Misplaced Pages

#141858

68-407: The concept is related to, but differs from, the concepts of heaven or the afterlife in that heaven is another place or state of existence generally seen as above the world, and the afterlife is generally an individual's continued existence after death. The following section reviews religions chronologically by date of the composition of various religious texts, from oldest to most recent, although

136-448: A "new earth" as the abode of mankind following the resurrection of the dead. Originally, the two ideas of immortality and resurrection were different but in rabbinic thought they are combined: the soul departs from the body at death but is returned to it at the resurrection . This idea is linked to another rabbinic teaching, that men's good and bad actions are rewarded and punished not in this life but after death, whether immediately or at

204-529: A belief that, in accordance with John 14, those who in the afterlife see the Saviour are in different mansions, some dwelling in the heavens, others in paradise and others in " the city ". While the word used in all these writings, in particular the New Testament Greek word οὐρανός ( ouranos ), applies primarily to the sky , it is also used metaphorically of the dwelling place of God and

272-580: A chariot of fire. According to Michael B. Hundley, the text in both of these instances is ambiguous regarding the significance of the actions being described and in neither of these cases does the text explain what happened to the subject afterwards. The God of the Israelites is described as ruling both Heaven and Earth. Other passages, such as 1 Kings 8:27 state that even the vastness of Heaven cannot contain God's majesty. A number of passages throughout

340-515: A form which at present you know not." According to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , the founder of the Ahmadiyya sect in Islam, the soul will give birth to another rarer entity and will resemble the life on earth in the sense that this entity will bear a similar relationship to the soul, as the soul bears relationship with the human existence on earth. On earth, if a person leads a righteous life and submits to

408-682: A human soul belongs in Heaven and that Earth is merely a temporary abode in which the soul is tested to prove its worthiness became increasingly popular during the Hellenistic period (323–31 BC). Gradually, some Hebrews began to adopt the idea of Heaven as the eternal home of the righteous dead. Descriptions of Heaven in the New Testament are more fully developed than those in the Old Testament, but are still generally vague. As in

476-477: A large enigmatic Lote tree, marks the end of the seventh heaven and the utmost extremity for all of God's creatures and heavenly knowledge. One interpretation of "heavens" is that all the stars and galaxies (including the Milky Way ) are part of the "first heaven", and "beyond that six still bigger worlds are there," which have yet to be discovered by scientists. According to Shi'ite sources, Ali mentioned

544-548: A particular place somewhere in the cosmos ) of the supreme fulfillment of theosis in the beatific vision of the Godhead . In most forms of Christianity , Heaven is also understood as the abode for the redeemed dead in the afterlife , usually a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints ' return to the New Earth . The resurrected Jesus is said to have ascended to Heaven where he now sits at

612-429: 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. All souls went to the same afterlife, and a person's actions during life had no impact on how he would be treated in the world to come. Nonetheless, funerary evidence indicates that some people believed that Inanna had the power to bestow special favors upon her devotees in

680-404: A person finds contentment and Peace at heart and at this stage, according to Ahmadiyya beliefs, it can be said that a soul within the soul has begun to take shape. The Baháʼí Faith regards the conventional description of heaven (and hell) as a specific place as symbolic. The Baháʼí writings describe heaven as a "spiritual condition" where closeness to God is defined as heaven; conversely hell

748-457: A reconstructed *k̑emen- or *k̑ōmen- "stone, heaven", has been proposed. Others endorse the derivation from a Proto-Indo-European root *h₂éḱmō "stone" and, possibly, "heavenly vault" at the origin of this word, which then would have as cognates ancient Greek ἄκμων (ákmōn "anvil, pestle; meteorite "), Persian آسمان ( âsemân, âsmân "stone, sling-stone; sky, heaven") and Sanskrit अश्मन् ( aśman "stone, rock, sling-stone; thunderbolt ;

