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Do not fill this in! ==Polytheism== ===Africa=== The hell of Swahili mythology is called ''kuzimu'', and belief in it developed in the 7th and 8th century under the influence of Muslim merchants at the [[East Africa]]n coast.<ref name="kuzimu">{{cite book|last1=Crisafulli|first1=Chuck|last2=Thompson|first2=Kyra|title=Go to Hell: A Heated History of the Underworld|date=2010|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-0473-3|page=75|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-SHq2vPd-4C&pg=PA75|access-date=5 August 2015}}</ref> It is imagined as a very cold place.<ref name="kuzimu" /> [[Serer religion]] rejects the general notion of [[heaven]] and hell.<ref name="Thiaw">{{in lang|fr}} [[Issa Laye Thiaw|Thiaw, Issa Laye]], "La religiosité des [[Serer people|Seereer]], avant et pendant leur islamisation", [in] ''Éthiopiques'', no. 54, volume 7, 2e semestre 1991</ref> In Serer religion, acceptance by the ancestors who have long departed is as close to any heaven as one can get. Rejection and becoming a wandering soul is a sort of hell for one [[Death|passing over]]. The souls of the dead must make their way to ''Jaaniw'' (the sacred dwelling place of the soul). Only those who have lived their lives on earth in accordance with [[Serer religion#Religious law|Serer doctrines]] will be able to make this necessary journey and thus be accepted by the ancestors. Those who cannot make the journey become lost and wandering souls, but they do not burn in "hell fire".<ref name="Thiaw"/><ref>{{in lang|fr}} [[Henry Gravrand|Gravrand, Henry]], "La civilisation sereer, vol. II: ''Pangool'', Nouvelles éditions africaines, [[Dakar]], 1990, pp 91–128, {{ISBN|2-7236-1055-1}} (''Jaaniw'', variation: ''"Jaaniiw"'')</ref> According to the [[Yoruba religion|Yoruba]] mythology, there is no hellfire. Wicked people (guilty of e.g. theft, witchcraft, murder, or cruelty<ref>Asante, M. K.; Mazama, A.: Encyclopedia of African religion, vol. 1. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. 2009, p. 238, {{ISBN|978-1-4129-3636-1}}.</ref>) are confined to ''[[Orun Apaadi]]'' (''heaven'' of potsherds), while the good people continue to live in the ancestral realm, ''Orun Baba Eni'' (''heaven'' of our fathers).<ref>Ogunade, R.: African Eschatology and the Future of the cosmos, www.unilorin.edu.ng.</ref> ====Ancient Egypt==== [[image:El pesado del corazón en el Papiro de Hunefer.jpg|thumb|In this ~1275 BC ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' scene the dead scribe [[Hunefer]]'s heart is weighed on the scale of [[Maat]] against the [[feather of truth]], by the canine-headed [[Anubis]]. The [[ibis]]-headed [[Thoth]], [[scribe]] of the [[gods]], records the result. If his heart is lighter than the feather, [[Hunefer]] is allowed to pass into the [[Aaru|afterlife]]. If not, he is eaten by the crocodile-headed [[Ammit]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.egyptartsite.com/hall1.html |title=Egyptian Book of the Dead |publisher=Egyptartsite.com |access-date=18 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926051942/http://www.egyptartsite.com/hall1.html |archive-date=26 September 2012 }}</ref>]] With the rise of the cult of [[Osiris]] during the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] the "democratization of religion" offered to even his humblest followers the prospect of eternal life, with moral fitness becoming the dominant factor in determining a person's suitability. At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of forty-two divine judges. If they had led a life in conformance with the precepts of the goddess [[Maat]], who represented truth and right living, the person was welcomed into the heavenly [[Aaru|reed fields]]. If found guilty the person was thrown to [[Ammit]], the "devourer of the dead" and would be condemned to the [[lake of fire]].<ref>''Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt'', Rosalie David, p. 158–159, Penguin, 2002, {{ISBN|0-14-026252-0}}</ref> The person taken by the devourer is subject first to terrifying punishment and then annihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced medieval perceptions of the inferno in hell via early [[Christianity|Christian]] and [[Copt]]ic texts.<ref>''The Essential Guide to Egyptian Mythology: The Oxford Guide'', "Hell", p161-162, Jacobus Van Dijk, Berkley Reference, 2003, {{ISBN|0-425-19096-X}}</ref> Purification for those considered justified appears in the descriptions of "Flame Island", where humans experience the triumph over evil and rebirth. For the damned complete destruction into a state of non-being awaits but there is no suggestion of eternal torture; the weighing of the heart in [[Egyptian mythology]] can lead to annihilation.