Abstract

By examining archaeological evidence in the form of grave findings and textual evidence dating from or relevant to the period, this thesis aims to reconstruct Mycenaean eschatological beliefs and mortuary practices. Despite the plethora of archaeological findings dated to the Bronze Age, specifically on the Greek Mainland from the 16 th to 13 th centuries B.C., very little is actually known about Mycenaean religion; therefore, Mycenaean grave architecture and the contents found in graves will be considered in comparison with evidence from Minoan Crete and the Near East, other Bronze Age civilizations. These latter are significant because they display similarities with regard to the deposition of wealth with the deceased, the orientations of the bodies and funerary iconography. Furthermore, in order to obtain a fuller perspective on the subject, the study also includes evidence for funerary practices from relevant literary sources that are dated to or depict the Bronze Age, especially the Homeric epics, the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hittite Funerary Ritual for the King . Taking into account the types and complexity of tombs, the nature and abundance of tomb gifts and funerary iconography, the evidence for a cult of the dead and the sophistication of funerary rituals in the Iliad , this study examines the Mycenaeans' belief regarding death and the afterlife.