"Utterances 571-574"
Text summary
From: Book · Samuel Alfred Browne Mercer · 1952
"Utterances 571-574" is a 1952 English translation of Utterances 571-574 in the Egyptian Pyramid Texts by Samuel A.B. Mercer. Lines 1466a-1491c seem to detail a creation myth unique to the city of Hermopolis.
Text: Full Translation, Collation (full)
Archaic Egyptian ⟶ English a
| Translation | |
|---|---|
| p. 233 | |
| Utterance 571 | |
| 1466a | To say: The mother of N., dweller in the lower sky, became pregnant with him; |
| 1466b | N. was given birth by his father Atum, |
| 1466c | before the sky came into being, before the earth came into being, |
| 1466d | before men came into being, before the gods were born, before death came into being. |
| 1467a | N. escapes the day of death, as Set escaped his day of death. |
| 1467b | N. belongs to your company (?), O gods of the lower sky, |
| 1468a | who cannot perish for their enemies. |
| 1468b | N. perishes not for his enemies. |
| 1468c | O ye who die not for a king--N. does not die for a king. |
| 1468d | O ye who die not for any death--N. does not die for any death. |
| 1469a | N. is an imperishable star, the great ---- of heaven in the house of Śerḳset. |
| 1469b | Rē‘ has taken N. to heaven, that N. may live, |
| 1469c | as he lives who enters into the west of the sky and goes forth at the east of the sky. |
| 1470a | He who is within his ḥn.ti (two limits) has commended N. to him who is in his carrying-litter; |
| 1470b | they acclaim N., for N. is a star, |
| p. 234 | |
| 1470c | The protection of Rē‘ is upon N. Rē‘ will not abandon the protection of N. |
| 1471a | Horus has set N. on his shoulders; |
| 1471b | he has assigned N. to Shu (who says): "My arms are exalted under Nut." |
| 1471c | Rē‘, give thine arm to N.; Great God, give thy staff to N., |
| 1471d | that he may live for ever. |
| Utterance 572 | |
| 1472a | To say: "How beautiful indeed is the sight, how pleasant indeed is the view," says Isis, |
| 1472b | "that this god ascends to heaven, his renown over him, |
| 1472c | his terror on both sides of him, his magic before him!" |
| 1473a | It was done for him, for N., by Atum, like that which one did for him (Atum). |
| 1473b | He brought to N. the gods belonging to heaven; |
| 1473c | he assembled to him the gods belonging to the earth. |
| 1474a | They put their arms under him. |
| 1474b | They made a ladder for N., that he might ascend to heaven on it. |
| 1474c | The double doors of heaven are open for N.; the double doors of śḥd.w are open for him. |
| 1475a | Atum united the nomes for N.; |
| 1475b | Geb gave him the cities, that is to say (lit. in speaking of it), |
| 1475c | the regions, the regions of Horus; the regions of Set, |
| 1475d | the Marsh of Reeds. |
| 1476a | N. is ’Iȝḥś, chief of the land of Upper Egypt; |
| 1476b | N. is Ddwn, chief of the land of Nubia; |
| 1476c | N. is Sopdu, (who lives) under his kśb.t-trees. |
| 1477a | Have you acted against him? Have you said that he would die? |
| 1477b | He will not die. N. will live a life for ever. |
| 1477c | N. is become in spite of them as the surviving bull of the wild-bulls; |
| 1477d | N. is at their head; he will live and last for ever. |
| Utterance 573 | |
| 1478a | To say: Awake in peace, Ḥsmnw, in peace. |
| 1478b | Awake in peace, Eastern Horus, in peace. |
| 1478c | Awake in peace, Eastern Soul, in peace. |
| p. 235 | |
| 1478d | Awake in peace, Harachte, in peace. |
| 1479a | Thou sleepest in the evening boat; thou wakest in the morning boat, |
| 1479b | for thou art as he who oversees the gods; no god oversees thee. |
| 1479c | Father of N., Rē‘, take N. with thee, for life, to thy mother, Nut. |
| 1480a | The double doors of heaven shall be open for N.; the double doors of ḳbḥ.w shall be open for N. |
| 1480b | When N. comes to thee, that thou mayest make him live, |
| 1480c | command N. to sit by thy side, |
| 1480d | near the dwȝ-canal on the horizon. |
| 1481a | Father of N., Rē‘, commend N. to Mśḫȝȝ.t, she who is at thy side, |
| 1481b | to cause to designate a place for N. near the Rd-wr-lake under ḳbḥ.w. |
| 1482a | Commend N. to Ni-'nh, son of Sothis, to speak for N., |
| 1482b | to establish a throne for N. in heaven. |
| 1482c | Commend N. to Wr-špś.f, the beloved Ptah, the son of Ptah, |
| 1482d | to speak for N., |
| 1482e | to cause food to grow for his dining pavillion on earth, |
