A modern term used to describe selections from ancient Egyptian funerary literature which were placed in the burial chamber or inside the sarcophagus of the deceased. The texts consisted of spells intended to guide the dead person’s journey through the underworld and into the afterlife. The Book of the Dead was usually written in hieroglyphic script on rolls of papyrus and often illustrated with scenes depicting the deceased on his or her journey. Web resource here.

Weighing of the Heart (det.). Book of the Dead for the Chantress of Amun Nany. Tomb of Meritamun, Deir el-Bahri, Egypt. Painted papyrus. Ca. 1050 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.