Pyramid Of Unas

Pyramid of Unas. Built in the Pyramid field at Saqqara , the pyramid complex of king Unas of the Fifth Dynasty is famous for incorporating several innovative features, but is most recognized for the inclusion of vertical lines of hieroglyphs on the walls of the vestibule and burial chamber. When Gaston Maspero opened the Unas pyramid in 1881 , he found texts covering these stone walls to be extremely difficult to decipher, because of their archaic characters, forms, and spellings. These were magical/religious texts, designed to ensure the safe passage of the Pharaoh into the next world. They are known today as the Pyramid Texts . According to these texts, Unas became great by eating the flesh of his mortal enemies and then slaying and devouring the gods themselves. Those gods that were old and worn out – Egyptian gods aged and died – were used as fuel for Unas's fire. After devouring the gods and absorbing their spirits and powers, Unas journeys through the day and night sky to become the star Sabu, or Orion . This is known as the Cannibal Hymn .

While this is certainly not the first reference to cannibalism in Old Kingdom texts, what is notable is the method by which the Pharaoh Unas achieves deification and immortality; by turning on the gods, slaying and then devouring them, and thus ascending to the heavens to become the star Orion. The concept was remarkable to Maspero, who found the idea to be of "absolute savagery." Maspero seemed to be reeling from a confrontation with a symbolic revival of pre-dynastic cannibalistic rites – which are suggested, according to Maspero, by the gnawed and disconnected bones found in certain early graves. Petrie suggested that at the original Sed Festival , the tribal king appears to have been sacrificed and devoured, so that his people might derive from his flesh and blood the power and virtues which made him great. This practice was based on a belief in contagious magic. ''Bulls and boars'' were eaten to give men strength and courage, ''deer'' to give fleetness of foot, and ''serpents'' to give cunning. The ''blood'' of slain and wounded warriors was drunk so that their skill and bravery might be imparted to the drinkers. Similarly, Unas feasts after death on the spirits of the gods, and on the bodies of men and gods. He swallows their ''spirits, souls, and names,'' which are contained in their hearts, livers, and entrails, thus, Unas becomes allpowerful.

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Pyramid Of Unas