The literature that makes up theancient Egyptian funerary texts is a collection of religious documents that were used inancient Egypt, usually to help the spirit of the concerned person to be preserved in theafterlife.
They evolved over time, beginning with thePyramid Texts in theOld Kingdom through theCoffin Texts of theMiddle Kingdom and into several books, most famously theBook of the Dead, in theNew Kingdom and later times.
The funerary texts of theOld Kingdom were initially reserved for the king only. Towards the end of the period, the texts appeared in the tombs of royal wives.
These are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in theFirst Intermediate Period. Nearly half of the spells in the Coffin Texts derive from those in the Pyramid Texts.[1]
After theAmarna Period, a new set of funerary texts began to be used.[2] These centre on representations ofNut, the sky goddess. They represent the nighttime journey of the sun into and through her body, with her giving birth to the rejuvenated sun in the morning. From thetomb ofRamesses IV onwards two of theseBooks of the Sky were usually placed next to each other on the ceiling of royal tombs.