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Sylvhia
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The Coffin Texts
Hail in peace! I repeat to you the good deeds which my own heart did for me from within the serpent-coil, in order to silence strife...
I made the four winds, that every man might breathe in his time...
I made the great inundation, that the humble might benefit by it like the great...
I made every man like his fellow; and I did not command that they do wrong. It is their hearts which disobey what I have said...
I have created the gods from my sweat, and the people from the tears of my eye.(Coffin text 1130 is a speech by the sun god Re)
Coffin Texts derived from the texts of the Pyramids, a set of ritual funerary formulas carved on the tombs of rulers from the period called the Old Kingdom.
The formulas were designed to ensure the sovereign's rise among the gods and its reunification with the sun god Ra and appear for the first time in the tomb of Unis (pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty)
Being ritual formulas written in an archaic and sometimes dark language, it is not always possible to fully understand their meaning also because the texts do not form an organic corpus.
Coffin Texts differ from the Pyramid Texts because they are written on wooden coffin and express desires and fears of the human being.
They are considered transient texts that led to the Book of the Dead.
After the troubled First Intermediate Period, the appearance of these texts announced the awakening of Egyptian civilization, from a long period of obscurantism and spiritual anarchy due to the social and political struggles that started at the end of the Old Kingdom had considerable influence on religion and rites.
Sovereign power became weak, and governors becamo more rich and powerful; this dualism led to the Egypt economic collapse and the democratization of funeral rituals. This development seemed more related to religious speculation that a genuine renewal because it allowed the nobles and ordinary citizens to aspire to rebirth, but only if they could afford the sumptuous and expensive funeral costs.
In the Middle Kingdom new religious principles such as equality of men before the deity, the equal opportunity for everyone to be born again and guilt, bore.
To help the deceased to overcome the obstacles on afterlife way (Duat) gifts and dogmatic Pyramid Texts were transcribed on the coffin, as in a manual. These were also copied on papyrus that were placed along the body so that the spells were more close to the deceased and therefore more powerful.
The sarcophagus, which in Egyptian texts was called "neb ankh" ie possessor of life, was an obviously essential element in the funeral ritual because it had to protect the mortal remains for eternity. The cover was the sky, the bottom was the ground and sides indicated the four cardinal points.
The deceased was buried with his head to the north, his face turned toward the east where the sun rose up and regenerated; on the sarcophagus two eyes were drawn, two "udjat" (Horus' Eye symbol of prosperity, of royal power and good health) with the purpose to allow to look outside, to not lose touch with the real world.
In contrast to the Pyramid Texts which focus on the celestial realm, the coffin texts emphasize the subterranean elements of the afterlife ruled by Osiris, in a place called the Duat. An Osirian afterlife is offered to everyone, and the deceased is even referred to as "the Osiris-[name]". This subterranean realm is described as being filled with threatening beings, traps, and snares with which the deceased must contend. The spells in the Coffin Texts allow the deceased to protect themselves against these dangers and "dying a second death".
A new theme recorded in the coffin texts is the notion that all people will be judged by Osiris and his council according to their deeds in life. The texts allude to the use of a balance, which became the pivotal moment of judgment in the later Book of the Dead. The texts address common fears of the living, such as having to do manual labor, with spells to allow the deceased to avoid these unpleasant tasks.
They combine ritual actions intended as protection, expressions of aspiration for a blessed existence after death and of the transformations and transmigrations of the ba and akh and so on. In addition there are descriptions of the land of the dead, its landscape and inhabitants. These include the Sekhet Hotep (Field of offerings or peace), the paths of Rostau and the abode of Osiris.
*Attention please* - - "This translation (and / or content) is made by Sylvhia exclusively for "I Nove Mondi Forum". In case of partial or full release is mandatory to link to the original source and the required credits".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_Texts
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testi_dei_sarcofagi
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The Coffin Texts |
