What is the Book of the Dead?

Dr. dig responds:
The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian collection of spells or magic formulas, written on papyrus, tomb walls, or coffins and placed in tombs. The spells were believed to protect and aid the deceased in the hereafter. The Book of the Dead was probably compiled and re-edited during the 16th century B.C., and the collection included the so-called Coffin Texts dating from c. 2000 B.C., the Pyramid Texts dating from c. 2400 B.C., and other writings. Later compilations included hymns to Re, the sun god. Numerous authors, compilers, and sources contributed to the work. Scribes copied the texts on rolls of papyrus, often colorfully illustrated, and sold them to individuals for burial use.

Many copies of the book have been found in Egyptian tombs, but none contains all of the approximately 200 known chapters. The collection, literally titled "The Chapters of Coming-Forth-by-Day," received its present name from Karl Richard Lepsius, a German Egyptologist who published the first collection of the texts in 1842.