| 1483a | for N. is one of those four gods, |
| 1483b | ’Imś.ti, Ḥȝpi, Dwȝ-mw.t.f, Ḳbḥ-śn.w.f, |
| 1483c | who live on truth, who lean upon their d'm-sceptres, |
| 1483d | who guard the land of Upper Egypt. |
| 1484a | He flies, he flies from you, O men, as birds; |
| 1484b | he takes his flight from you (lit., he takes his arms from you) like a falcon; |
| 1484c | he takes his body from you like a kite; |
| 1484d | he is delivered from that which shackles his feet on earth, |
| 1484e | he is freed from that which ties his hands. |
| Utterance 574 | |
| 1485a | To say: Greetings to thee, Sycamore, who protects the god, under which the gods of the underworld stand, |
| 1485b | whose tips are seared, whose inside is burned, (whose) suffering is real. |
| 1486a | Assemble those who dwell in Nun; collect those who are among the bows. |
| p. 236 | |
| 1486b | Thy forehead is upon thine arm (in mourning) for Osiris, O Great Mooring-post, |
| 1486c | who art like her who is chief of the offering (to), and of the worship (?) of the lord of the East. |
| 1487a | Thou art standing, Osiris; thy shadow is over thee, Osiris; |
| 1487b | thy diadem repels Set, |
| 1487c | the generous damsel who acted for this spirit of Gḥś.ti is |
| 1487d | thy shadow, Osiris. |
| 1488a | Thy dread is among those in heaven; thy fear among those on earth. |
| 1488b | Thou hast hurled thy terror into the heart of the wings of Lower Egypt, dwelling in Buto. |
| 1489a | N. is come [to thee], Horus, heir of Geb, of whom Atum speaks; |
| 1489b | "all belongs to thee," say the Two Enneads; "all belongs to thee," thou sayest. |
| 1490a | It is even N. among them-the gods who are in heaven. |
| 1490b | Collect those who are among the bows; assemble those who are among the imperishable stars. |
| 1491a | N. rejoices; N. rejoices, O, O. |
| 1491b | Day is day; night is night; Rē‘ is Rē‘; |
| 1491c | --------------- he is for ever. |
| Source(s) a Mercer, Pyramid Texts I, 233-236 launch . | |
Original source data
Page images a
Source a Mercer, Pyramid Texts I, 233-236 launch .
Background
The Samuel A. B. Mercer translation of the Egyptian Hermopolis creation myth comes from The Pyramid Texts, a 1952 book published by the author. Mercer was the first person to publish a complete English translation of the funerary carvings in ancient Egyptian pyramids in Saqqara. The creation myth of Hermopolis leans on Utterances 571-574 of the Pyramid Texts, a fairly canonical source of Egyptian theology. Samuel Mercer was a well-known Egyptologist who spent most of his career studying the ancient civilization of Egypt.
Cite this page
MLA Modern Language Association (8th ed.)
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. ""Utterances 571-574": English Translation of Pyramid Texts by Samuel A.B. Mercer." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 14 Apr. 2019, omnika.org/stable/61. Accessed 20 May. 2024.
APA American Psychological Association (6th ed.)
OMNIKA (2019, April 14). "Utterances 571-574": English Translation of Pyramid Texts by Samuel A.B. Mercer. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/61
CMS Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.)
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. ""Utterances 571-574": English Translation of Pyramid Texts by Samuel A.B. Mercer." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created April 14, 2019. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://omnika.org/stable/61.
Bibliography
Mercer, Samuel A. B. The Pyramid Texts: In Translation and Commentary, Vol. I. Vol 1. London, UK: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1952.
Mercer, Samuel A.B., trans. "Utterances 571-574." In The Pyramid Texts: In Translation and Commentary, Vol. I, vol. 1, 233-236, authored by Samuel A.B. Mercer. London, UK: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1952.
Pepi II. Pyramid Texts: Pepi II Funerary Inscriptions, ca. 2246–2152 BCE. Inscription carvings. Necropolis of Pepi II, Pyramid of Pepi II, Saqqara Necropolis, Saqarah, Egypt.
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About
Egyptian Hermopolis Creation myth 
Egyptian Belief system
Atum Main deity
Before the world began, eight deities called the Ogdoad (sometimes the 'Ennead') were separated into four men and four women. They lived in primedal water and rose out of the water to create what we know as land, the sun, and everything else we inhabit on Earth.
