The Memphite Theology |
British Museum No. 498 (Shabaka Stone)
The text is carved on a rectangular slab of black granite, which measures 92 X 137 cm. It consists of two horizontal lines, written at the top across the entire width of the stone, and sixty-two columns which begin on the left side. In addition to numerous lacunae, the middle portion of the text, columns twenty-four to forty-seven, has been almost completely obliterated owing to the slab's reuse as a nether millstone.
As shown by its introduction, the text was copied onto the stone by order of King Shabaka of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (ca. 710 B.C.), because the original, written on papyrus or leather, was found to be worm-eaten. The text is a work of the Old Kingdom, but its precise date is not known. The language is archaic and resembles that of the Pyramid Texts.
The present translation is based on the studies of Sethe and Junker, which have achieved an overall understanding of this difficult work. In matters of detail many obscurities remain. According to Sethe, the text was a dramatic play accompanied by explanatory prose narrations, and comparable to medieval mystery plays. Junker, however, saw in it an expository treatise, written partly in explicatory and partly in narrative prose and interwoven with speeches of the gods in dialogue form. These speeches would have been derived from dramatic performances of the sacred myths with which the text is concerned.
If the text is viewed as essentially a treatise rather than a drama, it is implied that it has an inner unity and cohesion, and Junker has striven to demonstrate that this is the case, and has pointed out that it treats consecutively of three interrelated topics: (1) Ptah is the king of Egypt and the unifier of the land. (2) Memphis is the capital of Egypt and the hinge of Upper and Lower Egypt. (3) Ptah is also the supreme god and the creator of the world.
The Text
(1-2 horizontally) The living Horus: Who prospers the Two Lands; the Two Ladies: Who prospers the Two Lands; the Golden Horus: Who prospers the Two Lands; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Neferkare; the Son of Re: Sha[baka], beloved of Ptah-South-of-his-Wall, who lives like Re forever.1
Commentary: The author immediately establishes the concept of two levels, recapitulating the idea that man stands between two levels, or, has two natures.
This writing was copied out anew by his majesty in the House of his father Ptah-South-of-his-Wall, for his majesty found it to be a work of the ancestors which was worm-eaten, so that it could not be understood from beginning to end. His majesty copied it anew so that it became better than it had been before, in order that his name might endure and his monument last in the House of his father Ptah-South-of-his-Wall throughout eternity, as a work done by the Son of Re [Shabaka] for his father Ptah-Tatenen, so that he might live forever.
Commentary: although the authenticity of the antiquity of the source document has been called into question (see the British Museum's comments on same) the author's intention is to state that the ideas expressed in this record are, as far as they are concerned, an ancient esoteric cosmology.
(3) --- [King of Upper and Lower Egypt] is this Ptah, who is called by the great name: [Ta-te]nen [South-of-his-Wall, Lord of eternity] ---.
"South of his wall" may be an early equivalent of the idea of "seated on the right hand of God."
(4) --- [the joiner] of Upper and Lower Egypt is he, this uniter who arose as king of Upper Egypt and arose as king of Lower Egypt.
Indicates that the "ruler" (master, king, priest, or Yogi)is he who creates unity by bringing the two levels together.
(5) -------------------
(6) --- "self-begotten," so says Atum: "who created the Nine Gods."2
An extremely early reference to the enneagram, or set of 9: hence an introduction to what Gurdjieff called the law of octaves, a fractal cosmological system.
Gurdjieff's famous "map of pre-sand Egypt" from Meetings with Remarkable Men is widely understood, within the senior membership of the Gurdjieff Foundation, to refer to the enneagram. The implication is that the diagram may have originated in the schools of ancient Egypt or, at least, have been preserved by them; the Memphite Theology lends credence to this idea.
Horus and Ptah Are One
(7) [Geb, lord of the gods, commanded] that the Nine Gods gather to him. He judged between Horus and Seth; (8) he ended their quarrel. He made Seth king of Upper Egypt in the land of Upper Egypt, up to the place in which he was born, which is Su. And Geb made Horus king of Lower Egypt in the land of Lower Egypt, up to the place in which his father was drowned (9) which is "Division-of-the-Two-Lands." Thus Horus stood over one region, and Seth stood over one region. They made peace over the Two Lands at Ayan. That was the division of the Two Lands.
Geb, the "father of snakes," is a progenitor of Kundalini energy, the serpentine yogic energy symbolized in the cobra used as the king's diadem in Ancient Egypt. He presides over the ennead (nine gods), that is, the iteration of yogic energy through the circulation within the law of octaves. Serving as the "do" of the octave, Geb furthermore acts as the reconciling factor between the Holy Denying (Horus) and Holy Affirming (Set) "shocks" that preside over (regulate) the two realms (natural and spiritual, or, lower and upper Egypt.)
