The First Ghosts: A rich history of ancient ghosts and ghost stories from the British Museum curator

by Irving Finkel

Phase 1 is when every individual in a given society believed in ghosts, not as a matter of faith or defiance, but simply because they were just considered to be part of daily life. It was not, in fact, a question of belief, but of acknowledgment. Here, the world of the ancient Mesopotamians is a perfect example. Phase 2 is when the simplicity of that belief was exposed to and overlaid by religious, philosophical or scientific thinking. This complex of overlay imposed questions, scepticism, outrage and ridicule, eventually reducing the topic to private and chiefly unarticulated belief, but without in any way dislodging its deep-seated hold. Here, modern European society is a perfect example.