The Hidden Language of Astronomical Symbolism in the Pyramid Texts - Part I

By Richard A. Fields

After reading The Orion Mystery by Robert Bauval, a very intriguing and compelling book, I was prompted to begin my own investigation into the astronomical symbolism and terminology encoded and embodied in the Pyramid Texts.

I read three different translations. R.O.Faulkner's, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Samuel Mercer's The Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentaries, vol.1, 2, 3, and 4, and Alexander Piankoffs', The Pyramid of Unas, -- Texts Translated with Commentary. I read the Faulkner translation, every page, from cover to cover several times, and what I found, being an amateur astronomer myself, was of the utmost of interest.

The Orion Mystery focuses on the constellation known to us as Orion and to the ancient Egyptians as Sahu and its alignment to the three pyramids on the Giza plateau. The Pyramid Texts contain much evidence that substantiates Mr Bauval's thesis - being, as they are, astro-theological texts which use an astral-symbolic language veiled by the more readily known language of the hieroglyphs.

As I stated I read three different translations, and found that the Faulkner translation was the clearest for my purposes.

Not only are there plentiful references to the Egyptian celestial god of resurrection Osiris-Sahu and his consort Isis-Ast, who was symbolized by the star Sirius (Sirius A to be exact) but there is an abundance of other astro-terminological references. Below are my findings after a careful scrutiny of each page in the Faulkner translation:

• 59 references to the "Imperishable Stars" [the northern circumpolar stars in our time]
• 25 references to the constellation of "Orion" [known to us as "Orion the Hunter"]
• 32 references to what the Egyptians called "the winding waterway" [to us, the Milky Way]
• 24 references to the star "Sirius/Sothis" [our star Sirius A]
• 23 references to the god "Horakhti" [our constellation of Leo]
• 300 references to the god "Ra" [our star, the Sun]
• 1 reference to "The Sphinxes of Re" [perhaps referring to the constellations of Leo Major and Leo Minor]
• 13 references to "the Bull of the Sky" [perhaps referring to the constellation of Taurus]
• 1 reference to "an Unwearying Star" [unknown]
• 1 reference to "the Celestial Baboon" [which I think is the constellation of Cetus, for it looks very similar to a monkey]
• 95 references to the celestial goddess "Nut" [in our times, the entire sky]
• 19 references to the "Morning Star" [possibly our Venus]
• 7 references to the "Celestial Serpent" [possibly our constellation of Draco]
• 5 references to the "nhh-star" [the eternal star]
• 1 reference to "the Serpent in the Sky" [possibly another reference to Draco]
• 5 references to "the Lone Star of the East" [possibly another reference to Venus]
• 1 reference to "the Street of Stars" [hsb.mskt shdw, possibly the Milky Way]
• 1 reference to "Planets being stilled" [meaning unknown]
• 5 references to "the New Moon" [cf the New Moon Festival]
• 1 reference to "the Shd-Star" [the inverted star]
• 1 reference to the "Celestial Portal" [unknown at this time]
• 1 reference to the "Pole of the Sky" [perhaps an axial determinative]
• 1 reference to the "Solar Bark" [unknown at this time]
• 1 reference to the "Ostrich on the banks of the winding water way" [perhaps the constellation of Perseus, which when superimposed with an ostrich, definitely resembles it.]

The above terms are what I have been able to extrapolate from R.O. Faulkner's translation of the Pyramid Texts. The sum total being 622 astronomical references expressed in a symbolic language.

Perhaps we do need a fresh approach to the study of the Pyramid Texts in a multidisciplinary fashion rather then just considering this as mumbo-jumbo generated by superstitious priests. For there is a deep profound spiritual message encoded in these texts, once one is able to break through the encoding scheme. I am not saying that I have done that. I think this is just a scratch on the surface.

References:

• "The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts", by R.O.Faulkner, Oxford University Press
• "The Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentaries", vol.1, 2, 3 and 4 by S.A.B. Mercer, New York 1952
• "The Pyramid of Unas, Texts Translated with Commentary" by Alexander Piankoff, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 1968

Copyright 1999 Richard Fields