The Book of the Dead
Ancient Egyptian funerary spells for the afterlife journey.
The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian funerary text written on papyrus, used from around 1550 BC to about 50 BC. It consists of a loose collection of magic spells intended to assist a dead person's journey through the Duat (underworld) and into the afterlife. The original Egyptian name translates as 'Spells of Coming Forth by Day.'
Quick Facts
- Type
- Narrative artifact; Quest item
- Game
- Planescape: Torment
- Setting
- Sigil, Outland (Planescape campaign setting)
- Developer
- Black Isle Studios
- Publisher
- Interplay
- Release year
- 1999
- Thematic role
- Mortality
- memory
- and the construction of self
Lore & Background
The Book of the Dead developed from earlier funerary texts such as the Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts. It was placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased. There was no single canonical version; surviving papyri contain varying selections of spells and illustrations. The finest extant example is the Papyrus of Ani, discovered in Luxor in 1888 and now in the British Museum.
Reader's Guide
The Book of the Dead includes spells for preserving the deceased's being, guiding them through the underworld, and protecting them from hostile forces. Spell 125, the 'Weighing of the Heart,' is first known from around 1475 BC. The text was most commonly written in hieroglyphic or hieratic script on papyrus scrolls, often with vignettes.
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