The Book of the Dead was primarily used during Egypt’s New Kingdom, beginning around 1550 BCE. It was a collection of funerary spells intended to help the deceased navigate the underworld and reach a blessed afterlife.
Its roots are older. The Pyramid Texts developed in the Old Kingdom, while the Coffin Texts became prominent during the Middle Kingdom. Many Book of the Dead spells adapted material from both traditions, but the distinctive papyrus manuscripts known by this name emerged around the Second Intermediate Period and flourished in the New Kingdom.
During the New Kingdom, copies were commonly written on papyrus and placed in tombs or coffins. They were not fixed books: a manuscript might contain a personalized selection of spells, illustrations, and protective formulas. Spell 125, depicting the weighing of the heart before Osiris, is among the best-known passages.
A common mix-up is treating the Book of the Dead as an Old Kingdom text simply because its tradition began with earlier pyramid inscriptions. The named collection belongs chiefly to the New Kingdom and continued, in revised forms, into later periods.