Book of the Dead

The complete Book of the Dead - Papyrus of Ani 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

The Book of the Dead is a group of funerary chapters which began to appear in ancient Egypt around 1600 BC.

In the Old Kingdom, only in certain cases and for special emphasis did Spells include a vignette, but by the Ramsesside Period, the reverse is true and only a few Spells are un-illustrated. In Dynasty 21 and in the Late Kingdom, vignettes were often used for the Spells, without the texts. But in many manuscripts the vignettes constitute a row of pictures, with texts placed beneath them.

These ancient texts were commissioned bythe deceased before their death, and were the deceased's guide Book to a happy afterlife. The text was intended to be read by the deceased during their journey into the underworld. It enabled the Dead to overcome obstacles of the underworld and not lose their way. It did this by teaching passwords, giving clues, and revealing routes that would allow to answer questions and navigate around hazards. It would grant the help and protection of the gods while proclaiming the deceased's identity with the gods to attain an afterlife of bliss in the Fields of Reeds.

The texts are divided into individual Spells or chapters, two hundred in total, though no one papyrus contains them all. Specific chapters could be selected out of the total repertoire. If the prospective owner of a Book was wealthy and his death not untimely, he might commission a Scribe to write the text for him, based upon his personal choice of Spells. Other less wealthy clients had to make do with a ready made text template.