(Re-)constructing funerary rituals in the ancient Near East

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The first supplementary volume of the series “Qatna Studien” features contributions from an international symposium held at the University of Tübingen in May 2009, organized by students and scholars of the post-graduate school ‘Symbols of the Dead’. The symposium focused on reconstructing Ancient Near Eastern funerary rituals through archaeological and textual evidence. Contributors from seven countries examined various aspects of ritual behavior associated with death, the afterlife, and the treatment of the deceased before, during, and after burial. Key issues discussed included the types of death-related rituals across different cultures, the intentions behind these rituals, their meanings and social significance, as well as topics like ancestors, grave goods, and burial types. Theoretical and methodological approaches to ritual were also addressed. Archaeological case studies and textual evidence were presented, alongside an ethnographic perspective from Kyrgyzstan. The sources discussed span a wide geographical area, including Syria, Northern Mesopotamia, the Syro-Anatolian regions, the Southern Levant, Egypt, and Iran, covering a chronological range from the third to the first millennium BC. These contributions enhance our understanding of cultural approaches to death in the Ancient Near East and provide deeper insights into funerary rituals.