(ma) Geb's words to Seth: "Go to the place in which you were born." (10b) Seth: Upper Egypt. (111a) Geb's words to Horus: "Go to the place in which your father was drowned." (11b) Horus: Lower Egypt. (12a) Geb's words to Horus and Seth: "I have separated you." (12b) --- Lower and Upper Egypt.
Geb is the locus at the apex of the enneagram (do) that serves as the line of demarcation between the left and right sides, that is, the two realms.
(10c) Then it seemed wrong to Geb that the portion of Horus was like the portion of Seth. So Geb gave to Horus his inheritance, for he is the son of his firstborn son.3 (13a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "I have appointed (13b) Horus, the firstborn." (14a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "Him alone, (14b) Horus, the inheritanCe." (15a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "To this heir, (r15b) Horus, my inheritanCe." (16a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "To the son of my son, (16b) Horus, the JaCkal of Upper Egypt ---. (17a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "The firstborn, 070 Horus, the Opener-of-the-ways."4 (18a) Geb's words to the Nine Gods: "The son who was born --- (18b) Horus, on the Birthday of the Opener-of-the-ways."
A complex passage that may refer to the idea that work on this level is always dominated by the fact that we exist on this (the natural) level. The circulation withing the enneagram may encompass both a natural and spiritual realm but the body is inexorably tied to the natural one for as long as we live.
(13c) Then Horus stood over the land. He is the uniter of this land, proclaimed in the great name: Ta- enen, South-of-his-Wall, Lord of Eternity. Then sprouted (14c) the two Great Magicians upon his head.5 He is Horus who arose as king of Upper and Lower Egypt, who united the Two Lands in the Nome of the Wall, the place in which the Two Lands were united. (r 5c) Reed and papyrus were placed on the double door of the House of Ptah. That means Horus and Seth, pacified and united.
Tatenen, a hermaphroditic God, is specifically cited as "mistress," i.e. female, in this text. Cited (see the last paragraphs) as the "mistress of all life," Tatenen may be an early example of the Dominant female astral presence of the earth, the Virgin Mary (Kwan Yin.)
They fraternized so as to cease quarreling (16c) in whatever place they might be, being united in the House of Ptah, the "Balance of the Two Lands" in which Upper and Lower Egypt had been weighed. This is the land (17c) ----------------------- the burial of Osiris in the House of Sokar. ( r 8c) ---------------------- Isis and Nepthys without delay, (19) for Osiris had drowned in his water. Isis [and Nephthys] looked out, [beheld him and attended to him]. (2oa) Horus speaks to Isis and Nephthys: "Hurry, grasp him ---." (21a)
The theme of reconciliation and unity, repeated again.
Isis and Nephthys speak to Osiris: "We come, we take you ---." (20b) --------------------------- [They heeded in time] and brought him to (21b) [land. He entered the hidden portals in the glory of the lords of eternity]. . [Thus Osiris came into] the earth (22) at the royal fortress, to the north of [the land to which he had Come. And his son Horus arose as king of Upper Egypt, arose as king of Lower Egypt, in the embrace of his father Osiris and of the gods in front of him and behind him.]'
(23) There was built the royal fortress [at the command of Geb---]. (24a) Geb speaks to Thoth: ------------------------- . (25a-3oa) Geb speaks to Thoth: ---------------- . (31a-35a) ----------------------------------------- . (25b-26b) [Geb] speaks to Isis: ----------------------- . (z7b) Isis causes [Horus and Seth] to come. (28b) Isis speaks to Horus and Seth: "[Come] ---------------------------- ." (20) Isis speaks to Horus and Seth: "Make peace ------------------------- ." (3ob) Isis speaks to Horus and Seth: "Life will be pleasant for you when --------------------------- ." (31b) Isis 
speaks to Horus and Seth: "It is he who dries your tears (32b-35b) ------------ • (36-47) ---------------
Ptah the Supreme God
(48) The gods who came into being in Ptah:
(49a) Ptah-on-the-great-throne
(50a) Ptah-Nun, the father who [made] Atum.
(51a) Ptah-Naunet, the mother who bore Atum.
(52a) Ptah-the-Great is heart and tongue of the Nine [Gods].
(49b) [Ptah] who bore the gods.
(50b) [Ptah] -------------- who bore the gods.
(51b) [Ptah] --------------
(52b) [Ptah] ------------- Nefertem at the nose of Re every day.
This passage, difficult to interpret in its fragmented state, was probably an assignation of specific properties to the notes of the enneagram, mediated by the names of Gods, or influences.
(53) There took shape in the heart, there took shape on the tongue the form of Atum. For the very great one is Ptah, who gave [life] to all the gods and their kas through this heart and through this tongue, (54) in which Horus had taken shape as Ptah, in which Thoth had taken shape as Ptah.
