> Skip to content
  • Published: 2 October 2008
  • ISBN: 9780140455502
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 992
  • RRP: $48.00

The Egyptian Book of the Dead




New to Classics, with a new introduction by one of the best known Egyptologists of our time

The Book of the Dead is a unique collection of funerary texts from a wide variety of sources, dating from the fifteenth to the fourth century BC. Consisting of spells, prayers and incantations, each section contains the words of power to overcome obstacles in the afterlife. The papyruses were often left in sarcophagi for the dead to use as passports on their journey from burial, and were full of advice about the ferrymen, gods and kings they would meet on the way. Offering valuable insights into ancient Egypt, The Book of the Dead has also inspired fascination with the occult and the afterlife in recent years.

  • Published: 2 October 2008
  • ISBN: 9780140455502
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 992
  • RRP: $48.00

Other books in the series

Maldoror and Poems
On Sparta
Love
Annals
Military Dispatches

About the author

John Romer

John Romer graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1966 and began his work in Middle Eastern archaeology shortly thereafter, serving on American and German expeditions in Egyptian Thebes and acting as Field Director of the Brooklyn Museum Theban Expedition, conducting the first physical survey and conservation studies in the Valley of the Kings, and excavating the tomb of Ramesses XI. Romer has also dedicated a great part of his time to archaeological conservation and, as an aid to raising public awareness of the importance and fragility of the past, has made many TV and radio documentaries, to international critical acclaim. Besides numerous specialist articles and reports, his books have included Valley of the Kings; Ancient Lives; and The Seven Wonders of the World (with Elizabeth Romer). His latest book is The Great Pyramid; Ancient Egypt Revisited.

Also by John Romer

See all