Death Imagined - (Liverpool Studies in Ancient History) by Karolina Sekita & Katherine Southwood (Paperback)

About the Book

A book about perception and imagination of death, dying and the 'beyond' in ancient cultures from Mesopotamia and Egypt to Rome and even the Incas. The collected studies explore apotropaic or celebratory rituals of death, the imagined processes of dying, and the imagination of the dead in the minds of the living and mourning relatives.

Book Synopsis

An Open Access edition will be available on the Liverpool University Press website on publication, thanks to funding from St John's College, Oxford, through a 'Meeting of Minds' grant.

Death is common and inescapable - everyone will agree. Yet, how one imagines the experience of dying and the beyond is very individual. Ancient cultures were not indifferent to this grim and painful moment and 'the unknown beyond'. Needless to say, representations of the final moments and transition to the world of the dead filled many pages and paintings of the past. Unsurprisingly perhaps, given that no one comes back to tell the story, the world of the after-death is stained by perception of the process of dying and a negative reflection of the world of the living. The present book explores the ideas regarding death, dying and the world beyond death of those who came long before us, living in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Levant, ancient Greece, Etruria Rome, and Inca culture (for comparative purposes). Even though separated by centuries, the reader will be surprised that the ancient experience of 'the unknown' does not seem unfamiliar, but still has much to offer in terms of reflection on 'when we are not'.

Review Quotes

'Death Imagined is a welcome addition to ancient death studies. Unlike studies that seek to recreate cultural contexts, the authors analyze perceptions, individual and collective, of death and dying. This volume will advance sensory studies of death.' Professor Mario Erasmo, The University of Georgia

'From Mesopotamia to Etruria, Greek tragedy to the Psalms, deaths at the margins to mourning a Roman emperor, Sekita and Southwood have curated an ambitious book that embraces a diverse range of cultures, mediums, and approaches, extending a welcome invitation to readers to venture beyond belief and funerary practice and into the realms of the imagination.' Dr Emily Clifford, University of Warwick