The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts Translated into English by R. O.

Faulkner Review by: Dieter Mueller Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1/2 (Jan. - Apr., 1973), p. 251 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/543495 . Accessed: 30/10/2013 12:55
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BOOKREVIEws Computer centers might toy with mechanical philology as academic frills, but the present volume is unable to convince the reviewer of any value in such games.
HANS GOEDICKE

251

The Johns Hopkins University The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts Translated Into English. By R. O. FAULKNER. 2

vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969. Text Volume, pp. xiii + 330; Supplement of Hieroglyphic Texts, pp. i + 88. ?3.25 and ?1.80. The Pyramid Texts are the most important single source for the exploration of the earlier forms of religious beliefs in ancient Egypt, and first attempts at a translation were made by G. Maspero shortly after their discovery in 1880. From 1908 to 1910, K. Sethe supplied the learned world with an edition of the Egyptian text that has so far remained unsurpassed, and followed up this great achievement with a translation and commentary published posthumously between 1935 and 1962. Unfortunately, this translation only comprises the spells 213-582, and has not undergone the final revision that he had undoubtedly planned. The translation by S. A. Mercer which appeared in 1952 was in many respects a great step backward, and is mentioned here only because of the contributions by renowned scholars contained in the fourth volume. An up-to-date translation based upon our improved knowledge of Old Egyptian was therefore one of the major desiderata in Egyptology, and one feels profoundly grateful that it has now been supplied by so eminent an authority on Egyptian religion and philology as Raymond O. Faulkner. He has produced a rendering which is highly accurate, thoroughly reliable, and without doubt a philological masterpiece. As in all such undertakings, there are points where one might disagree with his solutions in details. This has its reasons in the extremely difficult and often enigmatic character of these texts and can thus not be the subject of this review, as it would illustrate the

opinions of the reviewer rather than those of the author. He has translated each spell (or "utterance") into continuous modern English prose, followed by a brief commentary that pertains mainly to philological matters but includes many valuable cross references and explanatory notes. The text volume concludes with extremely useful indexes of all divinities and localities mentioned in the Pyramid Texts, and a selection of modern proper names and of words discussed in the notes. After K. Sethe had completed his edition in 1922, the excavations carried out by G. J6quier in the funerary complexes of Pepi II, Neith, Apouit, Oudjebten, and Aba brought to light additional material supplementing the spells known up to that time. R. O. Faulkner has utilized this material in his translation and his notes, and republished the pertinent portions in a supplementary volume. The texts from the pyramids of Pepi II and Neith make it possible to fill gaps in the badly damaged Utt. 57-71 (for a later variant see CT 7 Sp. 858), 493, 502, 586, 603, 624-25, 634, 644-46, 654-58, 663-69, 691-93, 696, 698, and 704. Moreover, 45 new spells have been added to the extant collection, bringing the total up to 759. However, even this number cannot be considered final, as the author has been reluctant to include those texts which are only attested in the relatively late pyramid of Aba. Among them is the earliest version of BD chapter 99, translated by H. Kees in Miscellanea Academica Berolinensia (Berlin, 1950), pp. 77-96 from Aba lines 587-605. The second half of Utt. 627 (Pyr. 1778-85) is completely preserved only in Aba lines 625-37 whose text has been utilized for the translation, but does not appear in the supplement; the later variants in CT 6 Sp. 682 and CT 7 Sp. 990 merit at least passing reference. Paper, print, and binding of this excellent book are of the supreme quality one has come to associate with Clarendon Press; the amazingly low price deserves special mention.
DIETER MUELLER

The University of Lethbridge Lethbridge, Alberta

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