According to Lewis Mumford, the necropolis was the first form of permanent human settlement and thus, it serves as the very foundation of urban life. In many respects, the construction of a necropolis is a matter of practical necessity, as death leaves the living with the material problem of the remains, but the problem of death extends beyond mere disposal. Death is a unique event in that it occurs within time and space, but it only happens to others (an individual cannot experience his or her own death), and when it has passed, the content or meaning of it is purely interrogative. The interrogative quality of death conditions the living city as it is forced simultaneously to commemorate those who have passed and to face ...