Fragment of the Book of the Dead of Pashed, Papyrus, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty (13th to 12th century BC), unknown origin (Inv. n.  E 0.9.40322)

The papyrus fragment belonging to the scribe Pashed contains, in elegant hieroglyphs, the spells “for coming forth by day”, which egyptologists called the Book of the Dead. The text, which appeared at the beginning of the New Kingdom and was in use until the Ptolemaic Era, consists of a series of spells and magical rituals (approximately 192) which helped the deceased overcome obstacles in the perilous journey towards the new eternal life in the hereafter. The spells from the text could be written not only on papyrus scrolls, which were placed inside the sarcophagus, but in part also on the sarcophagi, on the very walls of the tomb and on some of the grave goods.