SECTION 10

#1732780957142

816-484: A truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved." The Baháʼí teachings state that there exists a hierarchy of souls in the afterlife , where the merits of each soul determines their place in the hierarchy, and that souls lower in the hierarchy cannot completely understand the station of those above. Each soul can continue to progress in

884-436: A variant final -l : Old Frisian himel, himul "sky, heaven", Old Saxon and Old High German himil , Old Saxon and Middle Low German hemmel , Old Dutch and Dutch hemel , and modern German Himmel . All of these have been derived from a reconstructed Proto-Germanic form * hemina- . or *hemō . The further derivation of this form is uncertain. A connection to Proto-Indo-European *ḱem- "cover, shroud", via

952-664: Is a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophies, and religions, and is on one end of the spectrum a synonym of Shangdi ("Supreme Deity") and on the other naturalistic end, a synonym for nature and the sky. The Chinese term for "heaven", Tian (天), derives from the name of the supreme deity of the Zhou dynasty . After their conquest of the Shang dynasty in 1122 BC, the Zhou people considered their supreme deity Tian to be identical with

1020-736: Is also mentioned in the Vishnu Purana which has a contested date of composition ranging from 400 BCE to 1000 CE. Both Sunni Islam and Shia Twelve Imams beliefs hold that before the Last Judgment , the Mahdi and Jesus appears and defeats the Antichrist False Messiah ( Al-Masih ad-Dajjal ). The Mahdi's rule will be paradise on Earth, which will last for seventy years until his death, though other traditions state 7, 19, or 309 years. Heaven This

1088-419: Is an accepted version of this page Heaven , or the heavens , is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities , angels , souls , saints , or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned , or reside. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to Earth or incarnate and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in

1156-466: Is not discussed as often. The Torah has little to say on the subject of survival after death, but by the time of the rabbis two ideas had made inroads among the Jews: one, which is probably derived from Greek thought, is that of the immortal soul which returns to its creator after death; the other, which is thought to be of Persian origin, is that of resurrection of the dead . Jewish writings refer to

1224-470: Is seen as a state of remoteness from God. Bahá'u'lláh , the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, has stated that the nature of the life of the soul in the afterlife is beyond comprehension in the physical plane, but has stated that the soul will retain its consciousness and individuality and remember its physical life; the soul will be able to recognize other souls and communicate with them. For Baháʼís, entry into

1292-580: Is that each man must die – beyond that we can only guess." Similar to Jewish traditions such as the Talmud , the Qur'an and Hadith frequently mention the existence of seven samāwāt (سماوات), the plural of samāʾ (سماء), meaning 'heaven, sky, celestial sphere', and cognate with Hebrew shamāyim (שמים). Some of the verses in the Qur'an mentioning the samaawat are 41:12 , 65:12 and 71:15 . Sidrat al-Muntaha ,

1360-531: Is the eighth heaven, where the benevolent, higher divinities dwell. During the end of days , the seven heavens of the Archons will collapse on each other. The heaven of Yaldabaoth will split in two and cause the stars in his celestial sphere to fall. In the native Chinese Confucian traditions, heaven ( Tian ) is an important concept, where the ancestors reside and from which emperors drew their mandate to rule in their dynastic propaganda, for example. Heaven

1428-552: The Gathas , spoke of the existence of Heaven and Hell. Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as its conception of heaven, hell, angels, monotheism, belief in free will, and the day of judgement, among other concepts, may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including the Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy. As in other ancient Near Eastern cultures, in

SECTION 20

#1732780957142

1496-519: The Hadiths , these are the different regions in paradise. According to the Ahmadiyya view, much of the imagery presented in the Quran regarding Heaven, but also Hell, is metaphorical. They propound the verse which describes, according to them, how the life to come after death is different from the life on Earth. The Quran says: "From bringing in your place others like you, and from developing you into

1564-840: The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20, the Parable of the Great Banquet in Matthew 22, and the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Traditionally, Christianity has taught that Heaven is the location of the throne of God as well as the holy angels , although this is in varying degrees considered metaphorical . In traditional Christianity, it is considered a state or condition of existence (rather than

