9 World Chronicles

coffin text is a modern name for the diverse body of spells or recitations used on burial equipment during the middle Kingdom.

These texts were mainly painted on wooden coffins but also appeared on tomb walls and on funerary items such as a steel or canopic chest.

 The coffin texts were composed in middle Egyptian a form of Egyptian language that became the standard for literary works the text were usually written in simplified hieroglyphics.

Many spells in the coffin text are also known from versions in the pyramid texts. Both collections may derive from an archive of more to Sherry text written on a papyrus that does not survive.

Some of the coffin tech spells are given titles that define their functions such as a spell for navigating in the great baroque of Ra or include instructions for the ritual that should accompany them.

A few sections on the coffin techs have vignettes illustrations that form an integral part of the spell. the most elaborate of these are the two Maps that belong to a section of the coffin text known as the book of two ways. These Maps which are usually painted on the floor of coffins are the earliest known Maps from any culture.

The book of two ways was nothing less than an illustrated guide to the afterlife. It claimed to give 2 routes one by land and one by water through a sinister divine realm beyond the horizon. and to provide the deceased with the spells they would need to get past the monstrous guardians they would face on the way.

The deceased had to pass through the mysterious region Rosetau where the body of Osiris lay surrounded by walls of flames. If the deceased man or woman proved worthy, he or she might be granted a new life in a paradise call the field of offerings.

 Although they are not narrative's some spells in the coffin text describe major events in the Egyptian creation story and even provide evidence for the Egyptian views about the end of the world. The creator Atum Ra and his offspring Shu and Tefnut are particularly prominent.

Much of the texts deal with transformation of the sun God into various forms. A new element is a stress on the dangers faced by the sun God during his celestial voyage such as attacks by the chaos monster Apep Snake

Coffin texts have been found in sites all over Egypt but the majority come from the geographical region known as middle Egypt. The local deities of middle Egypt such as Toth and the group of primeval beings later known as the Ogdoad it of Hermopolis feature in many of these spells. Djehutey also appears in many of the spells that allude to the conflict between Horace and Set and the rescue of the body of Osiris.

The pyramid texts. The pyramid texts are the oldest of the three principal collections of Egyptian literary text. They are among the earliest religious writings known from anywhere in the world. The texts are divided into sections each is preceded by an Egyptian phrase meaning words to be spoken which is very often translated to mean a spell or incantation.

 These incantations can be as short as a single sentence or contain many paragraphs. The illustrations. No illustrations accompany the pyramid texts although the ceilings or Royal burial chambers are usually decorated with stars. The text themselves seem to have adapted from a variety of genres such as hymns list a divine names and epitaphs spells from the type of magic used in daily life and resuscitation that accompany ritual actions.

The main purpose in assembling these texts and describing them inside pyramids was to help the body of the deceased King to escape the horror of petrifaction and his spirit to ascend to the celestial realm where he would take his place among the gods. Some of the tests were probably recited during the King's funeral or part of the Mortuary cult that continued after his death. Others may have been intended to be spoken by the deceased as he entered the afterlife.

Roughly 200 Deities are mentioned in the pyramid texts most are the major deities known from cult temples such as the fertility God men and the creator goddess Neith. Others are deities such as snake gods and celestial ferryman who inhabit a complex an intensely imagined realm of gods.

The most frequently mentioned duties are Anubis (Anpu),  Atum, Geb, Horace (Heru),  Isis (Auset)  Nephthys, Nut, Osiris (Ausar), RA,  Set, Shu and Thot (Djehuty) . These include most of the deities who make up the Ennead of Heliopolis.

Although the pyramid texts are not a collection of narrative, they do contain numerous allusions to myths. They take up important themes in Egyptian mythology such as the journey of the sun God and his solar bark. The murder of the good God of Ausar and the violent conflict between Heru and Seth.