The Book of the Dead is a collection of religious writings from ancient Egypt that were inscribed on papyrus and buried with the dead to help them in the afterlife. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, an English Egyptologist who worked for the British Museum in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, translated and assembled the book. One of the most thorough and commonly used translations of The Book of the Dead, including transcriptions, translations, and annotations in hieroglyphic writing, is Budge's. The book includes charms and prayers meant to guide the departed through the afterlife and help them achieve everlasting life in the Field of Reeds. Along with hymns and writings describing the beginning of the universe, the function of the gods in Egyptian mythology, and the rites and customs of Egyptian funeral religion, it also contains passages that depict the creation of the world. For researchers studying ancient Egyptian religion and culture, as well as for anybody interested in the values and customs of one of the world's oldest civilizations, The Book of the Dead is an indispensable tool.