"The afterlife is still very much alive in Western civilisation, even though the truth of its existence is no longer universally accepted. Surprisingly, however, heaven, hell and the immortal soul were all ideas which arrived relatively late in the ancient world. Originally Greece and Israel - the cultures that gave us Christianity - had only the vaguest ideas of an afterlife. So where did these concepts come from and why did they develop?" This perceptive and intriguing book concludes that every period gets the afterlife it deserves. It will be of interest to all those interested in what other cultures have believed about life after death, as well as being a standard work for students and researchers in ancient religions, cultural history, and the history and sociology of religion.