Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

656 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
become one with Osiris, and that he must suffer the same
fate as once Osiris suffered. As Osiris, the son of the Earthgod
Keb and of the goddess of heaven Newt, was killed
bv his brother Set, so also must man suffer death. And as
Horus takes revenge against the accusers and murderer of
his father Osiris, he will do the same for man. A hymn to
the dead says "
: Hear, hear, what Horus has done for thee,
he has slain those who slew thee, he has bound those who
bound thee. Ended is the lamentation in the hall of the
gods, thou goest out to heaven, thy son Horus leads thee
to heaven ; to thee the heavens are given ; to thee the earth
is given ; to thee are given the fields of the Blessed."
Most of the sayings contained in the pyramid texts are
composed in poetical language, practically the same which
runs through the poetry of the Hebrews and which is
known as parallelism. It is made up by allowing one sentence
to be followed by one or more which in
contents and
form are equal to the first. In other respects the correct
understanding of these texts is extremely difficult, as they
mostly contain a play on traditions, legends or myths which
have been lost or with which we are not acquainted. At
the same time there is some consolation in knowing that
many of these texts were not understood even at the time
when they were inscribed in the pyramids of the kings of
the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties. The several chapters show
blunders of the most pronounced type, which can
only be
explained by the fact that the scribes themselves did not
understand their meanings.
The discovery and publication of these pvramid texts is
not only of value for the history of the Egyptian religion,
but it is also of epoch-making importance for Egyptian philology.
For these texts show us the oldest known forms of
the Egyptian language. Through them we have become
acquainted more particularly with the vocalization of the
ancient Egyptian ; they have given us for the first time an