Editing Ghost (section)

===Ancient Near East and Egypt===
{{Main article|Ghosts in Mesopotamian religions}}
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There are many references to [[ghosts in Mesopotamian religions]] – the religions of [[Sumer]], [[Babylon]], [[Assyria]], and other early states in [[Mesopotamia]]. Traces of these beliefs survive in the later [[Abrahamic religion]]s that came to dominate the region.<ref>{{cite book
 |title=The treasures of darkness: a history of Mesopotamian religion
 |author=Jacobsen, Thorkild
 |publisher=Yale University Press
 |year=1978
 |isbn=978-0-300-02291-9}}</ref> The concept of ghosts may predate many [[belief systems]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Religion and Chinese Society: Ancient and Medieval China |date=2004 |publisher=The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-962-996-123-7 |editor-last=Lagerwey |editor-first=John |page=174|doi=10.2307/j.ctv1z7kkfn |jstor=j.ctv1z7kkfn }}</ref> Ghosts were thought to be created at time of death, taking on the memory and personality of the dead person. They traveled to the netherworld, where they were assigned a position, and led an existence similar in some ways to that of the living.
Relatives of the dead were expected to make offerings of food and drink to the dead to ease their conditions. If they did not, the ghosts could inflict misfortune and illness on the living. Traditional healing practices ascribed a variety of illnesses to the action of ghosts, while others were caused by gods or demons.<ref name=black>{{cite book
 |title=Gods, demons, and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia: an illustrated dictionary
 |author1=Black, Jeremy A. |author2=Green, Anthony |author3=Rickards, Tessa |publisher=University of Texas Press
 |year=1992
 |isbn=978-0-292-70794-8}}</ref>
[[File:Gardiner G25 Glyph.svg|thumb|right|upright|Egyptian Akh glyph – The [[Egyptian soul|soul]] and spirit re-united after death]]
There was widespread belief in [[ghosts in ancient Egyptian culture]].
The [[Hebrew Bible]] contains few references to ghosts, associating spiritism with forbidden occult activities cf. [[Deuteronomy]] 18:11. The most notable reference is in the First [[Books of Samuel|Book of Samuel]] (I Samuel 28:3–19 KJV), in which a disguised [[Saul the King|King Saul]] has the [[Witch of Endor]] summon the spirit or ghost of [[Samuel]].

The [[Egyptian soul|soul]] and spirit were believed to exist after death, with the ability to assist or harm the living, and the possibility of a second death. Over a period of more than 2,500 years, Egyptian beliefs about the nature of the afterlife evolved constantly. Many of these beliefs were recorded in [[hieroglyph]] inscriptions, papyrus scrolls and tomb paintings. The Egyptian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' compiles some of the beliefs from different periods of ancient Egyptian history.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goelet |first= Ogden |title= A Commentary on the Corpus of Literature and Tradition which constitutes the Book of Going Forth By Day |publisher= Chronicle Books |location= San Francisco |year=1998 |pages=139–170}}</ref>
In modern times, the fanciful concept of a mummy coming back to life and wreaking vengeance when disturbed has spawned a whole genre of horror stories and films.<ref name="Vieira2003">{{cite book|author=Vieira, Mark A.|title=Hollywood horror: from gothic to cosmic|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodhorrorf0000viei|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|isbn=978-0-8109-4535-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodhorrorf0000viei/page/55 55]–58}}</ref>