Rendez-vous in Samarra. An Essay on the Desire to Know and Experience Death.

Abstract

“Rendez-vous in Samarra” is a personal journey through funeral rituals across different corners of the world – from the steppes of Mongolia, through the deserts of India, to the Armenian highlands of Noratus. The author – both witness and participant – observes, with attentiveness and humility, places where death is embraced not as an end, but as a passage. By describing rituals, gestures, presence, and silence, he uncovers the depth of human experience that, in the face of loss, seeks meaning and order. This is not an essay about death, but about life lived in its presence. About respect for what is different – and about the community that connects us, despite diverse languages and beliefs. About the acceptance of what is inevitable. About the quiet courage of being with – until the very end. This text is a testimony to the fact that rites of passage do not stop life, but give it meaning – even when everything seems to be coming to an end.