Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead is a religious text of ancient Egyptian estimated to have been written around 1250 BC. The book describes incantations, burial rites and other cool stuff. Translations exist from the famous Papyrus of Ani including one published by the British Museum. There's versions online too. The Book of the Dead has also been associated with the hopefully mythical tome called either the Necronomicon or Al Azif in the works of H.P.Lovecraft.

There is also a Tibetan Book of the Dead. Rather than instructing the living in caring for the deceased it provides instructions for the newly dead. The book should be read to the corpse as the soul makes its way through the first few days of the afterlife. This is a very hazardous time, and the sould will only find happiness and rest if it follows the correct path.

(Hey, where do I get my free Tibet?)

The Book of the Dead is also one of the NetHack Invocation Artifacts, possession and uncursement of which is required to obtain the Amulet of Yendor. You receive the Book of the Dead by defeating the Wizard of Yendor (even though he comes back to life ad nauseam, you still get the Book).

If the Book is blessed, reading it makes all undead around you become peaceful. Undead sharing your alignment will become tame instead (imagine that!). If the Book is uncursed, you get an ominous message but nothing actually happens.

If the Book is cursed, some undead will be summoned. This includes a 1/3 chance (modified by luck, etc) of placing a lich or a nalfeshnee next to you, animating any corpses you are carrying, and then summoning some random undead creatures around you. Don't do this.

Book of the Dead is an all-original short story anthology published in 1989, edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector.

Contents (bolded authors are those I was familiar with before reading this)
1. Foreward, by George Romero, whose universe of zombies provides the logic and background for the stories in the book.
2. Introduction, On Going Too Far, or Flesh Eating Zombies: New Hope For The Future, by Skipp and Spector
3. Blossom, by Chan McConnell
4. Mess Hall, by Richard Laymon
5. It Helps If You Sing, by Ramsey Campbell
6. Home Delivery, by Stephen King
7. Wet Work, by Phillip Nutman
8. A Sad Last Love At The Diner Of The Damned, by Edward Bryant
9. Bodies and Heads, by Steve Rasnic Tem
10. Choices, by Glen Vassey
11. The Good Parts, by Les Daniels
12. Less Than Zombie, by Douglas E. Winter
13. Like Pavlov's Dogs, by Steven R. Boyett
14. Saxophone, by Nicholas Royle
15. On The Far Side Of The Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks, by Joe R. Lansdale
16. Dead Giveaway, by Brian Hodge
17. Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy, by David J. Schow
18. Eat Me, by Robert R. McCammon

The authors of this anthology are a list of the splatterpunks. Only Lewis Shiner, Rex Miller, and Clive Barker are missing.

To understand Egyptian religion, you must first understand its roots. The empire of Egypt originated around the Nile river. The banks of the Nile flood like clockwork, and was a very dependable way to replenish nutrients in the soil.

The culture's economy was based on agriculture and limited trade. Though the Egyptians had a little contact, not much interaction was made with the rest of the world. The Egyptian culture flourished, and the religion reflected it's lifestyle. Only nobles could be accepted into the afterlife, and it was much a continuation of this life. But the comfortable lifestyle wouldn't last, and Egypt experienced a rash of famine and death due to the Nile. The Empire crumbled.

At this point, after hundreds of years, changes in the religion can be observed. Now all people could be accepted to the afterlife, and instead of being a continuation it was thought of as a "better place", a sort of heaven. This would be due to the psychological influence of widespread death and unhappiness. This is where the book of the dead came in. Getting into the afterlife was not an easy task. The dead undertook a quest or journey to gain acceptance to the afterlife. Upon reaching their destination, they had to stand before the judge and perform these negative confessions.

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Exerpt, Chapter 125

Homage to you, Great God, the Lord of the double Ma'at (Truth)!
I have come to you, my Lord,
I have brought myself here to behold your beauties.
I know you, and I know your name,
And I know the names of the two and forty gods,
Who live with you in the Hall of the Two Truths,
Who imprison the sinners, and feed upon their blood,
On the day when the lives of men are judged in the presence of Osiris.
In truth, you are "The Twin Sisters with Two Eyes," and "The Daughters of the Two Truths."
In truth, I now come to you, and I have brought Maat to you,
And I have destroyed wickedness for you.
I have committed no evil upon men.
I have not oppressed the members of my family.
I have not wrought evil in the place of right and truth.
I have had no knowledge of useless men.
I have brought about no evil.
I did not rise in the morning and expect more than was due to me.
I have not brought my name forward to be praised.
I have not oppressed servants.
I have not scorned any god.
I have not defrauded the poor of their property.
I have not done what the gods abominate.
I have not cause harm to be done to a servant by his master.
I have not caused pain.
I have caused no man to hunger.
I have made no one weep.
I have not killed.
I have not given the order to kill.
I have not inflicted pain on anyone.
I have not stolen the drink left for the gods in the temples.
I have not stolen the cakes left for the gods in the temples.
I have not stolen the cakes left for the dead in the temples.
I have not fornicated.
I have not polluted myself.
I have not diminished the bushel when I've sold it.
I have not added to or stolen land.
I have not encroached on the land of others.
I have not added weights to the scales to cheat buyers.
I have not misread the scales to cheat buyers.
I have not stolen milk from the mouths of children.
I have not driven cattle from their pastures.
I have not captured the birds of the preserves of the gods.
I have not caught fish with bait made of like fish.
I have not held back the water when it should flow.
I have not diverted the running water in a canal.
I have not put out a fire when it should burn.
I have not violated the times when meat should be offered to the gods.
I have not driven off the cattle from the property of the gods.
I have not stopped a god in his procession through the temple,
I am pure.
I am pure.
I am pure.
I am pure.
My purity is the purity the great Bennu (heron) in Heracleopolis.
Behold, I am the nose of the God of Breath, who gives life to the people,
On the day of completing the Eye of Ra in Heliopolis,
On the last day of the second month of winter,
In the presence of the pharaoh of this land.
I have seen the the Eye of Horus when it was full in Heliopolis!
Therefore, let no evil befall me in this land
In this Hall of the Two Truths,
Because I know the names of all the gods within it,
And all the followers of the great God.

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The bold (-)confessions... do they sound familiar?

Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not covert thy neighbors possesions.
Honor thy mother and father...

Book of the Dead resource - http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/EGYPT/BOD125.HTM