The Coffin Texts (French: Textes des sarcophages or Textes des cercueils; English: Coffin Texts, abbreviated as CT) are a corpus of funerary texts written in cursive Hieroglyphs on certain sarcophagi from the Middle Kingdom.
The Coffin Texts represent an extension of funerary rites that were previously reserved for the king, incorporating material from the Pyramid Texts along with new spells. These are “magical” formulas intended to protect the deceased during their journey to the afterlife from hunger, thirst, and all potential dangers.
In total, nearly 1,185 units or chapters have been identified. Some of these include titles written in red ink. The length of these formulas varies greatly: while some are as brief as a single sentence, others are full paragraphs with introductions and conclusions.
Since it was impossible to inscribe all the texts onto a single sarcophagus, the tomb owner selected the excerpts they wished to include.
Several of these texts also appear in the Book of the Dead.
Egyptian Philology
In 1867, Karl Richard Lepsius published ancient versions of the Book of the Dead of the Ancient Egyptians, found inscribed on sarcophagi from the Middle Kingdom. Later, in 1886, he published the texts from the sarcophagus of Amamu (probably from the 11th Dynasty), which is preserved in the British Museum. This was followed by several publications dedicated to individual sarcophagi, such as Gaston Maspero’s work on Horhotep in 1889.
In 1903, the German scholar Hans Schack-Schackenburg brought attention to the Book of Two Ways based on a sarcophagus preserved in Berlin. That same year, Pierre Lacau published the texts from all the sarcophagi preserved in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in three volumes, followed by the transcription of sarcophagi texts discovered in Beni Hassan and Saqqara.
Between 1904 and 1914, Lacau continued his work of editing texts from sarcophagi preserved in Cairo under the title Textes religieux (Religious Texts).
The first nearly complete compilation of the Coffin Texts was undertaken by the Dutch scholar Adriaan de Buck between 1935 and 1961, titled The Egyptian Coffin Texts (seven volumes). Unfortunately, the project was left incomplete due to the author’s death in 1959, with many texts that were intended for an eighth volume remaining unpublished.
Building on this collection, Raymond Oliver Faulkner produced a complete English translation in three volumes between 1973 and 1978, titled The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts.
In 1986, Paul Barguet translated this corpus into French under the title Textes des sarcophages égyptiens du Moyen Empire (Texts of Egyptian Sarcophagi from the Middle Kingdom), consolidating the texts into thematic groupings.
A new French translation was carried out by Claude Carrier in 2004, spanning three volumes, and included transliterations of the texts.
Formation of the Corpus
Convergences with the Pyramid Texts
The corpus of the Coffin Texts was gradually developed over a long period. Its genesis is still difficult to describe due to the current lack of comprehensive knowledge on the subject.
Egyptologists continue to debate the circumstances surrounding the composition of these texts. However, scholars increasingly associate them with the Pyramid Texts, while still recognizing their unique characteristics.
This corpus is not definitive, as new archaeological discoveries continue to add variations and new passages.
Adriaan de Buck’s Coffin Texts, published between 1935 and 1961, remains the authoritative textual recension. However, additional documentation, such as the Coffin Texts from the Necropolises of Karf-Ammar, Harageh, and Sedment, can now complement it.
Simultaneously, research has also enriched the corpus of the Pyramid Texts. When comparing the two, overlaps become apparent. However, sarcophagi containing Pyramid Texts remain largely unpublished, as research has primarily focused on sarcophagi featuring new and original texts.
In his time, Adriaan de Buck excluded sarcophagi containing the Pyramid Texts from his compilation. Today, researchers investigate whether chapters from the Pyramid Texts served as prototypes for chapters in the Coffin Texts or, conversely, trace the evolution of Pyramid Texts into their counterparts within the Coffin Texts.
Chronology of the Coffin Texts’ Composition
When analyzing an Egyptian text, it is essential to distinguish between the date of its composition (or compilation) and the date of the document that preserves it. The Pyramid Texts, for instance, existed long before they were inscribed in the Pyramid of Unas, the oldest known monument containing them. This principle also applies to the Coffin Texts.
It is impossible to assign a single, precise date to the Coffin Texts, as they represent a heterogeneous collection of chapters composed over an extended period. Some chapters date back to before the Old Kingdom, while others were composed during the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom.
Funerary Practices
During the Middle Kingdom, most of the deceased in Egypt were not mummified, a practice that only became widespread at a later time. The necropolises at Deir el-Bersha and Asyut have yielded minimal evidence of this mortuary practice, as most bodies show no signs of mummification. Sometimes, the mere mention of mummification in inscriptions or the inclusion of symbolic canopic jars was deemed sufficient.
Burial typically involved a coffin, regardless of whether the body was mummified. At Deir el-Bersha, even lower social classes rarely practiced burial without a coffin.
However, practices varied across regions. For example, while many coffins have been found in the Necropolis of Asyut, a significant number of graves there lacked coffins. Documentation on modest coffins is limited, as locally sourced wood does not preserve well, even in arid conditions.
Additionally, Egyptological studies have historically focused on prestigious sarcophagi adorned with decorations and inscriptions. These elaborate coffins, often crafted from imported cedarwood, are rare.
Egyptologist Harco Willems estimates that only a small fraction of the Middle Kingdom population could afford a coffin with texts—approximately one in 1,470 individuals (0.68‰). He calculates an annual production of fewer than 24 such coffins, compared to an estimated 34,375 annual deaths in Upper Egypt alone.
Consequently, inscribing texts on sarcophagi was a funerary practice limited to a small elite minority. The Coffin Texts therefore reflect the beliefs of only a tiny segment of the population, providing little insight into broader societal views.
