Chapter 4 (part 17)

will show that about three-fourths of the whole may be found in the monuments of his ancestors. What principle guided each king in the selection of his texts, or whether the additions in each represent religious developments, it is impossible to say; but, as the Egyptian religion cannot have remained stationary in every particular, it is probable that some texts reflect the changes in the opinions of the priests upon matters of doctrine.[1] The "Pyramid Texts" prove that each section of the religious books of the Egyptians was originally a separate and independent composition, that it was written with a definite object, and that it might be arranged in any order in a series of similar texts. What preceded or what followed it was never taken into [1. A development has been observed in the plan of ornamenting the interiors of the pyramids of the Vth and VIth dynasties. In that of Unas about one-quarter of the sarcophagus chamber is covered with architectural decorations, and the hieroglyphics are large, well spaced, and enclosed in broad lines. But as we advance in the VIth dynasty, the space set apart for decorative purposes becomes less, the hieroglyphics are smaller, the lines are crowded, and the inscriptions overflow into the chambers and corridors, which in the Vth dynasty were left blank. See Maspero in Revue des Religions , t. xi., p. 124.] {p. xxv} consideration by the scribe, although it seems, at times, as if traditions had assigned a sequence to certain texts. Historical reference. That events of contemporary history were sometimes reflected in the Book of the Dead of the early dynasties is proved by the following. We learn from the inscription upon the tomb of Heru-khuf at Aswân,[l] that this governor of Elephantine was ordered to bring for king Pepi II.[2] a pigmy,[3] from the interior of Africa, to dance before the king and amuse him; and he was promised that, if he succeeded in bringing the pigmy alive and in good health, his majesty would confer upon him a higher rank and dignity than that which king Assa conferred upon his minister Ba-ur-Tettet, who performed this much appreciated service for his master.[4] Now Assa was the eighth king of the Vth dynasty, and Pepi II. was the fifth king of the VIth dynasty, and between the reigns of these kings there was, according to M. Maspero, an interval of at least sixty-four, but more probably eighty, years. But in the text in the pyramid of Pepi I., which must have been drafted at some period between the reigns of these kings, we have the passage, "Hail thou who [at thy will] makest to pass over to the Field of Aaru the soul that is right and true, or dost make shipwreck of it. Ra-meri ( i.e. , Pepi I.) is right and true in respect of heaven and in respect of earth, Pepi is right and true in respect of the island of the earth whither he swimmeth and where he arriveth. He who is between the thighs of Nut ( i.e. , Pepi) is the pigmy who danceth [like] the god, and who pleaseth the heart [1. The full text from this tomb and a discussion on its contents are given by Schiaparelli, Una tomba egiziana inedita della VI a dinastia con inscrizioni storiche e geografiche , in Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei , anno CCLXXXIX., Ser. 4 a , Classe di Scienze Morali, etc., t. x., Rome, 1893, pp. 22-53.