A drawing from the Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead evolved from the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom – the world’s oldest funerary texts. These spells and rituals were inscribed on tomb walls of high-ranking Egyptians only.

By the Middle Kingdom these secrets became available to anyone who could afford a ritual burial and were inscribed on the insides of coffins, for the mummies to ‘read’. Eventually, the Coffin Texts became the Book of the Dead that was widely used throughout the New Kingdom.

The heart was the seat of life for the Egyptians, so four spells were dedicated to protecting the deceased’s heart. Spell number 23, the ‘Opening of the Mouth’, was also crucial, since it restored the mummy’s senses for the afterlife.