Ancient Egypt

For starters, it was not a book. It's a nickname for the over 200 different magical spells that the ancient Egyptians believed helped them reach their afterlife. Some were written on papyrus. Some were written on tomb walls. These were not secret spells. People had their favorites. Wealthy Egyptians hired scribes to create fancy designs on sheets of papyrus, each with a spell, that they could include with their grave goods. But you could buy a ready-made spell in the marketplace written on a piece of papyrus, with a blank where you could write in your name. The spells you chose were placed in your tomb. Book of the Dead