- Funerary text
Funerary texts or funerary literature feature in many belief systems. Its purpose is usually to provide guidance to the newly deceased or the soon-to-be-deceased about how to survive and prosper in the afterlife.
The most famous example of funerary literature is that of the
ancient Egypt ians, whose "Book of the Dead " was buried with the deceased to guide him or her through the various trials that would be encountered before being allowed into the underworld. The "Book of the Dead" followed a tradition of Egyptian funerary literature that dated back as far as the26th century BC .Similar practices were followed by followers of the cult of
Orpheus , who lived in southernItaly andCrete in the 6th–1st century BC . Their dead were buried with gold plates orlamina e on which were inscribed directions about the afterlife.In late
15th century Europe , the "Ars moriendi " ("The Art of Dying Well") became one of the most popular and widely circulated early printed books. It was published inGermany around1470 as a guide to how to meet Death and avoid the temptations (Impatience, Pride, Avarice, etc) that would consign a soul topurgatory or, worse, tohell .Tibet anBuddhist s still make use of the "Bardo Thodol ", which describes the experiences of the soul after death. It is recited bylama s over a dying or recently deceased person, or sometimes over an effigy of the deceased.Trivia
The "Funeral Oration" (Halotti beszéd) is the oldest extant record of the
Hungarian language , dating back to 1192–1195. ( [http://mek.oszk.hu/01900/01955/html/index282.html] , [http://users.tpg.com.au/etr/oldhu/halotti.html] )ee also
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Bardo Thodol
*Book of the Dead
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