Table of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Preface Timeline Introduction 1 Through the Mists of Time­--Prehistory 2 "In those days, in those ­far-off days"--Ancient Mesopotamia 3 A Multimedia Guide to the Afterlife--Ancient Egypt 4 The Bridge--Zoroastrianism 5 The World to Come--Judaism 6 An Afterlife for Poet, Philosopher, Painter--Ancient Greece and Rome 7 "In My Father's house are many mansions"--Christianity 8 To the Garden--Islam 9 For the Benefit of Lady Dai--China in the Second Century bce 10 The Cosmic Body--Jainism 11 In the Company of Gods--Hinduism 12 Realms of Existence--Buddhism 13 The Way of Immortality--Daoism 14 A Traveler "enters the road"--The Maya 15 Life from Death--The Aztecs 16 Becoming Huaca, a Holy Thing--The Inca 17 Where Land Meets Sky--Traditional Pacific Island Beliefs 18 The Ancestors--Traditional African Beliefs 19 At the Crossroads--The Vikings 20 Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery--Native North Americans 21 Personal Visions--American Outsider Art 22 We Are Spirits Passing On--Swedenborg and the Rise of Spiritualism 23 A Mother There--The Church of Jesus Christ of ­Latter-day Saints 24 "What if God was one of us?"--Contemporary Western Society 25 Other Heavens in the Universe 26 The Hope of Heaven Chapter Notes Bibliography Index.