![[Burial_chamber_in_Unas'_pyramid.jpg]] *The burial chamber with protective spells protecting the sarcophagus and its contents in the Pyramid of Unas, about 4,353 years ago.* Important elements of the Gilgamesh story seem focused on exploring the differences and the tension between life in the city and life in the adjacent, "uncivilized" countryside. We will see this tension again soon, from the perspective of country people. In contrast, Egypt was less concerned with a countryside that scarcely existed, having been replaced by desert, by the time they began writing things down. The earliest Egyptian texts were carved on the interior walls of pyramids and consist of spells, hymns, and rituals designed to protect deceased rulers on their journey into the afterlife. They first appear in the [Pyramid of Unas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Unas#:~:text=Unas's%20complex%20is%20situated%20between,cu), begun about 4,375 years ago. Many of the 700 "utterances" are directed at Osiris, the god of fertility, agriculture, death, and the afterlife; and explore ideas of immortality, divines justice, and cosmic order. These hieroglyphs on the walls of tombs evolved into the Egyptian Coffin Texts (4,000 years ago) and the Book of the Dead (3,550 years ago). Without the challenge of neighboring lands and people, Egyptians turned their attention to mysteries beyond death. ![[El_pesado_del_corazón_en_el_Papiro_de_Hunefer.jpg]] *Egyptian Book of the Dead: Anubis weighing a dead man's heart against a feather.* ----- Next: [[4.13 - Tanakh]] Back: [[4.11 - Enkidu]]