Julianna 
It seems every culture has similar ideas about death, and one of the main threads that pulls us all together is that most do not believe that it all ends here. For a lighter look at ancient beliefs and the afterlife, see our Kofi for exclusive content. Link at the end of this article.
Ancient Death Beliefs Around the World
Across the ancient world, death was not an ending. It was a crossing into something else. Something stranger, sharper, more unpredictable than anything the living could imagine. Even today, many of us still believe the same thing.
Every civilisation had its own idea of what happened when the breath left the body. Some beliefs comforted. Some terrified. All remind us that people have always tried to understand the great unknown that waits for us all.
1. Egypt. The Soul Was Split Into Pieces
To die in ancient Egypt meant becoming a puzzle. The Ka stayed with the body. The Ba could fly from the tomb by night. The Akh was the radiant form that survived judgment. If the heart betrayed you, Ammit swallowed it whole. Ammit was the devourer of the dead. To be scattered or devoured was the true horror, not death itself.
2. Aztec. You Did Not Go Where You Deserved; You Went Where You Died, And How You Died
For the Aztecs, the cause of death shaped everything. Warriors and sacrificial victims rose with the sun. Women who died in childbirth guided its descent. Those claimed by water or lightning entered Tlalocan, a lush paradise. Ordinary deaths led to Mictlan, a long, punishing journey through nine levels of darkness. The final moment of your life dictates the entire path that follows. It paid to be a hero in some way.
3. Norse. A Battle Afterlife or a Frozen One
If you fell bravely, Valkyries carried you to Valhalla, which is paradise. If you were old or sick, you entered the grey hall of Helheim, a realm colder than sorrow. The dead lingered there, half remembered and half awake. Even ancestors feared being forgotten; to be remembered was the key to saving your soul. So being ‘someone’ in some way was very important.
4. Ancient China. Ghosts Returned If You Neglected Them
The dead needed food, ritual and attention. Unfed spirits wandered back through the threshold to complain, scratch walls or drain life from a home. A well-tended ancestor rested. A neglected one lingered. Food was placed on altars and graves at specified times each year.
5. Greece. Only Heroes Reached Paradise. Everyone Else Drifted in Grey Silence
In Greek belief, the Elysian Fields were reserved for heroes and people who had achieved something remarkable. Everyone else, which meant most of humanity, went to the Asphodel Meadows. It was a dull, shadowy place where ordinary souls wandered without purpose or strong memory. You were not punished. You simply faded into a quiet, colourless existence.
6. Japan. Violent or Unfair Deaths Created Yūrei
In Japanese belief, people who died suddenly, violently or without proper closure could become yūrei, spirits held in place by anger, sorrow or unfinished business. They stayed near the site or person connected to their death, repeating their moment of suffering until the wrong was resolved. Those who died peacefully with proper rites moved on to join the ancestors and left no ghost behind.
7. Mesopotamia. The Afterlife Was Dust and Darkness
In Mesopotamian belief, everyone entered the same bleak underworld ruled by Ereshkigal. The dead ate dust, moved through dim halls and lost all status, even kings. There was no reward and no escape. The only comfort came from the living. If your family performed your burial rites correctly and brought regular offerings, your spirit remained stable and quiet. If they neglected you, your shade weakened, suffered and drifted restlessly. The hope was not in the afterlife itself, but in being remembered and tended by those left behind.
8. Rome. The Dead Could Become Lemures
Romans believed that some dead became lemures, restless and dangerous spirits created by improper burials, unresolved guilt or violent deaths. These spirits wandered at night, unsettling homes, disturbing sleep and draining the household’s luck. To keep them away, Romans performed the Lemuria ritual. The head of the family walked barefoot through the house at midnight, throwing black beans behind him while reciting protective chants so the lemures would gather the offerings and leave. If the rites were neglected, the spirits stayed close, angry that their passage into the afterlife had been mishandled.
9. Maya. The Soul Travelled a Perilous Path
After death, the Maya believed the soul faced the trials of Xibalba, a realm of lords who delighted in trickery, pain and fear. The dead crossed rivers, entered houses filled with crushing stone and endured tests designed to strip away pretence. Those who died in honoured ways, such as sacrifice or childbirth, rose to the peaceful sky realms instead of enduring the full weight of Xibalba.
10. Early Christians. The Body Slept While the Soul Waited
Death was described as a sleep, a pause before resurrection. The soul waited in a realm of rest or torment, aware but unable to act. The living feared both judgment and the possibility of being spiritually unprepared at the final moment. This is still believed today, although some Christians argue that we are with God immediately after death.
Common Threads. The Fears That Never Changed
Across civilisations, people feared the same things. They feared losing their name and place among the living. They feared becoming trapped in a grey or hostile realm with no way forward. They feared being judged by gods, ancestors or cosmic forces that could not be appealed to.
Death itself was not the terror. The terror was what came after, and the possibility that the self could be erased, punished or left wandering without purpose. Every culture built rituals to guard against these outcomes, because the alternative was unthinkable.
What If They Were Right
Imagine that death is not silence. Imagine that the dead still depend on memory, ritual and the manner of their passing. Imagine a soul scattered, wandering, or waiting for someone to speak its name. If even one of these ancient ideas is true, then the grave is not an ending. It is a beginning we cannot see, and every ancestor is closer to us than we dare believe.
Want to Learn More About Ancient Death Beliefs?
If you want to read about the ancient beliefs that definitely did not stand the test of time, including some unintentionally hilarious ideas about ghosts, gods and gas, you can find the complete list on Ko-fi. Join us there for a darker, funnier look at the past.
