There are records of ghouls and ghost stories dating from very early times, right back to the beginning of literature and with oral traditions going even further back in time. What we find absolutely amazing is that the fascination for the underworld has not only always been there but it has also been felt across cultures, all over the world from the ancient Americas to China.
We do love it when the past and present connect on a global scale and we hope you enjoy this small collection as much as we did!
To the people of the ancient world, there was no doubt that the soul of a human being survived bodily death.
TIPS For teachers & educators
You can use this collection as teaching material. We have prepared a fascinating mix of videos and articles, balancing technology and more traditional material. It should help to pique your students' curiosity with a more relaxed approach in your classroom or at home!
- You could start with this app from Time Passport (a wonderful Augmented Reality studio and one of our partners). It is still free for a short while and it will bring you the Seven Wonders of the ancient world right there on your very desk. One of them is the great Pyramid of Giza, which will make the perfect introduction for today's subject! If you are not too keen on technology in your class, you find below plenty of material on the pyramid that you can use anyway.
- Then, to keep the mood light, you could show them the video about Japanese ghosts from this collection and have the class discuss it in groups.
- Keeping the groups, you could distribute an article for each civilization for them to present them to the class (one per group), either verbally or maybe preparing a poster?
- As a fun assignment, how about a little text/presentation/poster on their favourite modern ghost story, asking them to show any similarities with our ancient stories in their conclusion?
We hope this will help to make history teaching fun!