<ref>''The Divine Verdict'', John Gwyn Griffiths, p233, BRILL, 1991, {{ISBN|90-04-09231-5}}</ref><ref>See also letter by Prof. Griffith to ''The Independent'', 32{{clarify|date=September 2012}} December 1993 {{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letter-hell-in-the-ancient-world-1470076.html |title=Letter: Hell in the ancient world |website=[[Independent.co.uk]] |date=18 September 2011 |access-date=28 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901184319/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letter-hell-in-the-ancient-world-1470076.html |archive-date=1 September 2012 }}</ref> The Tale of Khaemwese describes the [[Dives and Lazarus|torment of a rich man]], who lacked charity, when he dies and compares it to the blessed state of a poor man who has also died.<ref>''The Civilization of Ancient Egypt'', Paul Johnson, 1978, p. 170; see also ''Ancient Egyptian Literature'', Miriam Lichtheim, vol 3, p. 126</ref> Divine pardon at judgment always remained a central concern for the ancient Egyptians.<ref>"Egyptian Religion", Jan Assman, ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity'', p77, vol2, Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing, 1999, {{ISBN|90-04-11695-8}}</ref> Modern understanding of Egyptian notions of hell relies on six ancient texts:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hell-on-line.org/TextsEGY.html|title=Eileen Gardiner, editor; Hell-On-Line:Egyptian Hell Texts; Book of Two Ways, Book of Amduat, Book of Gates, Book of the Dead, Book of the Earth, Book of Caverns|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105010042/http://www.hell-on-line.org/TextsEGY.html|archive-date=5 November 2015}}</ref> #''The Book of Two Ways'' (''Book of the Ways of Rosetau'') # ''The Book of Amduat'' (''Book of the Hidden Room'', ''Book of That Which Is in the Underworld'') # ''The Book of Gates'' # ''The Book of the Dead'' (''Book of Going Forth by Day'') # ''The Book of the Earth'' # ''The Book of Caverns'' ===Asia=== The hells of Asia include the [[Bagobo]] "Gimokodan" (which is believed to be more of an otherworld, where the Red Region is reserved who those who died in battle, while ordinary people go to the White Region)<ref>pantheon.org/articles/g/gimokodan.html, Gimokodan, [[Encyclopedia Mythica]], 10 August 2004.</ref> and in [[Indian religions|Dharmic religions]], "Kalichi" or "[[Naraka]]". According to a few sources, hell is below ground, and described as an uninviting wet<ref>{{cite book|author=Carl Etter|title=Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-o8OAQAAIAAJ|year=1949|publisher=Wilcox & Follett Company|page=150}}</ref> or fiery place reserved for sinful people in the [[Ainu people#Religion|Ainu religion]], as stated by missionary [[John Batchelor (missionary)|John Batchelor]].<ref>John Batchelor: [https://archive.org/details/ainutheirfolklor00batcrich/page/570/mode/2up ''The Ainu and Their Folk-Lore''], London 1901, p. 567-569.</ref> However, belief in hell does not appear in [[oral tradition]] of the Ainu.<ref name="yamada">Takako Yamada: ''The Worldview of the Ainu. Nature and Cosmos Reading from Language'', p. 25–37, p. 123.</ref> Instead, there is belief within the Ainu religion that the soul of the deceased (ramat) would become a [[kamuy]] after death.<ref name="yamada" /> There is also belief that the soul of someone who has been wicked during lifetime, committed [[Suicide#Religious views|suicide]], got murdered or died in great agony would become a [[ghost]] (tukap) who would haunt the living,<ref name="yamada" /> to come to fulfillment from which it was excluded during life.<ref name="adami">Norbert Richard Adami: ''Religion und Schaminismus der Ainu auf Sachalin (Karafuto)'', Bonn 1989, p. 45.</ref> In [[Taoism]], hell is represented by [[Diyu]]. ====Ancient Mesopotamia==== {{main|Ancient Mesopotamian underworld}} [[File:Dumuzi aux enfers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Ancient Sumerian [[cylinder seal]] impression showing the god [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]] being tortured in the [[Kur|Underworld]] by ''[[gallu|galla]]'' demons]] The [[Sumer]]ian afterlife was a dark, dreary cavern located deep below the ground,<ref name=Choksi2014>{{cite web|last=Choksi|first=M.|date=2014|title=Ancient Mesopotamian Beliefs in the Afterlife|url=http://www.worldhistory.org/article/701/|website=World History Encyclopedia|publisher=worldhistory.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820114719/http://www.ancient.eu/article/701/|archive-date=20 August 2017}}</ref> where inhabitants were believed to continue "a shadowy version of life on earth".<ref name=Choksi2014/> This bleak domain was known as [[Kur]],<ref name=Black1992>{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy|first2=Anthony|last2=Green|title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary|publisher=The British Museum Press|year=1992|isbn= 978-0-7141-1705-8}}</ref>{{rp|114}} and was believed to be ruled by the goddess [[Ereshkigal]].