Ancient Egyptian funerary literature, such as the Book of the Dead, was created to help the deceased pass through the dangers of the Underworld and be reborn. The books consist of a series of magical texts which deal with different areas and events in the afterlife. The texts are often accompanied by illustrations known as vignettes.

These mysterious objects were made by a Neolithic community in Europe about the same time as the Chinese cong on the other page. These so-called 'drums' were found in a child's grave on Folkton Wold. The custom of burying individuals with 'special' grave goods began about 3000 вс. This grave offering is exceptional (the drums are unique) and must indicate something about the status of the child.

This is a mysterious ritual object known as a cong, which were often found in tombs. This one was made of jade about 4500 years ago by the Neolithic Liangzhu culture in the Jiangsu province of China.

This tall pottery female figure would have stood with others in a protective circle around the tomb-mound of a powerful Japanese ruler. Her hair is swept up into an elaborate coiffure and she wears a string of beads round her neck.

This statue i s an example of so-called'private'Egyptian sculpture, intimate images made to be placed in the tombs of ordinary people. This type of sculpture developed during the Third Dynasty (c. 2686-2613 вс). Here a seated ship-builder is shown holding a woodworking adze, a tool indicative of his trade. An inscription carved on the figure's kilt gives his name, Ankhwa, and his titles.

This mask is believed to represent Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror), one of the Aztec creator gods and also the god of rulers, warriors and sorcerers. The mask is built over a human skull with a movable hinged jaw. Alternate bands of turquoise and lignite mosaic work cover the front of the skull. The eyes are made of two discs of iron pyrites set in rings made of shell. The back of the skull has been cut away and lined with leather.

Many cultures have made masks representing the dead but from the medieval period in Europe, masks were made from actual casts of the face of the deceased. When a famous person died, a death mask was often made as a record of how they looked. An initial cast provided a mould from which plaster or wax masks could be taken. These were widely distributed through private and public collections and also used as models for posthumous portraits.

Тhe word 'mausoleum' is used to describe a building that contains a tomb, but the word was first used for the tomb of Maussollos at Halikarnassos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This over life-size figure comes from that tomb. The excavator of the site, Charles Newton, claimed that it represented Maussollos himself, but later research suggests that there were originally 36 such colossal portraits on the tomb, probably representations of Maussollos' ancestors.

Тhe mummy cases and coffins from Egypt are probably the most well-known objects associated with death in the British Museum. This is the gilded outer coffin of Henutmehyt, a Theban princess and a chantress of the god Amun who died over 3000 years ago.

On the ground floor of the Museum, close to the displays of monumental Egyptian sculpture, Assyrian winged bulls and the Parthenon marbles, is a smaller, quieter gallery, containing sculptures from one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.