The most famous example of funerary literature is that of the ancient Egyptians, whose Book of the Dead was buried with the deceased to guide him or her through the various trials that would be encountered before being allowed into the afterlife.
The Book of the Dead followed a tradition of Egyptian funerary literature that dated back as far as the 26th century BC.
In late 15th-century Europe, the Ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying Well") became one of the most popular and widely circulated early printed books.
It was published in Germany around 1470 as a guide to how to meet Death and avoid the temptations (Impatience, Pride, Avarice, etc.)
The Funeral Oration (Halotti beszéd) is the oldest extant record of the Hungarian language, dating back to 1192–1195.