<ref name=Choksi2014/><ref name=Nemet1998>{{citation|last=Nemet-Nejat|first=Karen Rhea|author-link=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat|date=1998|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-29497-6|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme}}</ref>{{rp|184}} All souls went to the same afterlife,<ref name=Choksi2014/> and a person's actions during life had no effect on how the person would be treated in the world to come.<ref name=Choksi2014/> The souls in Kur were believed to eat nothing but dry [[dust]]<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|58}} and family members of the deceased would ritually pour [[libation]]s into the dead person's grave through a clay pipe, thereby allowing the dead to drink.<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|58}} Nonetheless, funerary evidence indicates that some people believed that the goddess [[Inanna]], Ereshkigal's younger sister, had the power to award her devotees with special favors in the afterlife.<ref name=Choksi2014/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barrett |first1=Caitlín |title=Was Dust Their Food and Clay Their Bread? Grave Goods, the Mesopotamian Afterlife, and the Liminal Role of Inana/Ishtar |journal=Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions |date=2007 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=7–65 |doi=10.1163/156921207781375123 |s2cid=55116377 }}</ref> During the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]], it was believed that a person's treatment in the afterlife depended on how he or she was buried;<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|58}} those that had been given sumptuous burials would be treated well,<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|58}} but those who had been given poor burials would fare poorly.<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|58}} The entrance to Kur was believed to be located in the [[Zagros mountains]] in the far east.<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|114}} It had seven gates, through which a soul needed to pass.<ref name=Choksi2014/> The god [[Neti (deity)|Neti]] was the gatekeeper.<ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|184}}<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|86}} Ereshkigal's ''sukkal'', or messenger, was the god [[Namtar]].<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|134}}<ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|184}} ''[[Gallu|Galla]]'' were a class of demons that were believed to reside in the underworld;<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|85}} their primary purpose appears to have been to drag unfortunate mortals back to Kur.<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|85}} They are frequently referenced in magical texts,<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|85–86}} and some texts describe them as being seven in number.<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|85–86}} Several extant poems describe the ''galla'' dragging the god [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]] into the underworld.<ref name=Black1992/>{{rp|86}} The later Mesopotamians knew this underworld by its [[East Semitic]] name: [[Irkalla]]. During the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian Period]], Ereshkigal's role as the ruler of the underworld was assigned to [[Nergal]], the god of death.<ref name=Choksi2014/><ref name=Nemet1998/>{{rp|184}} The Akkadians attempted to harmonize this dual rulership of the underworld by making Nergal Ereshkigal's husband.<ref name=Choksi2014/> ===Europe=== {{see also|Hel (location)|Nav (Slavic folklore)}} The hells of Europe include Breton mythology's "Anaon", [[Celtic mythology]]'s "Uffern", [[Slavic mythology]]'s "Peklo", [[Norse mythology]]'s [[Náströnd]], the hell of [[Sami mythology]] and Finnish "[[Tuonela]]" ("manala"). ====Ancient Greece and Rome==== {{Main|Tartarus}} In classic [[Greek mythology]], below heaven, Earth, and [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]] is [[Tartarus]], or ''Tartaros'' ({{lang-grc|Τάρταρος}}). It is either a deep, gloomy place, a pit or abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides within Hades (the entire [[Greek underworld|underworld]]) with Tartarus being the hellish component. In the ''[[Gorgias]]'', [[Plato]] (c. 400 BC) wrote that souls of the deceased were judged after they [[Charon|paid for crossing the river of the dead]] and those who received punishment were sent to Tartarus.<ref name="gorgias-sokrates">Plato, ''Gorgias'', 523a-527e.</ref> As a place of punishment, it can be considered a hell. The classic [[Hades]], on the other hand, is more similar to Old Testament Sheol. The Romans later [[Interpretatio graeca|adopted these views]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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