1632-589: The Right Hand of God and will return to Earth in the Second Coming . Various people have been said to have entered Heaven while still alive , including Enoch , Elijah and Jesus , after his resurrection. According to Roman Catholic teaching , Mary, mother of Jesus , is also said to have been assumed into Heaven and is titled the Queen of Heaven . In the second century AD, Irenaeus of Lyons recorded

1700-470: The Shang supreme deity Shangdi . The Zhou people attributed Heaven with anthropomorphic attributes, evidenced in the etymology of the Chinese character for heaven or sky, which originally depicted a person with a large cranium. Heaven is said to see, hear and watch over all people. Heaven is affected by people's doings, and having personality, is happy and angry with them. Heaven blesses those who please it and sends calamities upon those who offend it. Heaven

1768-590: The Talmud , any non-Jew who lives according to the Seven Laws of Noah is regarded as a "righteous gentile", and is assured of a place in the world to come, the final reward of the righteous. There is much Aggadic material relating to this topic. Much of this has been collected in popular form in Legends of the Jews , by Louis Ginzberg , discussing esoteric and mystical kabbalistic concepts such as Paradise, and

1836-778: The World of Darkness emerged. The Great Living God ( Hayyi Rabbi ) and his uthras (angels or guardians) dwell in the World of Light. The World of Light is also the source of Piriawis , the Great Yardena (or Jordan River ) of Life. The cosmological description of the universe in the Gnostic codex On the Origin of the World presents seven heavens created by the lesser god or Demiurge called Yaldabaoth, which are individually ruled over by one of his Archons . Above these realms

1904-437: The afterlife or, in exceptional cases, enter Heaven without dying . Heaven is often described as a "highest place", the holiest place, a paradise , in contrast to hell or the underworld or the "low places" and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity , goodness , piety , faith , or other virtues or right beliefs or simply divine will . Some believe in

1972-457: The blessed . Similarly, though the English word "heaven" keeps its original physical meaning when used, for instance, in allusions to the stars as "lights shining through from heaven", and in phrases such as heavenly body to mean an astronomical object, the heaven or happiness that Christianity looks forward to is, according to Pope John Paul II, "neither an abstraction nor a physical place in

2040-427: The firmament "). In the latter case English hammer would be another cognate to the word. The ancient Mesopotamians regarded the sky as a series of domes (usually three, but sometimes seven) covering the flat Earth . Each dome was made of a different kind of precious stone. The lowest dome of heaven was made of jasper and was the home of the stars . The middle dome of heaven was made of saggilmut stone and

2108-691: The "higher" Gan Eden . In Christianity, the phrase is found in the Nicene Creed (current Ecumenical version) : "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." It is also found in the King James Version of the New Testament at Matthew 12:32 , Mark 10:30 , Luke 18:30 , Hebrews 2:5 , Hebrews 6:5 . Other related expressions are "age to come" which is typically found in more recent translations, Kingdom of God , Messianic Age , Millennial Age , Golden Age , The New Earth and New Jerusalem , and dispensation of

World to come - Misplaced Pages Continue

2176-646: The Earth and learn nothing of what Heaven is like. There is almost no mention in the Hebrew Bible of Heaven as a possible afterlife destination for human beings, who are instead described as "resting" in Sheol . The only two possible exceptions to this are Enoch , who is described in Genesis 5:24 as having been "taken" by God, and the prophet Elijah , who is described in 2 Kings 2:11 as having ascended to Heaven in

2244-650: The Hebrew Bible concerns the God of Israel's relationship with his people, most of the events described in it take place on Earth, not in Heaven. The Deuteronomistic source , Deuteronomistic History , and Priestly source all portray the Temple in Jerusalem as the sole channel of communication between Earth and Heaven. During the period of the Second Temple ( c. 515 BC – 70 AD), the Hebrew people lived under

