The Book of the Dead
Spells to get a soul safely through judgement, sold ready-made with a blank for the name.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 350 years
- Known to
- ± 100 years
- Era
- Bronze Age, Holocene
The collection Egyptians called the Book of Coming Forth by Day assembles around 200 spells to protect and guide the dead, written on papyrus and placed in the burial. Its central scene is the weighing of the heart against the feather of Maat before Osiris, with the monster Ammit waiting to devour anyone who fails. Copies were produced speculatively by workshops with the owner's name left blank to be filled in on purchase.