Culture arises from the knowledge of death and mortality. It represents an attempt to create a space and time in which humans can think beyond their limited lifespan and extend the lines of their actions, experiences, and plans. Without fantasies of immortality or at least a certain continuity beyond our all-too-brief earthly existence, humans cannot live; they cannot experience their actions as meaningful. Yet, no matter how uniform death may appear from a biological perspective, its cultural transformation and coping take on countless forms. Perhaps one day there will be a cultural studies approach to thanatology that examines these forms comparatively. Jan Assmann provides preliminary work on this with the example of Ancient Egypt.