Final answer:
The statement that the dead must be properly buried to prevent haunting and harm is generally true across many historical cultures. Proper burial rituals are significant in cultural traditions, including Egyptian mummification and Abrahamic faiths' practices, to maintain peace between the living and the dead.
Step-by-step explanation:
The dead had to be properly buried and looked after or else their ghosts would haunt and harm the living. This statement is broadly considered true within the context of many world cultures and their traditions surrounding death and the afterlife. Historical practices and beliefs regarding the dead and burial rites have varied across cultures and religions.
Many cultures, including ancient Egyptians with their mummification process and elaborate tombs such as the pyramids, believed that the proper treatment of the dead was essential for ensuring that the spirit, such as the Ka and Ba, would remain at peace. In certain Abrahamic faiths, burial practices are shaped by the hope of resurrection at the end of time, leading to customs such as Muslims burying their dead facing Mecca and Christians facing the east. These traditions reflect an understanding of an interconnectedness between the living and the dead, where the deceased require respect and care to prevent misfortune befalling the living.
This idea is also reflected in drama, such as in Sophocles's Antigone, where burial rites are deemed crucial to appease the spirits and avoid their wrath. A failure to conduct proper burial rituals could result in the departed becoming restless spirits, with the potential to cause distress or harm to the living as seen in various lore and tales.