Origins of the Sarcophagi
Text-inscribed sarcophagi have been found throughout Egypt, from Memphis in the north to Aswan in the south. The Nile Delta region is an exception due to poor preservation conditions for wooden coffins.
Three regions stand out for their abundance of such sarcophagi: the necropolises of Memphis, Thebes, and the provincial governors (nomarchs) of Middle Egypt.
Memphis
Map of Memphis and Its Necropolises
Forty coffins with texts have been discovered in the Memphite region—thirty-six at Saqqara and four at Abusir. Their production spans from the beginning of the Middle Kingdom to the early reign of King Senusret I.
Most of these coffins originate from the cemetery associated with the pyramid city of Teti and the pyramid of Merikare II. This area was home to priests who performed rituals in the funerary temples of these two rulers.
One of the sarcophagi, for example, belonged to the priest Gemehniemhat (12th Dynasty), a priest of the cult of Merikare. This king, part of the 10th Dynasty of Heracleopolis, was engaged in conflict with the rulers of the 11th Dynasty of Thebes.
Ultimately, the Theban family, led by Mentuhotep II, defeated the Heracleopolitan kings. However, the Theban rulers did not abolish the funerary and commemorative cults of their deceased enemies.
During the Middle Kingdom, the funerary cults of Old Kingdom kings were still active. Evidence of this is found in the discovery of a ritual papyrus in the funerary complex of Pepi I, dated to the Middle Kingdom, which contains inscribed Pyramid Texts. These texts, intended for royal funerary rites, were likely composed by priests from Heliopolis and Memphis.
These same priests may also have been responsible for another funerary tradition, this one aimed at individuals close to the royal circle, such as nobles, governors, and priests.
Both traditions became integrated into the Coffin Texts corpus during the Middle Kingdom. Priests, who used these texts in their professional lives, desired to take them into the afterlife, having them inscribed on their coffins.
Thebes
After reunifying Egypt, King Mentuhotep II established Thebes, his city of origin, as the capital of the country. The city retained this status until King Amenemhat I decided to move the capital to Itjtawy (or Itji-tawy) near Lisht.
Twenty-six coffins with texts have been discovered in Thebes, nineteen of which date to the period when the city housed the nation’s elite. Among the Theban owners of text-inscribed sarcophagi were four queens, a vizier, a general, and several ministers.
The Theban coffins can be divided into two subgroups. On one hand, there is a specific style found only between Thebes and Aswan, distinguished by its decoration and the selection of magical spells. On the other hand, there is a style similar to that observed in the cemetery of the pyramid city of Teti.
These latter coffins were intended for members of the government, all of whom were buried near King Mentuhotep II.
No Middle Kingdom king had Coffin Texts inscribed on their coffins. As a result, during this period, royal funerary cults followed a different ritual tradition.
The corpus of the Coffin Texts is therefore not a royal funerary tradition that later spread to the general population. Instead, it represents a funerary tradition of the royal court from the late Old Kingdom, adopted in the Middle Kingdom by the nation’s ruling elite.
Middle Egypt
Hermopolis
The largest number of text-inscribed sarcophagi has been discovered in Middle Egypt: 29 in Asyut, 71 in Meir, 50 in Deir el-Bersha, and 14 in Beni Hassan.
While this funerary tradition was most prevalent at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom in Memphis and Thebes, it persisted much longer in Middle Egypt, extending well beyond the reign of Senusret I.
The sarcophagi from Deir el-Bersha exhibit the greatest richness and variety of texts, indicating that the priests of this locality had access to an extensive collection of religious archives.
It is highly likely that after his victory over the Heracleopolitans, King Mentuhotep II transferred the archives from Memphis not to Thebes but to Hermopolis, the city of Thoth, the god of scribes and knowledge.
This expansion of the Hermopolis library could have initiated a religious influence that first extended to Thebes and then to other Middle Egyptian localities.
Necropolises of the Nomarchs
At the end of the Old Kingdom, it is plausible that each region of Egypt was governed by a nomarch. During the First Intermediate Period, Upper Egypt experienced chaos as nomarchs clashed with one another.
Some nomes disintegrated, others became autonomous, and a few conquered neighboring nomes. To restore order and peace, the kings of the 11th Dynasty from Thebes abolished the position of nomarch, replacing them with less prestigious but more loyal administrators.
In northern Egypt, particularly in the Nile Delta and Middle Egypt, the situation was less turbulent. Consequently, the Heracleopolitan kings did not feel the need to strip the nomarchs of their powers.
The victory of the Theban Mentuhotep II over the Heracleopolitans marked the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Despite this Theban victory, the nomarchic dynasties of Middle Egypt managed to retain their positions, as evidenced by the necropolises of Antaeopolis, Asyut, Deir el-Bersha, and Beni Hassan.
These bastions of nomarchic power produced the highest number of text-inscribed sarcophagi. These provincial leaders remained highly influential until the reign of King Senusret III, after which the nomarchs gradually lost their power and eventually disappeared.
This decline in nomarchic authority in Middle Egypt coincided with the disappearance of the Coffin Texts; very few of these coffins date to periods after the reign of Senusret III.
Thus, the Coffin Texts did not reflect the funerary beliefs of the entire Middle Kingdom population but rather those of the Middle Egyptian elite.
Quotes from the Coffin texts
Coffin text 1130 is a speech by the sun god Ra, who says:
Hail in peace! I repeat to you the good deeds which my own heart did for me from within the serpent-coil, in order to silence strife …
I made the four winds, that every man might breathe in his time …
I made the great inundation, that the humble might benefit by it like the great …
I made every man like his fellow; and I did not command that they do wrong. It is their hearts which disobey what I have said …
I have created the gods from my sweat, and the people from the tears of my eye.
