Commemoration ceremonies after death may include various mourning or funeral practices. The physical remains of a person, commonly known as a corpse orbody, are usually interred whole or cremated, though among the world's cultures there are a variety of other methods of mortuary disposal. In the English language, blessings directed towards a dead person include rest in peace, or its initialism RIP.

Many societies have tried to prevent or slow postmortem decomposition. Mummification, the drying or embalming of the corpse as practised in pharaonic Egypt for reasons of religion, led to the understanding that the root of decomposition was the gut, which was removed prior to the application of chemical drying agents and preservatives.¹