The Cannibal Hymn
Also known as: Cannibal Hymn (PT 273–274), Cannibal Text, Utterances 273–274, Cannibal Spell
Two Pyramid Text utterances proclaim the deified king’s terrifying ascent, depicting Unas as a predator who hunts, slaughters, and consumes gods to absorb their powers. The hymn sacralizes royal apotheosis through violent cosmic imagery aligned with sunrise and sovereignty.
Description
Known as the Cannibal Hymn, Pyramid Texts 273–274 present the dead king Unas as a cosmic hunter whose epiphany terrifies heaven. Assisted by divine butchers, he slaughters the gods as sacrificial bulls, cooks their flesh, and consumes their magic and akh, thereby internalizing their potency. The hymn’s metaphors—bull of the sky, Island of Flame, and swallowing of crowns—map royal apotheosis onto celestial cycles, especially the dawn sun’s conquest of the night stars. Though couched in violent imagery, the text functions ritually to secure the king’s transformation and sovereignty among the gods, expressing archaic theology in compact, performative verse.
Historiography
The Cannibal Hymn is primarily preserved in Unas’ pyramid (PT 273–274), with debates over a parallel in Teti’s pyramid and a recognized Middle Kingdom adaptation as Coffin Text Spell 573. The text was first edited by Sethe (1908) and translated and analyzed by Faulkner (1924), with later authoritative translations by James P. Allen and commentary by Piankoff. Modern scholarship explores literary structure and solar-ritual symbolism, often reading the hymn as a metaphor for the dawn sun’s triumph rather than literal cannibalism.
Date Notes
Attested on the east gable of the antechamber in the Pyramid of Unas (end of Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty); a closely related version appears as Coffin Text Spell 573 in the Middle Kingdom.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Unas
- Ra
- Horus
- Seth
- Osiris
Myths
- Royal Apotheosis by Consuming the Gods
- The King as Star Ascendant
- Cosmic Dominion through Divine Feast
Notable Quotes
The sky was clouded, the stars were darkened; the heaven quivered; the bones of Aker trembled.
Unis is the bull of the sky, aggressive in his heart, living on the being of every god.
Unis is one who eats men and lives on gods, a lord of messengers who dispatches orders.
It is Shezmu who cuts them up for Unis, who cooks for him the things which are in them.
If he likes he acts; if he dislikes he does not act.
Facts
- Comprises two Pyramid Text utterances (PT 273–274) inscribed for King Unas.
- Primary attestation is in the Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara on the east gable of the antechamber.
- Imagery equates royal apotheosis with the dawn sun’s defeat of nocturnal stars.
- Shezmu functions as divine butcher; Khonsu and other agents assist in slaughter and cooking.
- The hymn speaks of Unas consuming the gods’ magic and akh to internalize their powers.
- Mentions the Island of Flame as the source of gods “full of magic.”
- References symbolic swallowing of the Red and Green Crowns as a statement of kingship.
- Language is Old Egyptian; verses display parallelism, allusion, and ritual performance cues.
- A related recension appears as Coffin Text Spell 573 in the Middle Kingdom.
- Modern readings favor metaphorical and solar-ritual interpretations over literal cannibalism.