Memento Mori & Ziggurat

Memento mori (Latin: "remember (that) you will die")[2] is the medieval Latin Christian theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. It is related to the ars moriendi("The Art of Dying") and similar Western literature. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife.[3]

In art, memento mori are artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality.[2] In the European Christian art context, "the expression [...] developed with the growth of Christianity, which emphasized Heaven, Hell, and salvation of the soul in the afterlife".[4]


In early Christianity[edit]

The 2nd-century A.D. Christian writer Tertullian claimed that during his triumphal procession, a victorious general would have someone (in later versions, a slave) standing behind him, holding a crown over his head and whispering "Respice post te. Hominem te memento" ("Look after you [to the time after your death] and remember you're [only] a man."). Though in modern times this has become a standard trope, in fact no ancient authors attest to this, and it may have been Christian moralizing rather than an accurate historical report.[10]

Ziggurat

A ziggurat (/ˈzɪɡʊˌræt/ ZIG-uu-rat; Akkadian: ziqqurat, D-stem of zaqāru 'to build on a raised area') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels. Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near Baghdad, the now destroyed Etemenanki in Babylon, Chogha Zanbil in Khūzestān and Sialk.

Undead Scourge

Marduk Ziggurat

Babyloanian empire & Babylon & The tower of Bebel