the language that later scribes copied.
- pyramid
- A royal tomb with four sloping sides meeting at a point, built in the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza is the largest.
- Pyramid Texts
- The oldest religious spells of Egypt, carved in the burial rooms of pyramids from the reign of Unas, around 2350 BC, on.
- sarcophagus
- A large stone coffin. In rich burials it held one or more coffins of wood.
People in this article
Where to see it
- Pyramid of Unas monument
- Saqqara site
Sources
- Pyramid of Unas (Wikipedia)
- Pyramid Texts (Wikipedia)
- Pyramid Texts Online: Unas antechamber, east gable (Utterances 273-274, the Cannibal Hymn)
- Inscription of Khaemwaset on the Pyramid of Unas, Tales from the Two Lands
- Review of R. O. Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (1969), Cambridge Core
- The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, James P. Allen (SBL, 2005)
More to read
- Ten inscriptions to read at the Grand Egyptian Museum Ten inscriptions to read at the Grand Egyptian Museum: Tutankhamun's mask, throne and shrines, Ramesses II's colossus and obelisk, and what they say.
- Reading the tombs of the Valley of the Kings Valley of the Kings hieroglyphs: what to read in the tombs of Tutankhamun, Seti I, Thutmose III and Ramesses VI, and the signs to learn before you go.
- Reading the walls of Luxor Temple Luxor Temple hieroglyphs: read the cartouches of Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, Ramesses II and Alexander the Great, and the signs to learn first.