Unas: Why Is This Small Pyramid So Important?

Unas was the last king of Egypt's Fifth Dynasty, reigning about thirty years in the 24th century BCE. His small pyramid at Saqqara holds the first Pyramid Texts ever carved.

Unas, also written Wenis, was the ninth and last king of the Fifth Dynasty, reigning about thirty years in the 24th century BCE. His pyramid at Saqqara is the smallest completed royal pyramid of the Old Kingdom, but inside it holds something new: the walls of the burial chamber and antechamber are covered with hieroglyphs, the first Pyramid Texts ever carved.

About 283 spells line the rooms, filled with blue pigment on white stone, with a ceiling of stars. They send Unas to the sky: he ascends, joins Ra, becomes a star among the circumpolar stars, and is identified with Osiris. The Cannibal Hymn in his tomb describes him hunting and eating the gods to take their power, a king who rules the heavens by force.

Outside, Unas built a causeway about 750 meters long lined with carved reliefs. One famous scene shows starving, emaciated people, which has been read as a record of famine, though its meaning is debated. Other reliefs show boats bringing granite columns from Aswan. Whatever it meant, it is among the most unusual images in Old Kingdom royal art.

Unas's memory lasted. His funerary cult continued into the Middle Kingdom, and he was later revered as a local god at Saqqara. Over a thousand years after his death, Khaemwaset, a son of Ramesses II, restored his pyramid and carved an inscription recording the work. The tomb's texts are what made him famous in modern times, since they are the oldest sizable religious writings from Egypt.