Full Description
Gregory Shushan challenges post-modern scholarly attitudes concerning cross-cultural comparisons in the study of religions. In an original and innovative piece of comparative research, he analyses afterlife conceptions in five ancient civilisations (Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt, Sumerian and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia, Vedic India, pre-Buddhist China, and pre-Columbian Mesoamerica). These are considered in light of historical and contemporary reports of near-death experiences, and shamanic afterlife 'journeys'. Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations is a significant study, for it presents a comprehensive new comparative framework for the cross-cultural study of myth and religion, while at the same time providing a fascinating exploration of the interface between belief and experience.
Contents
Foreword by Gavin Flood; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations of Primary Sources; Introduction; Part I: Theory and Methodology in Concept and Application; 1. Comparison, Universalism, and the Rehabilitation of the Comparative 'Similar'; 2. Early Civilizations, Contact, Diffusion, and Cultural Continuity; 3. Near-Death Experience; Part II: Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations; 4. Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt; 5. Sumerian and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia; 6. Vedic India; 7. Pre-Buddhist China; 8. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica; Part III: Universalism and Culture-Specificity: An Interdisciplinary Approach; 9. Analysis of Similarities and Differences; 10. The Interface of Conception and Experience; 11. Alternative and Supplementary Theories; 12. Conclusions: Theoretical Eclecticism and A New Comparative Framework; References; Index.
