ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FUNERARY DOCUMENTS OF THIS STUDY | PART I - THE ILLUMINATED FUNERARY MANUSCRIPT | PART II - THE GATHANG BUMPA FUNERARY DOCUMENTS | PART III - SELECTED ORIGINS MYTHS AND RITUALS FROM THE DUNHUANG FUNERARY MANUSCRIPTS | CONCLUSION | BIBLIOGRAPHY | INDEXES

This monograph brings to light the eschatological patterns and procedural constructs of death rites in ancient Tibet. It is centered on documents written between circa 800 CE and 1100 CE, which include an illuminated funerary manuscript of much rarity, two death ritual texts recently recovered in southern Tibet from the Gathang Bumpa religious monument, and several related manuscripts discovered in the Dunhuang grottoes a century ago. This book builds upon previous efforts of the author to explicate the otherworldly dimension in early Tibetan religion and culture. Many of the documents of this study were written in the Old Tibetan language and represent the oldest known literary sources for research into Tibetan funerary traditions. The work is underpinned by annotated translations, which are critically edited and painstakingly provided with Classical Tibetan word equivalents. Each featured text is described in detail and subjected to a rigorous religious and historical analysis. Other Tibetan literature that supports the comprehension of the foundational texts of this study is also marshaled. These textual assets complement one another by progressively revealing an indigenous belief system and praxis of great depth and intricacy. The antiquated narrations and rituals concerning death presented in this book furnish a lucid view of cultural forms that circulated around Tibet before its religious universe became saturated with Buddhism and Buddhist-influenced doctrines and practices. Especially when seen through the lens of the archaeological record, the sheer intellectual and material wealth borne in the archaic funerary traditions demonstrates that Tibet was endowed with culturally advanced societies in the time before the spread of Lamaism. Bibliographies and indexes (with glossary) are appended to the main text. 

Archaic Concepts and Practices in a Thousand-Year-Old Illuminated Funerary Manuscript and Old Tibetan Funerary Documents of Gathang Bumpa and Dunhuang

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Death and Beyond in Ancient Tibet

PART III | INDEXES | FOREWORD | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | A GENERAL INTRODUCTION | PART I | CONCLUSION | TIBETAN TEXTS | TABLES | MAPS | LIST OF FIGURES | PART II | BIBLIOGRAPHY

Using archaeological, anthropological and philological methodologies, Zhang Zhung presents the formative elements in the development of civilization in Upper Tibet, the vast upland north and west of Lhasa. Part I of this major work provides a comprehensive examination of the monumental and aesthetic traces of the Metal Age and early historic period in Upper Tibet. Based on a field survey project of twelve years duration, the morphological, constructional, mythological and cross-cultural traits of the region's visible archaeological wealth are described in detail, laying the groundwork for the meticulous textual analysis that follows. In Part II of the book, annotated translations of numerous excerpts from Bon and Buddhist texts present the traditional view of Tibet's ancient past. These indigenous literary accounts of the early cultural, religious and political complex of the Plateau are in turn systematically compared to the archaeological record, revealing critical points of agreement. Zhang Zhung has pioneered the application of empirical evidence to gauge the historicity and significance of Tibetan Bon sources. Part III is devoted to the study of the archaic funerary heritage of Tibet, which proves to be highly useful with regard to analyzing the cultural evolution of the Plateau. New perspectives on the identity and contributions of the Tibetan ethnos are obtained by subjecting Dunhuang and Bon textual materials to rigorous archaeological and ethnographic interpretation. Considerable effort has been devoted to analyzing Tibetan funerary literature and to discerning its links to northern Inner Asian mythology and burial practices of the first millennium BCE and the first three-quarters of the first millennium CE. Critically edited transliterations of the Tibetan works, tables of all the surveyed archaeological sites, bibliographies and extensive indexes complement the main text. 

A Historical and Ethnoarchaeological Study of Monuments, Rock Art, Texts, and Oral Tradition of the Ancient Tibetan Upland

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John Vincent Bellezza

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Death and Beyond in Ancient Tibet

Zhang Zhung Foundations of Civilization in Tibet