#ritner

Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, Book of the Dead, and various texts in the royal tombs of the New Kingdom have proved resistant to consensual classification. Clearly designed for a single individual (the tomb owner), these "personal" texts yet provide the greatest insights into the broader religious concerns of the country, including the relation of gods to men, the conception of afterlife, the judgment of sins, etc. Moreover, there is little hesitancy on the part of the speaker of these spells to mingle praise and threats, respectful "prayer" an demands. Opinions as to the nature of this literature has, accordingly, varied.