 Death has preoccupied us since the dawn of our species, and elaborate burial may not even have been human beings' exclusive option, but mortuary rites to stave off terror of the great nothingness certainly reached new heights with our species. Among the most enthralling to us was the ancient Egyptians, literally spellbinding practices of shepherding the duly departed to the next world. Wait, do you hear this? Essentially, well-to-do Egyptians were buried with manuals to help the deceased transition to the afterlife and join the gods. And now for the first time a new analysis of catalogue papyrus F.M.N.H. 31324 containing an edition of the first book of breathing has shed light on its derivation and on ancient Egyptian funerary literature in general. Foy Skafe, head of research archives at the University of Chicago, published his analysis in October's edition of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Starting about 4,400 years ago, elaborate funerary texts were inscribed on the walls of ancient Egyptian pyramids and sarcophagi, and the Book of the Dead began to appear around 3,700 to 3,500 years ago. And that in turn begat three types of books of breathing which are basically manuals on how to achieve god-like status and generally manage yourself in the afterlife, including how to breathe after death. The three books of breathing were a letter for breathing written by ISIS. All these books, whether inscribed on a pyramid wall or coffin or pinned on a papyrus, fulfill the same basic purpose. To help the owner of the text join the gods in the afterlife, and these are not books as we think of books. Their collections of spells written on papyrus, books of breathing varied in wording and illustrations, and so did the books of the dead. The researchers told Ruth Schuster, writing for hearts, that the pyramid texts, coffin texts, and Book of the Dead are related, with a clear transmission of spells over time. The three books of breathing are almost exclusively written on papyrus, while the earlier funerary literature was found all over various materials and in the tomb itself. Ask about the differences between the three books of breathing. Foy Scaff explains that all have the same purpose and roughly similar content. He also points out that all were handwritten, and hence, no two were exactly alike. But among other things, ISIS text tells the user to roll up the papyrus, wrap it in linen, and place it under the mummy's left arm. The first book of breathing instructs that it should be placed under the head. The second book of breathing says to place it under the feet. In one variation, the text found in a woman's grave includes the first and second books of breathing on a single papyrus. The researcher tells hearts that burials in ancient Egypt range from simply being placed in a shallow hole in the desert, all the way up to sumptuous tombs and everything in between. As far as we know, what was provided for you at death was related to your wealth in life. Egyptians prepared for death with what they could afford. People buried with books of breathing were those with enough disposable income to afford a burial and a relatively expensive papyrus. Some would be buried with two texts, a book of the dead and a book of breathing, or different versions of the book of breathing, or some other funerary text. There is even one known case of four texts and one of five. Why would anybody need more than one afterlife papyrus? We think of the book of the dead as a singular item, but the ancient Egyptians didn't. Religious literature to them was always multiple, manifold, and diverse. Perhaps those who could afford it were hedging their bets. Maybe they felt it was a matter of prestige, whether in the here and now or hereafter. As for the differences between the books, in the book of the dead the individual spells are separated and each generally has a title. For example, how to navigate the underworld, spells 98 to 112, and to breathe and drink water, spells 54 to 63. The first book of breathing stemmed from spells in the book of the dead, but the content was reshaped from individual spells into a single continuous composition. One thing the first book of breathing has that the older book of the dead doesn't is a starter where the deceased commands the attention of the gods stating, oh, gods of the underworld, turn your face toward me. In contrast to other traditions, the deceased blusters. Be aware of me because I'm so powerful. It starts with the deceased taking on the persona of the sun god. I am raw, the sun god, as he rises and sets. The addition to the first book of breathing does actually stem from the book of the dead, spells 15 and 16, which were about the rising and setting sun. From a hymn to the god in the first book of breathing, the spells morph to be the dead becoming raw and the gods taking notice of him. After death, the individual hoped to join the solar Osirian cycle. Raw and Osiris were really poles on a continuum. Raw went into the underworld at night and rejoined with Osiris so that he would be rejuvenated into the sky at dawn. Comments below and as always, thank you for watching.