This book collects papers presented at, or inspired by, the conference Imagining the Afterlife in the Ancient World, which I co-organised with Niall Livingstone of the University of Birmingham and which was held at Newman University, Birmingham, UK, in 2015 – first and foremost, thanks must go to Niall, for without him, the project would never have come into existence. Thanks also to Lee Lawrence of Newman University for all his help on the practical side of the organisation.
The authors and I would also like to thank everyone who presented at the conference: Maria Ángeles Alonso, Pablo de Paz Amérigo, Stamatia Dova, Giuseppe Feola, Judith Fletcher, Luke Houghton, Christoph Jedan, Niall Livingstone, Suzanne Lye, Daniel Markovic, Amit Shilo, and Yulia Ustinova. All the papers presented over those three days were fascinating and the ensuing discussions have helped all of us to shape our ideas about the ancient imagination and the ancient afterlife.
I would also like to thank all those who have given up their time to offer comments and advice on individual chapters of this book before publication: Elizabeth Gloyn, Luke Gorton, Christoph Jedan, Martin Lindner, Jean MacIntosh Turfa, David Noy, Diana Spencer, and Margaret Toscano. Any remaining issues with the academic scholarship are entirely the fault of the editor and the authors!
Finally, my personal thanks must go to Justin Randle, who ensured that we had a house with floors and walls while I worked like a mad thing to finish this manuscript. Without him, I would probably be sitting in an empty room surrounded by a pile of books but no food, which would make future research rather difficult to sustain!
Juliette Harrisson, 2018