This ancient collection of incantations, painted and carved on the interior of wooden coffins nearly four thousand years ago, is among the most intimate spiritual writings ever preserved. In the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, the hope of renewal was literally written around the bodies of the dead: spells for bread and beer, for breath, for warding off serpents, and for crossing the sky in the sun god's boat. Faithfully rendered in clear, present-day English, this edition makes the Coffin Texts inviting to today's general reader without flattening their strangeness or beauty. It follows the order and spirit of the original compositions, acknowledging that these spells were gathered by many hands over many generations. Here is a world where words hold the power to feed, protect, and transform the soul, and where every tomb is a doorway and every name a key. Part of The World Scriptures Library.