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Saturday, September 25, 2021

09-25-2021-1646 - judgement in an afterlife

Judgement in an afterlife, in which ones deeds and characteristics in life determine either punishment or reward, is a central theme of many religions. Almost all religions are greatly devoted to the afterlife, emphasizing that what you do in your current life affects what happens to you after death.

The central panel portrays the Hindu god Yama judges the dead. Other panels depict various realms/hells of Naraka.

Ancient Egypt[edit]

A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead written on papyrus showing the "Weighing of the Heart" in the Duat.

In Ancient Egypt, it was believed that upon death, one's fate in the afterlife was determined by the weighing of one's heart. One's heart was kept within the body during mummification so that it can travel with the deceased into the afterlife. Upon death, one entered the underworld (Duat), where Anubis, the God of the dead, weighed the person's heart on a scale against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of order, truth, and righteousness. If the heart weighed more than the feather, meaning that the person was more wicked than good, then the heart would be devoured by Ammit, a demon with the head of a crocodile, the front half of the body of a leopards, and the back half of a hippopotamus, but with goat arms.[1] If a person's heart was devoured by Ammit, then he would die a second death and be completely annihilated from existence.[2]

Ancient Greece[edit]

Ancient Greeks believed that upon death, an individual would enter the realm of Hades, the Greek underworld, and be judged by King MinosAeacus, and Radamanthus. Depending on one's actions in life, an individual would be sent to one of three different planes: Elysium, the Asphodel Fields, or Tartarus. Elysium is for those who were righteous in life and is reserved for good people and legendary heroes.[3] In Elysium people relax and enjoy a life of everlasting joy in a beautiful and comfortable field with trees and sun.[4][5] The Asphodel Fields is the land of neutrality, where those who were either neutral, or whose good and bad deeds are about equal reside. It is a bland place symbolizing their lack of notability in life. The final realm, Tartarus, is the realm of the wicked. It is the deepest realm of Hades, and those who have performed wicked deeds are punished here for eternity.[6] Punishment here reflects the wicked deeds committed in one's life (e.g., Tantalus killed and fed his son to the Gods, so he was punished by being made to stand in a pool surrounded by trees with fruit, but can partake of neither water nor fruit.[7]). Mortals shared this realm with non-mortals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgement_(afterlife)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minos

In Greek mythologyAegeus (/ˈɛˌjs/GreekΑἰγεύςtranslit. Aigeús, also spelled Aegeas)[1] was an archaic figure in the founding myth of Athens. The "goat-man" who gave his name to the Aegean Seawas, next to Poseidon, the father of Theseus, the founder of Athenian institutions and one of the kings of Athens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegeus

In Greek mythologyRhadamanthus (/ˌrædəˈmænθəs/) or Rhadamanthys (Ancient GreekῬαδάμανθυς) was a wise king of Crete. As the son of Zeus and Europa he was considered a demigod. His name means "showing stern and inflexible judgement." He later became one of the judges of the dead and an important figure in Greek mythology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhadamanthus

Aeacus (/ˈəkəs/; also spelled EacusAncient Greek: Αἰακός) was a mythological king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeacus

Aegina Awaiting the Arrival of Zeus.
Painting by Ferdinand Bol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegina_(mythology)


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