Death and the Fate in Ancient Mesopotamian Thoughts

Subject Areas : Christianity

محمود Ja'fari ¹ , مهتاب Saleh ²

1 - دانشیار دانشگاه تهران، گروه فرهنگ و زبان‌های باستانی، تهران، ایران
2 - کارشناس ارشد دانشگاه تهران، رشته فرهنگ و زبان‌های باستانی، تهران، ایران

Received: 2015-11-12 Accepted : 2015-11-12 Published : 2015-10-23

Keywords: Mesopotamian mythology, Death, spirit, funeral, underworld, fate,

Abstract :

The ancient Mesopotamians, like other ancient people, were thinking about death and the hereafter; but, what attract the scholars’ attention are their deep fear of death, therfore they describe a horrible fate for the deceased in their myth. As a consequence, the Mesopotamian myths were shadowed by a deep despair and hopelessness. This article tries to survey the concept of death according to Mesopotamian mythology and analyzes their feeling about life, death and hereafter.