The Book of the Dead

The Egyptian Book of the Dead was written by people living around 1550 BCE. It is a collection of texts about the journey from death to the underworld. While people once believed that only pharaohs could reach the afterlife, ordinary Egyptians eventually believed they could too. According to sources, the Book of the Dead was not written by a single author. Instead, it is a compilation of ancient Egyptian funerary texts containing spells and magic formulas to help the deceased navigate the afterlife and reach paradise. These texts developed from earlier writings, like the Pyramid Texts, and were used from about 1550 BCE onward.

Death

The Egyptians buried people in tombs to help them reach the afterlife. If the person was important, like a king or queen, special items belonging to them would be placed in the tomb. After the tomb was packed with salt and natron, a naturally occurring mineral, it would be placed in a pyramid. In some cases, if a king or queen wanted a servant to accompany them into the afterlife, that servant would unfortunately be killed when the king or queen died.

Afterlife

According to the Getty Museum, Book of the Dead is a modern term used to describe a series of ancient Egyptian ritual spells. Ordinary people had to face 42 assessor gods, recite their names, and declare sins they had not committed. These spells helped the deceased find their way to the afterlife and become united with the sun god Ra and the underworld god Osiris in a continual cycle of renewal and rebirth. They also had to weigh their heart against an ostrich feather; if the heart was heavier, it meant they had lied, and if it was lighter, it meant they had told the truth. Only after passing this test could they finally enter the afterlife.

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