c. 1550 BC; older material, copied for centuries after
Egyptian
The Book of the Dead
The Book of Coming Forth by Day
Anonymous
Spells written on papyrus and buried with the dead to get them safely through. At the centre is the weighing: the heart set against the feather of truth while the deceased denies forty-two sins one by one — I have not stolen, I have not caused pain, I have not held back water in its season.