By Gregory Shushan

ISBN-10: 0826440738

ISBN-13: 9780826440730

ISBN-10: 1441188126

ISBN-13: 9781441188120

In an unique and cutting edge piece of comparative examine, Gregory Shushan analyses afterlife conceptions in 5 historic civilisations (Old and heart nation Egypt, Sumerian and outdated Babylonian Mesopotamia, Vedic India, pre-Buddhist China, and pre-Columbian Mesoamerica). those are thought of in mild of old and modern stories of near-death studies, and shamanic afterlife 'journeys'. Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations is an important examine, for it provides a accomplished new comparative framework for the cross-cultural learn of delusion and faith, whereas whilst offering a desirable exploration of the interface among trust and event - in addition to a problem to post-modern scholarly attitudes referring to cross-cultural comparisons in the learn of religions.  The ebook was once nominated for the 2011 Grawemeyer Award.

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Additional info for Conceptions of the afterlife in early civilizations : universalism, constructivism, and near-death experience

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E. ), the only identifiable cultural impact comes from Mesopotamia. g. Dalley 1998: 14–15), often infer more influence than is clear from the evidence. 3500–3200 bce [Mark 1998: 10–20]) where the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions occur. Nevertheless, if cultural elements such as iconography can be transmitted, so can religious beliefs. Mark (1998: 115) argues that Osiris was either a Mesopotamian import or a syncretistic Mesopotamian-Egyptian deity. This is based on a common use of the two ideograms meaning ‘seat’ and ‘eye’ to designate both Osiris and the Babylonian deity Marduk.

Without comparison there is a danger that the historical study of religion might become ‘so particularized as to be incommensurable with anything else’. The reflexive introspection of the field, as well as the quantity and quality of ‘area studies’ research, have vastly increased since the days of Eliade et al. While the postmodern 22 Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations critique has in some ways had a negative impact on comparative studies, addressing the issues it has raised enables the potential for a renaissance of responsible comparativism, one which would not have been possible in the pre-postmodern past.

1 Reports are found in both technologically advanced civilizations and in small-scale societies, from ancient to modern times, in all parts of the world, appearing variously in religious, literary, anthropological, scientific, and medical literature. While even the most sceptical researchers acknowledge that there is a consistent core of typical sub-experiences which make up the NDE (Fox 2003: 100), they do not always agree on what it is. The various attempts to isolate it by identifying the most consistently recurring elements have not proven wholly adequate.

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Conceptions of the afterlife in early civilizations : universalism, constructivism, and near-death experience by Gregory Shushan


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