Egyptian Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian text describing one's existence after death. We learn there will be a final judgement and one's deeds will be weighed. One must be able to plead that one had "given water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, and clothes to the naked."
Whatever the flaws of his translation, Budge introduced his readers in 1895 to the Egyptian pantheon, and to spiritual ideas which pre-date the Bible.