The hieroglyphs are Egyptian religious spells that were later put in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The earliest known pyramid texts are from the pyramid of Pharoah Unas or Wenis (last of the fifth dynasty pharaohs [see: Old Kingdom]) at Saqqara, dating from the middle of the third millennium B.C. The material so contained is thought to include information on the mythology from earlier periods. They include the idea that the pharaoh is transfigured at death from Horus to Osiris.
Here is an example of translated pyramid text that refers to the Heliopolitan cosmogony, given in the article by Anthes (see references below):
"[The pharaoh] is the unequaled one who belongs to the great corporation [sc. the Ennead] which was born in the beginning in Heliopolis" (Pyr. 1040- 41).
The pyramid text shown shows material from the successor of Unas, Teti or Othoes, first pharaoh of the 6th dynasty, also at Saqqara. Later pyramid texts appear in the tombs of queens and officials.
References:
- Kris Hirst's Definition of the Pyramid Texts
- Tour Egypt's Pyramid Texts
- "Egyptian Theology in the Third Millennium B. C., by Rudolf Anthes. Journal of Near Eastern Studies (1959).
