Appeasement of the dead (1)

Text
Ritual appeasement of the dead is achieved in very similar ways by Mesopotamians and by Greeks, preferably through various kinds of libations: “water, beer, roasted corn, milk, honey, cream, oil” in Mesopotamia (LKA 79.23-25), and “milk, honey, water, wine, and oil” according to Aeschylus (Persians 611-618). More peculiar is the importance of pure water as an offering to the dead, “cool water” and “pure water”. The insertion of pipes into a grave for precisely this purpose is unusual in Greece, but there is direct literary evidence of the practice in Mesopotamia (the clay pipe is called arūtu in Akkadian).

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Aeschylus, Persians 611-618
LKA 79.23-25

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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