Book of the Dead: Did you mean...?

The book of Job in the Hebrew Bible is found among the books designated Ketuvim ("writings"), along with Ecclesiastes and the Book of Proverbs. All three belong to a genre known as wisdom literature. The books share a common ancient cultural...

Hieratic Book of the Dead of Padimin written on linen; mummy wrapping. From Akhmim, Egypt. Late Period, after 664 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

A detail of the Book of the Dead of Henuttawy, depicting the goddess Nut arched over the god Geb. Geb is depicted with the head of a snake. The full papyrus measures 74 cm x 23 cm (29 in x 9 in). Egypt. Third Intermediate Period (c. 1069-525...

A detail from the Book of the Dead of Tayesnakht from Thebes, Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 BCE. (Egyptian Museum, Turin)

A detail from the Book of the Dead of Aaneru from Thebes, Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, 1070-946 BCE. (Egyptian Museum, Turin)

Beginning in the 4th century BCE, funerary texts from "the Book of the Dead" were inscribed in hieratic directly on the wrappings of the mummy. Here, the deceased is named Djedher, son of Sekhmetnefret. Late Period, 4th century BCE or later...

Fragment of a linen mummy shroud with texts from the Book of the Dead, written in ink. From Thebes, Egypt. 18th Dynasty, circa 1500 BCE.

A portion of an Egyptian Book of the Dead in the hieroglyphic cursive script of Pashed. Papyrus. XVIII-XIX Dynasty. (Archaeological Museum, Milan, Italy)

Ancient Egyptian literature comprises a wide array of narrative and poetic forms including inscriptions on tombs, stele, obelisks, and temples; myths, stories, and legends; religious writings; philosophical works; wisdom literature; autobiographies...

A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one reason or another, either returned from the realm...