Although humans have been ceremoniously burying their dead since Neandertal times, monumental Ceremonial Burial can be dated to the earliest urban cultures. In Mesopotamia, a dead king would not only be entombed within a ziggurat, but so would his family (not including the heir!) and his staff of servants. In ancient Egypt and MesoAmerica, the dead would be placed in elaborate tombs with carvings, paintings, and writings displaying the dead ruler's status in life... and afterwards as well. The burial of Qin ShiHuang-Ti, China's first emperor, actually had an entire life-size terra-cotta army to fight for him in heaven. With the advent of monumental Ceremonial Burial, we have our clearest evidence that not only did a belief system arise, but that a philosophy behind it had as well. Now, you had to be good (or powerful, or to have followed the proper rites, or even just been plain lucky!) in order to achieve a rewarding afterlife; itself another new concept.