Poureth down water from the heavens
tremble the stars
quake the bones of aker
those beneath take flight when they see
unas rising
The akh of unas is behind him
the conquerer are beneath his feet
his gods are in him
his uraei are on his brow
the words of unas protect him
unas this bull of the heavens
thattrusteth with his will
Living on utterances of fire from
the lake of flame
unas that devoureth men and liveth on the gods
Behold amkebu hath snared them for unas
behold tecber tep f hath known them and
driven them unto unas
behold her tbertu hath bound them
behold khensu the slaughterer of lords
hath cut their throats for unas
behold shesemu hath cut them up for unas
Unas hath ingested their spirits
hath feasted on their immortality
he hath consumed their shadows
unas the slayer of the gods
Unas the sekhem great
the sekhem of the sekhemn
unas the ashem great
the ashem of the ashemn
behold orion
unas riseth
Unas hath taken possession
of the hearts of the gods
unas feedeth on their entrails
he hath gorged on their unuttered sacred words
he hath assimilated the wisdom of the gods
his existence is everlasting
Behold the souls of the gods are in unas
their spirits are in unas
the flame of unas in their bones
their shadows are with their forms
unas is rising
hidden hidden
[unas was the ninth and last pharaoh of the 5th dynasty. he is said to have lived from 2375 to 2345 b.c., but some egyptologists date him as far back as 5330 b.c. the internal structure of his pyramid is known for incorporating several innovative features, but is most recognized for the inclusion of vertical lines of hieroglyphs on the walls of the vestibule and burial chamber. when maspero opened the unas pyramid in 1881, he found texts covering these stone walls to be extremely difficult to decipher, because of their archais characters, forms, and spellings. these were magickal/religious texts, designed to ensure the safe passage of the pharaoh into the next world. they are known today as the andquot;pyramid texts.andquot; according to these texts, unas became great by eating the flesh of his mortal enemies and then slaying and devouring the gods themselves. those gods that were old and worn out (egyptian gods aged and died) were used as fuel for unasand's fire. after devouring the gods and absorbing their spirits and powers, unas journeys through the day and night sky to become the star sabu, or orion. while this is certainly not the first reference to cannibalism in old kingdom texts, what is notable is the method by which the pharaoh unas achieves deification and immortality; by turning on the gods, slaying and then devouring them, and thus ascending to the heavens to become the star orion. the concept was remarkable to maspero, who found the idea to be of andquot;absolute savagery.andquot; maspero seemed to be reeling from a confrontation with a symbolic revival of pre-dynastic cannibalistic rites - which are suggested, according to maspero, by the gnamed and disconnected bones found in certain early graves. professor petrie suggests that at the original sed festival, the tribal king appears to have been sacrificed and devoured, so that his people might derive from his flesh and blood the power and virtues which made him great. this practise was based on a belief in contagious magick. bulls and boars were eaten to give men strength and courage, deer to give fleetness of foot, and serpents to give cunning. the blood of slain and wounded warriors was drunk so that their skill and bravery might be imparted t the drinkers. similarly, unas feasts after death on the spirits of the gods, and on the bodies of men and gods. he swallows their spirits, souls, and names, which are contained in their hearts, livers, and entrails, thus, unas becomes allpowerful. in attempting to bring this epic-length text to song from, it was necessary to make some minor concessions, firstly, that every version i have at home of the text is translated somewhat differently, and thus there is not any singularly definitive versions; and secondly, that it would just not be possible to include every last line from the original text. that would probably necessitate a song inconceivable in length. as it is, in concise song lyric form, andquot;unas slayer of the godsandquot; weighs in at about 12 minutes plus - and that is using what would be considered only the bare minimum essential lines for the development and presentation of the main aspects of the text. for those interested in reading the entire work, there are several versions readily available online or by ordering from a local bookstore. i typed in andquot;unas slayer of the godsandquot; in a couple of search engines and was astounded at the number of results that came back.]
