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The teachings about the afterlife from Mesopotamia in general, and Sumeria in particular, were quite bleak. (Sumeria, as the first Mesopotamian state, heavily influenced the later cultures and religions of Babylon and Assyria.) They believed that after death, people became 'Gidim', or ghosts, in a dark, dismal underworld populated by demons. It was the duty of their living relatives to make offerings of food which would help them. If you failed to give offerings, your ancestors might come back and haunt you. Young children and those who died prematurely had the best deal, going to a sort of heaven; people who were buried with improper rites not buried had it even worse than most people. People who died in a fire didn't even go to the afterlife. This is described in several surviving works of literature, such as "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World" and "The Death of Gilgamesh".

Source: Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green

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