The ancient Egyptians considered this book as inspired by the gods, who caused their scribe, Thoth, to write it down.  Every chapter is supposed to exist for the sake of persons who have died.  Sometimes chapters had to be recited before the body was put down out of sight.  Often a chapter, or more than one, was inscribed on the coffin, or sarcophagus, or mummy wrappings, this being thought a sure protection against foes of every kind.

This collection has been chiefly found written on papyrus in hieroglyphic or hieratic characters on coffins, mummies, sepulchral wrappings, statues, and on the walls of tombs.  Complete copies have been found written on tombs of the time of the 26th Dynasty (about 800 B.C.).

There are many recensions, or editions, in the various libraries of Europe and also in the East, and no two of them are identical in the text.  Lepsius translated from the Turin papyrus; Budge bases his translations on what is called the Theban recension.  But in all the text is exceedingly corrupt, and translation is often no more than a guess.  Owing to the number of proper names and technical terms which we have no means of understanding, it is often quite impossible to know the drift of large paragraphs, and even of whole chapters.  Since many of the chapters were treated merely as having a magical efficacy either when recited or when inscribed on something buried with the body, it was of small consequence whether or not the words were understood.  The bare recital or writing of names of gods, etc., had a magical efficacy according to the people who counted the Book of the Dead their sacred scriptures.

As regards date, the greater number of the hymns and prayers were recited by the people of Egypt on behalf of their deceased friends before the first dynasty had begun to reign.  Birch says before 3000 B.C.  The hymns and prayers were first of all preserved in the memory only, and their number was at an early time but small.  They were written down when the priests had doubts with regard to the meaning of certain terms, and wished to hand them on unimpaired to posterity, being influenced by the belief that the words of this sacred book were, as such, magically potent.  The oldest extant papyrus containing the Book of the Dead belongs to the 18th Dynasty, i.e., about 1500 B.C.; but we do not come across a complete copy, with the chapters collected and set in order much as they are to-day, until the 26th Dynasty (about the 7th century B.C.).  Previous to this the chapters seem to have been put together with no regard to order; probably they existed on different papyri, which were used as occasion required.  Commonly they would be sold, and for that purpose stored up.

The translations which can be recommended to students are those by Renouf, with text and notes; Budge, with text and notes; and that by C.H.S.  Davis, U.S.A. (based on Pierre).  All these editions include the vignettes, which are very helpful in understanding the text.