In the New Kingdom, the spells of the The Coffin Texts gave way to a new form: spells written on papyrus rolls placed in the tomb. We call them the Book of the Dead.
Key idea
From the New Kingdom, spells for the journey through the afterlife were written on papyrus rolls placed in the tomb. Egyptians called them "spells for going forth by day", and each roll was a selection made for its owner.
The Egyptian title, rw nw prt m hrw, means "spells for going forth by day": the dead hoped to leave the tomb by day and move freely. The modern name comes from the German scholar Karl Richard Lepsius, who published a long papyrus in Turin in 1842 as the Todtenbuch, "Book of the Dead", and numbered its spells.
| Spell | What it does |
|---|---|
| 6 | tells a shabti to work for its owner |
| 30B | asks the heart not to speak against its owner (often on heart scarabs) |
| 110 | the Field of Reeds, with its map |
| 125 | the judgment and the declarations of innocence |
Why it works
Why papyrus? A roll could hold many spells and colored pictures (vignettes), was easier to make than painted coffins, and could be ordered to suit the buyer. Workshops made rolls in advance with blank spaces for the owner’s name; a buyer chose what he could afford. That is why no two rolls are the same: about two hundred spells are known, but each roll has a selection.
Worked example: Filling in the name
A Book of the Dead roll has empty spaces where the owner’s name should be. What does that suggest?
- Workshops made rolls in advance.
- The buyer’s name was to be added later.
- Sometimes it never was.
Answer: It was made ready-made, for sale.
Worked example: One book or many?
Two rolls from the same century have different spells in a different order. Is one of them a bad copy?
- Each roll was a selection, made for its owner.
- There was no single fixed book.
- Different selections are normal.
Answer: No: each roll was its own selection.
Common mistake
Thinking the Book of the Dead was one fixed book. Each roll was a selection of spells, made for its owner. Quick check: Egyptians said "spells", plural, not "the book".