Phrases inscribed on the walls of an Egyptian pyramid are revealed to be Semitic spells designed to ward off snakes.

Ancient spells inscribed on the walls of an ancient pyramid near Cairo have finally been deciphered more than a century after they were discovered.

The magical passages on the walls of the underground chambers in the step pyramid of King Unas at Saqqara were placed there to keep the mummified king safe.Richard Steiner, a professor of Semitic languages and literature at New York’s Yeshiva University, claims that the inscriptions found on the tomb walls are Semitic and are charms designed to protect the deceased king from Egypt’s deadly snakes.

Adopted from the Canaanites nearly 5,000 years ago, the spells may well be the oldest Semitic texts ever discovered and are interspersed in religious texts in Egyptian characters.

The phrases have puzzled archaeologists since they were found in the 19th century, but the Semitic connection seems to have solved the riddle.

An Egyptologist emailed the spells, which date back to the third millennium BC, to Professor Steiner in 2002 to who recognised the ancient Semitic word for “mother snake”.

Source: UKTV

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