Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2007

Abstract

Although long recognized to include selections from the Pyramid Texts, not since their original publication in 1901 have the texts inscribed on the walls of the funerary chapel of Amenirdis I been adequately examined. Work on the funerary texts of Amenirdis has revealed her selections from the Pyramid Texts to be both unique and concise. Moreover, these thoughtfully chosen texts were meticulously laid out along the various walls of her funerary chapel such that their physical placement complemented their textual content. The texts, which are arranged along a North-South axis, include several allusions and references to elements of the Egyptian cosmos. Such references indicate that the South Wall represented the Duat, while the texts inscribed on, or close to, the North Wall included references to northern entities. Texts inscribed closest to the doorway equipped Amenirdis for her ascension to the sky. This paper relates the content of Amenirdis’s selections from the Pyramid Texts to their physical placement along the walls of her funerary chapel and argues that the particular arrangement of the texts was intended to guide Amenirdis out of her funerary chapel and to lead her toward the North sky.

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