Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity

Jon Davies charts the significance of death to the emerging religious cults in the pre-Christian and early Christian world. He also draws on the sociological theory of Max Weber to present a comprehensive introduction to the subject.

List of contents

Introduction PART I Death in the Ancient Near East 1 Osiris and Isis: The life-theology of Ancient Egypt 2 Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman 3 Canaanites and Mesopotamians 4 Mere texts or living realities? The possible influence of the older thanatologies on Judaism and Christianity PART II From caves and rock-cut tombs to Judaism 5 The general archaeology of the Ancient Near East 6 Judaism: Towards the common era 7 Burying the Jewish dead 8 Good luck with your resurrection! Opening the heavens and raising the dead PART III Romans and Greeks: A theodicy of good fortune? 9 Roman and Greek philosophies of death 10 Roman religion and Roman funerals 11 Ovid’s ‘ever-varying forms’: Greek mythologies, sarcophagi and the boundaries of mortality 12 Ovid’s ‘bonds of love and duty’: Funerals, epitaphs, orations and death in the arena PART IV Christians, martyrs, soldiers, saints 13 Christian burial 14 The nature of martyrdom, Epilogue: Sacrificial living and sacrificial dying: Christians in the world

About the author

Jon Davies was until recently Head of Department of Religious Studies at the University of Newcastle, where he now teaches part-time.

Summary

Jon Davies charts the significance of death to the emerging religious cults in the pre-Christian and early Christian world. He also draws on the sociological theory of Max Weber to present a comprehensive introduction to the subject.

Product details

• Authors: Jon Davies, Davies Jon
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 24.06.1999
• EAN: 9780415129909
• ISBN: 978-0-415-12990-9
• No. of pages: 272
• Weight: 660 g
• Series: Religion in the First Christian Centuries
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; HISTORY / Ancient / General, Religion: general, Ancient History, Classical history / classical civilisation, General and world history, Ancient Egyptian religion and mythology, Ancient Egyptian religion & mythology, Sociology: death and dying