2312-426: The Hebrew Bible indicate that Heaven and Earth will one day come to an end. This view is paralleled in other ancient Near Eastern cultures, which also regarded Heaven and Earth as vulnerable and subject to dissolution. However, the Hebrew Bible differs from other ancient Near Eastern cultures in that it portrays the God of Israel as independent of creation and unthreatened by its potential destruction. Because most of

2380-444: The Hebrew Bible, the universe is commonly divided into two realms: heaven ( šāmayim ) and earth ( ’ereṣ ). Sometimes a third realm is added: either "sea", "water under the earth", or sometimes a vague "land of the dead" that is never described in depth. The structure of heaven itself is not fully described in the Hebrew Bible, but the fact that the Hebrew word šāmayim is plural has been interpreted by scholars as an indication that

2448-533: The Kingdom of God was of something that is present but also still yet to come. For instance, Wright points to the synoptic gospels that Jesus' death and resurrection was anticipated as the climax and fulfillment of his "Kingdom of God" messages and that his combined prophecy about the temple's doom, through apocalyptic language, would serve as his vindication. The synoptic gospels and Pauline epistles portray Jesus as believing his death and resurrection would complete

2516-598: The Old Testament, in the New Testament God is described as the ruler of Heaven and Earth, but his power over the Earth is challenged by Satan . The Gospels of Mark and Luke speak of the " Kingdom of God " ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ; basileía tou theou ), while the Gospel of Matthew more commonly uses the term " Kingdom of heaven " ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ; basileía tōn ouranōn ). Both phrases are thought to have

2584-625: The Synoptic Gospels, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7. Jesus also taught that, in the Kingdom of Heaven, there would be a reversal of roles in which "the last will be first and the first will be last." This teaching recurs throughout the recorded teachings of Jesus, including in the admonition to be like a child, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16,

2652-550: The Time , that Kalki would arrive when the moon, sun, Venus and Jupiter entered the same sign. This is not a rare occurrence and last happened in early 2012, passing without event. The time of arrival of Kalki has not been consistently asserted by astrologers. The earliest copies of the Mahabharata that exist dates from 200 CE and is the first text to mention Kalki but was likely written in its final form around 400 CE. Kalki

2720-472: The World-to-come. According to Nicholas de Lange , Judaism offers no clear teaching about the destiny which lies in wait for the individual after death and its attitude to life after death has been expressed as follows: "For the future is inscrutable, and the accepted sources of knowledge, whether experience, or reason, or revelation, offer no clear guidance about what is to come. The only certainty

2788-442: The afterlife, but the soul's development is not entirely dependent on its own conscious efforts, the nature of which we are not aware, but also augmented by the grace of God, the prayers of others, and good deeds performed by others on Earth in the name of that person. Mandaeans believe in an afterlife or heaven called Alma d-Nhura (World of Light). The World of Light is the primeval, transcendent world from which Tibil and

World to come - Misplaced Pages Continue

2856-475: The afterlife. Despite the separation between heaven and earth, humans sought access to the gods through oracles and omens . The gods were believed to live in Heaven, but also in their temples, which were seen as the channels of communication between Earth and Heaven, which allowed mortal access to the gods. The Ekur temple in Nippur was known as the "Dur-an-ki", the "mooring rope" of heaven and earth. It

2924-603: The ancient Israelites envisioned the heavens as having multiple layers, much like the ancient Mesopotamians. This reading is also supported by the use of the phrase "heaven of heavens" in verses such as Deuteronomy 10:14, 1 Kings 8:27, and 2 Chronicles 2:6. In line with the typical view of most Near Eastern cultures, the Hebrew Bible depicts Heaven as a place that is inaccessible to humans. Although some prophets are occasionally granted temporary visionary access to heaven, such as in 1 Kings 22:19–23, Job 1:6–12 and 2:1–6, and Isaiah 6, they hear only God's deliberations concerning

2992-401: The chronology of ancient religions is not known with certainty. