Pyramid Text

Examples of Pyramid Text in the following topics:

• Tombs of the Middle Kingdom

  • Unlike the Old Kingdom, however, Middle Kingdom royal pyramids were not quite as well constructed, and so few of them remain as pyramid structures today.
  • In the Old Kingdom, the Pyramid Texts, which contained spells to help the dead reach the afterlife successfully, were only accessible to the elite.
  • Coffin Texts, as they are called by the scholars, expanded upon the Pyramid Texts, introducing new spells and incorporating slight changes to make them more relatable to the nobility.
  • In contrast to the Pyramid Texts, which focus on the celestial realm, the Coffin Texts emphasize the subterranean elements of the afterlife ruled by Osiris in a place called the Duat.
  • Spells in the Coffin Texts were intended to help the deceased contend with these impediments.

• The Book of the Dead

  • The Book of the Dead was a funerary text designed to assist a deceased person's journey through the underworld and into the afterlife.
  • Despite the word "book" in the common title, the Book of the Dead was actually printed on scrolls, as opposed to bound texts.
  • The Book of the Dead was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom and the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom.
  • For instance, Pyramid Texts were written in an unusual hieroglyphic style, were exclusive to those of royal privilege, and saw the afterlife as being in the sky.
  • The text was written in both black and red ink from either carbon or ochre, respectively.

• Tombs

  • During the Old Kingdom, these royal mastabas eventually developed into rock-cut "step pyramids" and then "true pyramids," although non-royal use of mastabas continued to be used for more than a thousand years.
  • The Pyramids of Giza, massive stone-cut structures built from limestone quarried from the Nile River,are the most well-known example of pyramid tombs built during the Old Kingdom .
  • During the Old Kingdom, only the pharaoh had access to this material, which scholars refer to as the Pyramid Texts.
  • The Pyramid Texts are a collection of spells to assure the royal resurrection and protect the pharaoh from various malignant influences.
  • The Pyramids of Giza served as tombs to the Kings.

• The Pyramids of the Old Kingdom

  • In the following dynasties, the pyramid design changed from the "step" pyramid to a true pyramid shape as kings continued to build tombs for their kings.
  • The Necropolis includes three pyramid complexes: the Great Pyramid (built by King Khufu of the 4th Dynasty); the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (buit by Khufu's son); and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure.
  • During the Old Kingdom, only the pharaoh had access to this material, which scholars refer to as the Pyramid Texts.
  • The Pyramid Texts are a collection of spells to assure the royal resurrection and protect the pharaoh from various malignant influences.
  • This view shows all three pyramid structures: the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure.

• The Old Kingdom

  • Thus, the period of the Old Kingdom is often called "The Age of the Pyramids."
  • Using a greater mass of stones than any other king, he built three pyramids: Meidum, the Bent Pyramid, and the Red Pyramid.
  • This lessened efforts to build pyramids.
  • Funerary prayers on royal tombs (called Pyramid Texts) appeared, and the cult of the deity Osiris ascended in importance.
  • The Great Pyramid of Giza was built c. 2560 BCE, by Khufu during the Fourth Dynasty.

• Timeline

  • 2560 BCE: The approximate time accepted as the completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest pyramid of the Giza Plateau.
  • 2494 - 2345 BCE: The first of the oldest surviving religious texts, the Pyramid Texts, are composed in Ancient Egypt.
  • 1200 BCE: Olmecs build earliest pyramids and temples in Central America.
  • 950 BCE: The Torah begins to be written, generating the core texts of Judaism and foundation of later Abrahamic religions.
  • In the Mayan civilization, stepped pyramids are constructed .

• Ancient Egyptian Monuments

  • Ancient Egyptian monuments included pyramids, sphinxes, and temples.
  • About 135 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, with the largest (in Egypt and the world) being the Great Pyramid of Giza.
  • The Giza Necropolis, built in the Fourth Dynasty, includes the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid or the Pyramid of Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with smaller "queens" pyramids and the Great Sphinx.
  • Decoration included reliefs (bas relief and sunken relief) of images and hieroglyphic text and sculpture, including obelisks, figures of gods (sometimes in sphinx form), and votive figures.
  • A map showing the layout of the Giza Pyramid area, including the Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, and the Great Sphinx.

• Ecological Pyramids

  • Ecological pyramids can also be called trophic pyramids or energy pyramids.
  • Pyramids of numbers can be either upright or inverted, depending on the ecosystem.
  • Another way to visualize ecosystem structure is with pyramids of biomass.
  • Using the Silver Springs ecosystem example, this data exhibits an upright biomass pyramid, whereas the pyramid from the English Channel example is inverted .
  • As with inverted pyramids of numbers, the inverted biomass pyramid is not due to a lack of productivity from the primary producers, but results from the high turnover rate of the phytoplankton.

• The Shape of Molecules

  • Some texts and other sources may use a dashed bond in the same manner as we have defined the hatched bond, but this can be confusing because the dashed bond is often used to represent a partial bond (i.e. a covalent bond that is partially formed or partially broken).
  • Bonding configurations are readily predicted by valence-shell electron-pair repulsion theory, commonly referred to as VSEPR in most introductory chemistry texts.
  • Of course, it is the configuration of atoms (not electrons) that defines the the shape of a molecule, and in this sense ammonia is said to be pyramidal (not tetrahedral).
  • For purposes of discussion we shall consider three other configurations for CH4, square-planar, square-pyramidal and triangular-pyramidal.
  • However, in the trigonal-pyramidal configuration one hydrogen (the apex) is structurally different from the other three (the pyramid base).

• Innovation and Limitation

  • These indigenous civilizations are credited with many inventions in: building pyramid-temples [], mathematics, astronomy, medicine, writing, highly accurate calendars, fine arts, intensive agriculture, engineering, an abacus calculator, and complex theology.
  • Because many Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, men like Diego de Landa destroyed many texts in pyres, even while seeking to preserve native histories.