Afterlife beliefs varied in the Bronze Age, and burial practices reflect these. Cultures such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and Yellow River Valley developed complex civilizations by the time the Bronze Age kicked into gear c. 3300 BCE.
People of high rank or esteem often had elaborate burials. Ancestor worship involved several days of rituals and reverence to avoid being cursed with bad luck. Some cultures favored simple coffin-like inhumation or tumuli or hills of earth and stone. Ornaments, weapons, clothing, personal items might be buried with the corpse.
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Many early tribes held no specific belief in an afterlife but honored the dead with a funeral of feasting, feats of strength, fights or athletic games. Cultures like the Egyptians created a fantastic realm of the dead around gods, Kings and rituals. Others embarked on complex traditions of ancestor worship.
In the variable settlements and thick forests of north and central Europe, evil spirits lurked in the wild hills and crept around homes at night. As early as12,000 BCE people hung or wore ornaments of protection against demons.
In the case of the walking undead or those who rise from the grave, measures to keep the dead contained include throwing rosemary or caraway on the grave, or interring talismans with the corpse. In herbology rosemary can banish evil spirits and caraway protects against malevolent magic.
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The ancient Chinese culture of the Yellow River, c. 11,000 - 3000 BCE, usually buried their dead in coffins inserted into hills. Artifacts of stone, copper and later bronze such as drinking vessels and urns might be buried with them. The best place to bury a person in ancient China is near the water.
In China, ancestor worship was popular from c. 6000. Mourning periods could last up to three years. In folk religion, a person has dual souls. Hun and po correspond to yang and yin. When a person dies, hun and po separate.
Hun ascends to heaven and po goes into the earth and/or lives in a spirit tablet. The number of souls can vary. Separately, distinct practices arose to accommodate perceived needs of the dead. In China white and yellow chrysanthemums symbolize death and grief.
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In the Indus Valley of East Asia, civilization lasted from c. 3300 to c. 1400 BCE. The culture went through dynamic changes but funeral customs were simple. The dead person was wrapped in a shroud and buried in a coffin, possibly in a tumulus, with head pointing north.
Again, items of wealth or personal use have been found in burial sites. From the Indus Valley Culture come early developments in metallurgy to produce and work with copper, bronze, lead, and tin.
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In the Bronze Age, personal items almost always accompanied bodies, often including copper or bronze utensils and weaponry. Were these to help the dead in the spirit world? Or were they to keep the dead from haunting the living?
In Egypt, a tomb dating back to 3rd millennium BCE contains inscribed instructions to the king or queen about navigating the land of the dead. These rituals were for royalty and the very wealthy only.
If a powerful King died, he would become the God Osiris and be worshipped in this fashion. His son would assume the role of a living God to rule the land. Osiris relates to agriculture, death and resurrection.
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Also in the 3rd millennium, Minoan culture sprouted on the Greek island of Crete. Funerary practices were similar to those observed in advanced civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Steppe nomads. The body is usually interred, sometimes in an engraved coffin of rank, along with personal items.
Around 2000 BCE, cremation became a common choice. Was it due to the population explosion happening at the same time? The occupants of the known world had less space to share with each other, and with the dead. Tumuli and houses of the dead dotted the landscape.
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Behind burial beliefs and practices, tribal Bronze Age cultures had a fundamental belief system or cosmology involving elemental Gods such as the Earth Goddess or Mother Earth; the Sky God; the Sun or Dawn God/dess.
Earth was the origin of life and the body's final dwelling place. Where the most ancient civilizations began to rise, such as Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Far East and India, thriving settlements arose, organized around homes and agriculture.
Mythology expanded and adapted, with the appearance of fire gods, weather gods, gods of tradespeople, gods with jobs such as gatekeeper; gods of the hunt, herds and agriculture, or patron gods of specific regions. As mythology broadened so did the view of spirits, the dead and associated rites, rituals and protocol. Gods of the Dead and Underworld came to life.
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Some gods wanted sacrifice. Others wanted presents, cakes and incense, adoration, festive celebrations, and sacrifice. For many centuries blood sacrifice prevailed as the people asked the gods for a good hunt, fertile land, fortunate marriage or fair weather for sailing.
The gods seemed to smile upon them, as civilization flourished at Babylon, Uruk (home of the famous Gilgamesh) in Mesopotamia; Fairyum and later Cairo, Egypt; ancient China; and the Indus Civilization, oldest of all. Human and blood sacrifice was common to most civilizations, with the Indus in East Asia a possible exception.
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The necropolis or City of the Dead developed as civilizations aged and coalesced. A necropolis was more than just a graveyard. It had roads, gardens, decorations, habitations, friendly neighbors, offerings and gifts, everything the dead might need.
Ancient cities such as Memphis, Egypt develop the necropolis to its furthest level, including the building of the Pyramids of Giza. They're part of a complex of tombs, passages and burial sites extending over 30 km (19 mi) west of Memphis.
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The Egyptians chose the west for the city of the Dead because it's the direction of the sunset, while east represents life or new life with the sunrise. In ancient Egypt, the soul has three parts. One is Ba, the impersonal life force of the soul, or essence of a person's individual nature and unique characteristics.
The second is ka, the quintessential spirit, which makes a being alive. Finally the akh is the transformed spirit who survives death and takes a place with the gods.
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