Afterlife Essay - 996 Words

Afterlife When we think about the afterlife today it is easy to categorize the locations after death: Heaven and Hell. As Christians, we have guidelines in which to receive eternal life and we follow the life as Jesus Christ, and according to the Bible, through Him we are saved. Pretty simple to concept, but in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India, the afterlife is not so easy to grasp. Polytheism, pharaohs, and Buddha will all be prevalent in this exploration of the afterlife in ancient civilizations. Mesopotamians also called Sumerians believed that the afterlife was a bleak and dismal existence. It was commonly called the House of Darkness and entitled an eternity in the ground. They were polytheistic and the Gods in which they†¦show more content†¦One pillar was the religious ideology that the Gods wanted territory and war was the duty of all people. Another pillar was to use horror and terror to control people. Mesopotamian literature was often pessimistic and doubtful of the Gods. In T he Epic of Gilgamesh the society is in search of a religious basis for human action, but the main focus of the story is the negligence of eternal life and the defeat of the hero in search of immortality. Lastly, the Sumerians could not get a grasp on nature. With their dependence upon irrigation from the Tigris and Euphrates that constantly faced flash floods and the Euphrates changed course rapidly causing salty soil, not to mention the droughts. There animosity towards the Gods was the basis of their cruelty. Through the Enuma Elish, the Mesopotamian creation account, we see that humans are slaves to the Gods, in every regard. Just like the Sumerians, the Egyptians were polytheistic, but they differed in many areas. Egyptians had pharaohs that ruled the kingdom of Egypt. These pharaohs were Egypt’s God-Kings (Adler, 24). The pharaoh was not like the Gods, but instead was a God, a God who chose to live on Earth for a time (Adler, 24). The pharaoh’s will was law and h is wisdom was all-knowing (Adler, 24). The people of Egypt had to carry out his wishes or the Gods might not bless the land. Originally, Egyptians were angered about the afterlife. They thought that it was onlyShow MoreRelatedAfterlife1501 Words   |  7 Pagesancient times the perception of afterlife played a very important role in Egyptian society, as well as in both Roman and Greek one. According to Egyptian scriptures of the time, when a person dies parts of his body know as Ka and Ba would go to the Kingdom of the Dead, while his soul would wander in the Fields of Aaru, the Egyptian heaven. (Wallais, 1906). Egyptian also believed that only a mummified body lying on a coffin was entitled to have an afterlife. (Bard, 1999). The GreekRead More Afterlife Essay454 Words   |  2 PagesThe Afterlife nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Considering my thoughts on the afterlife is something I have done several times in my life. My views and beliefs have changed over the years regarding this subject. My Catholic upbringing was probably where my first views came from. They were the traditional heaven and hell beliefs and also of purgatory. Today my thoughts are not so black and white. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I am not sure what lies beyond this life. I do believe that we just don’tRead MoreDeath and the Afterlife Essay593 Words   |  3 PagesDeath and the Afterlife A/ Muslims believe in Akhirah. This is the belief that there is eternal life after death in either Heaven (paradise) or Hell. To reach either Hell or Heaven Muslims believe they must cross the Assirat Bridge. While crossing the Assirat Bridge Allah passes his judgement on your soul. The righteous can cross the bridge and reach paradise, but the damned will simply fall off the bridge into the fiery pits of Hell. Paradise is for believersRead MoreThe Afterlife Essay1607 Words   |  7 Pageswould live forever. They believed that a person’s soul would journey through various tests to enter the afterlife. The Egyptians believed the soul of a person would continue to live in the body the person lived in during life. So they went to great length to preserve their bodies from decay, through a process called mummification. (Egypt) The Greeks also believed in the concept of an afterlife. They believed that after death their souls would leave their body and journey to the land of the dead.Read MoreDeath, Morality, And The Afterlife919 Words   |  4 PagesThe idea the death, morality, and the afterlife have gradually changed through history. Death has an unavoidable and unpredictable nature. The conceptualization of death and what happens to a person when they die is perplexing to understand. Humans tend to fear the things in which they cannot begin to explain. No one person exactly knows for sure what to expect once they leave this world. So, we have established religion and science in an attempt to allow us to wrap our heads around this idea. EventuallyRead MoreChristina Rossettis Afterlife751 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Afterlife† What kind of afterlife do you believe in? Human condition is something that all humans have and in this essay I will be talking about peoples take on the afterlife. So humankind, regardless of geography, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, education or economic status and nearly all have a belief in afterlife and it is through literature that authors provide insight, comfort, and oftentimes advice to help us cope with our humanity. The first kind of people that believe in theRead MoreThe Afterlife Of Egypt And Early Greece934 Words   |  4 PagesThe afterlife is usually thought of as something even better than life as we know it. Having certain beliefs about one’s destiny after passing can help with coping and believing that one is where they belong. Thoughts about the afterlife have always varied greatly. Even so, all cultures and religions are alike in one way; they stick with their own specific beliefs because their way is the only â€Å"right† way. Although all believed in deities, the views on the afterlife of Egypt and Early Greece believedRead MoreHamlets Understanding Of Death And The Afterlife1143 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout the play, Hamlet’s understanding of death and the afterlife shifts to accommodate his emotional state and the needs of his conscience. Deep down, Hamlet doesn t believe in a true â€Å"afterlife†. After seeing the sins of man, he has a hard time b elieving that we deserve such a fate and seems to almost hope that all that awaits is peaceful nothingness. However, certain situations cause Hamlet to shift his views as a way to console his conscience and help him to avoid facing his own problemsRead MoreDeath, Mortality, And The Afterlife938 Words   |  4 PagesFreud once said that death is inevitable and yet inconceivable. The idea of death, mortality, and afterlife has been a question for the human race since the beginning of time. Throughout time and space these ideas have changed and have been modified according to their own views depending in what region they were born in and the time period. To look at what has changed over the periods we have to look at our history starting with writings like the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hebrew texture, the Bible andRead MoreEmily Dickinson : Death And Afterlife996 Words   |  4 PagesEmily Dickinson: Death and Afterlife Emily Dickinson lived a life of seclusion and grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts. She almost always stayed at home and wore basic clothing, only dressing in white gowns (Puchner 1054). Dickinson also never married. She was born in 1830 and died in 1886. Dickinson never intended for her works to be published or even made public for that matter. She asked her sister to destroy all of her works, but instead, her sister decided to have her works published after