[Alternative rendering: (53) Heart took shape in the form of Atum, Tongue took shape in the form of Atum. It is Ptah, the very great, who has given [life] to all the gods and their kas through this heart and through this tongue, (54) from which Horus had come forth as Ptah, from which Thoth had come forth as Ptah.]8
This is consonant with the Judeo-Christian creation myth, in which God created the universe with the word. And, as we shall see, the universe is indeed a form of language in its own right. (upcoming posts on the Language of the Lord, July 5-9.)
Perhaps most importantly, we see that the universe was created not just through the Tongue of Ptah- which occupies the note la, the note of purification — but also through the heart of Ptah, which occupies the note sol, Being.
In this sense we discover a universe whose very foundation and purpose, according to the interpretation provided by the enneagram, is the purification of Being, which rules over all activity:
Thus heart and tongue rule over all the limbs in accordance with the teaching that it (the heart, or: he, Ptah) is in every body and it (the tongue, or: he, Ptah) is in every mouth of all gods, all men, all cattle, all creeping things, whatever lives, thinking whatever it (or: he) wishes and commanding whatever it (or: he) wishes.9
Gurdjieff offered us a nearly identical universe in Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson — a universal tale in inexorable rotation around the central axis, or center of gravity, of the chapter The Holy Planet Purgatory.
In the Memphite theology, the ubiquity of the word of God, or, Ptah, is reminiscent of the Buddhist concept of the Dharma, another yogic concept referring to the absolute unity of all things—which is the ultimate theme in the Memphite theology.
(55) His (Ptah's) Ennead is before him as teeth and lips. They are the semen and the hands of Atum. For the Ennead of Atum came into being through his semen and his fingers. But the Ennead is the teeth and lips in this mouth which pronounced the name of every thing, from which Shu and Tefnut came forth, (56) and which gave birth to the Ennead."
This passage indicates a fractal cosmology. One ennead gives birth to another, creating a subordinate octave. this octave gives birth to yet another subordinate octave; in this way the universe repeats itself, level by level, with each level being a reflection of the level above it, and the progenitor of the level below it.
Sight, hearing, breathing—they report to the heart, and it makes every understanding come forth. As to the tongue, it repeats what the heart has devised." Thus all the gods were born and his Ennead was completed. For every word of the god came about through what the heart devised and the tongue commanded.
This passage places the heart at the center of the universe, indicating it is the motive force of everything that takes place. The suggestion is that Christian and Sufi practice regarding the central place of the heart in inner work was already well-established at the time this theology was current. Because the heart always represents Divine Love, and because the tongue represents the word of God, we have a theology where a loving quality presides of the universe, which is created by the word. Because "word" always designates "meaning," we are given a theology that centers around love and meaning.
(57) Thus all the faculties were made and all the qualities determined, they that make all foods and all provisions, through this word. <Thus justice is done> to him who does what is loved, <and punishment >12 to him who does what is hated. Thus life is given to the peaceful, death is given to the criminal. Thus all labor,all crafts are made, the action of the hands, the motion of the legs, (58) the movements of all the limbs, according to this command which is devised by the heart and comes forth on the tongue and creates the performance of every thing.13
This interesting passage denotes a specific teaching consonant with Swedenborg's contention that all outer action is a manifestation of inner qualities.
Thus it is said of Ptah: "He who made all and created the gods." And he is Ta-tenen, who gave birth to the gods, and from whom every thing came forth, foods, provisions, divine offerings, all good things.
Thus it is recognized and understood that he is the mightiest of the gods. Thus Ptah was satisfied after he had made all things and all divine words. (59) He gave birth to the gods, He made the towns,He established the nomes, He placed the gods in their (6o) shrines, He settled their offerings, He established their shrines, He made their bodies according to their wishes. Thus the gods entered into their bodies, Of every wood, every stone, every clay, Every thing that grows upon him (6i) In which they came to be. Thus were gathered to him all the gods and their kas, content, united with the Lord of the Two Lands."
Memphis the Royal City
The Great Throne that gives joy to the heart of the gods in the House of Ptah is the granary of Ta-tenen, the mistress of all life, through which the sustenance of the Two Lands is provided, (6z) owing to the fact that Osiris was drowned in his water. Isis and Nephthys looked out, beheld him, and attended to him. Horus quickly commanded Isis and Nephthys to grasp Osiris and prevent his drowning (i.e., his submerging). (63) They heeded in time and brought him to land. He entered the hidden portals in the glory of the lords of eternity, in the steps of him who rises in the horizon, on the ways of Re at the Great Throne. (64) He entered the palace and joined the gods of Ta-tenen Ptah, lord of years. Thus Osiris came into the earth at the Royal Fortress, to the north of the land to which he had come. His son Horus arose as king of Upper Egypt, arose as king of Lower Egypt, in the embrace of his father Osiris and of the gods in front of him and behind him.