Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead is not a single book but a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary texts consisting of spells and instructions to help guide the deceased through the afterlife. These texts were typically written on papyrus scrolls and placed in tombs with the deceased. The manuscripts vary in length from a few pages to over 40 meters long. The spells were often accompanied by vivid illustrations and hieroglyphic text, painted or written in black and red ink. Each Book of the Dead was unique, custom-made for the individual, though they drew from a core collection of about 200 standard spells.