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Zusatztext 'This very interesting book... is a valuable and important addition to several literatures in religious studies, consciousness studies, and the sociology of death and dying.' Informationen zum Autor Gregory Shushan is Perrott-Warrick Researcher at the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, University of Oxford, UK. Vorwort Gregory Shushan challenges post-modern scholarly attitudes concerning cross-cultural comparisons in the study of religions. Zusammenfassung 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. Inhaltsverzeichnis Foreword by Gavin FloodAcknowledgementsAbbreviations of Primary SourcesIntroduction 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 Continuity3. Near-Death Experience Part II: Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations 4. Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt5. Sumerian and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia6. Vedic India7. Pre-Buddhist China8. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica Part III: Universalism and Culture-Specificity: An Interdisciplinary Approach 9. Analysis of Similarities and Differences10. The Interface of Conception and Experience11. Alternative and Supplementary Theories12. Conclusions: Theoretical Eclecticism and A New Comparative FrameworkReferencesIndex...
