Ancient Burials: Instructions (Not Always) Included
A look at life after death in the ancient world
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How did ancient people prepare themselves for the afterlife?
In addition to behaving virtuously, a small number joined mystery cults associated with Orpheus and Dionysos.
Orpheus, 1600–1601, Cristoforo Stati. Marble, 77 1/8 × 38 × 23 7/8 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 41.100.242. Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941
Gibson, Bacchus, 1859, James Anderson. Albumen silver print, 15 1/4 × 7 1/2 in. Getty Museum84.XO.251.3.38
Cult members were buried with Orphic tablets like this.
Pretty, right?
Tablet with Instructions for the Deceased in the Underworld, 350–300 B.C., Greek. Gold, 7/8 × 1 7/16 × 1/16 in. Getty Museum, Gift of Lenore Barozzi, 75.AM.19
Think of this as a golden ticket…but with the guarantee of a peaceful life after death, not a visit to a chocolate factory.
They were named by modern scholars after the mythical poet Orpheus (remember him with the violin above?) who traveled to the underworld in search of his love, Eurydice.
These tablets were placed into graves to help guide the deceased into the afterlife.
Orpheus and Eurydice, Jean Raoux, about 1709. Oil on canvas, 81 × 80 in. Getty Museum, 73.PA.153
Orpheus in the Underworld, André-Jean Le Brun, about 1785. Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, on paper, 17 1/8 × 24 5/8 in. Getty Museum, 2021.135
Armed with the information on these tablets, ancient folk could feel confident about their journey.
Want to learn more about their journey? Read Getty antiquities curator David Saunders’ Golden Tickets to the Underworld to discover just what these instructions to the underworld were, and what it was like to arrive there.
