Heaven

=== Mesopotamia ===
[[File:Ruins from a temple in Naffur.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the [[Ekur]] temple in [[Nippur]], believed by the ancient Mesopotamians to be the "Dur-an-ki", the "mooring rope" of heaven and earth{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=452}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=74}}]]
{{Main|Ancient Mesopotamian religion}}

The ancient Mesopotamians regarded the sky as a series of domes (usually three, but sometimes seven) covering the [[flat Earth]].{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=180}} Each dome was made of a different kind of precious stone.{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}} The lowest dome of heaven was made of [[jasper]] and was the home of the [[star]]s.{{sfn|Lambert|2016|page=118}}{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=451}} The middle dome of heaven was made of ''saggilmut'' stone and was the abode of the [[Igigi]].{{sfn|Lambert|2016|page=118}}{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=451}} The highest and outermost dome of heaven was made of ''luludānītu'' stone and was personified as [[Anu|An]], the god of the sky.{{sfn|Stephens|2013}}{{sfn|Lambert|2016|page=118}}{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=451}} The [[Astronomical object|celestial bodies]] were equated with specific deities as well.{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}} The planet [[Venus]] was believed to be [[Inanna]], the goddess of sex and war.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=108–109}}{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}} The [[Sun]] was her brother [[Utu]], the god of justice, and the [[Moon]] was their father [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna]].{{sfn|Nemet-Nejat|1998|page=203}}

In ancient Near Eastern cultures in general and in Mesopotamia in particular, humans had little to no access to the divine realm.{{sfn|Hundley|2015|pages=451–452}}{{sfn|Wright|2000|page=29}} Heaven and Earth were separated by their very nature;{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=451}} humans could see and be affected by elements of the lower heaven, such as stars and storms,{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=451}} but ordinary mortals could not go to Heaven because it was the abode of the gods alone.{{sfn|Wright|2000|page=29}}{{sfn|Lange|Tov|Weigold|2011|page=808}}{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=451}} In the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', [[Gilgamesh]] says to [[Enkidu]], "Who can go up to heaven, my friend? Only the gods dwell with Shamash forever."{{sfn|Lange|Tov|Weigold|2011|page=808}} Instead, after a person died, his or her soul went to [[Kur]] (later known as [[Irkalla]]), a dark shadowy [[underworld]], located deep below the surface of the earth.{{sfn|Wright|2000|page=29}}{{sfn|Choksi|2014}}

All souls went to the same afterlife,{{sfn|Wright|2000|page=29}}{{sfn|Choksi|2014}} and a person's actions during life had no impact on how he would be treated in the world to come.{{sfn|Wright|2000|page=29}}{{sfn|Choksi|2014}} Nonetheless, funerary evidence indicates that some people believed that Inanna had the power to bestow special favors upon her devotees in the afterlife.{{sfn|Choksi|2014}}{{sfn|Barret|2007|pages=7–65}} Despite the separation between heaven and earth, humans sought access to the gods through [[oracle]]s and [[omen]]s.{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=452}} The gods were believed to live in Heaven,{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=452}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=94}} but also in their temples, which were seen as the channels of communication between Earth and Heaven, which allowed mortal access to the gods.{{sfn|Hundley|2015|page=452}}{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=174}} The [[Ekur]] temple in [[Nippur]] was known as the "Dur-an-ki", the "mooring rope" of heaven and earth.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=53, 74}} It was widely thought to have been built and established by [[Enlil]] himself.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=74}}