This panel aims to investigate the attitude that the three Abrahamic religions show towards death through the writings of some of their most eminent intellectuals in the period indicated by the title. Death is understood here in its various forms: natural death, violent death and suicide, (holy) war and plagues. The reflections of monotheistic religions on death reveal, in certain respects, their way of looking at life. The common points and the differences will be analysed, focusing specifically on the following topics The preparation for death in the manuals dealing with the themes of the memento mori or the ars moriendi, i. e. the procedures or examples to follow for a ‘good death’ The description of the moment of passing and of the separation of the soul from the body The condition of the soul after death (the judgment it undergoes or its descent into Sheol) The journey of the soul in the afterlife with the detailed account of the landscapes it crosses during its journey The visit to the graves and the rituals of the survivors in honour of the deceased The idea of death as a “return” to the original source. Chair: Ivana Panzeca (FSCIRE)Speakers:Gianmarco Braghi (FSCIRE), Reformed ars moriendi and Preparation for Death: A Theological Paradox? Rosanna Budelli (FSCIRE), Rationalizing Death to Give Order to the Present: the Description of the Afterlife in the Šarḥ al-ṣudūr bi-šarḥ ḥāl al-mawt wa-al-qubūr by Jalāl al-dīn al-Suyūtī (d. 1505) Piero Capelli (Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia), Death in Early Rabbinic Judaism Corrado Martone (Università di Torino), Death and Afterlife in Second Temple Judaism Samuela Gloria Pagani (Università del Salento), Between loneliness and companionship: imagining the afterlife in Islamic religious literature Mario Resta (FSCIRE / Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro), Christians Dancing for the Martyrs in Late Antiquity