A fascination with the afterlife and other worlds is not new: ghost stories from all over the world prove it s been part of the human experience from prehistoric times.
Though there is some debate about the meaning of prehistoric grave goods, Mesopotamian ghost expert Irving Finkel persuasively argues they reflect a belief that something of the dead person would persevere into an afterlife. There, the grave goods could be put to use.
Some of popular culture’s most famous ghosts and demons have roots in ancient Mesopotamia. What did ancient humans believe about the supernatural? And what stories did they tell?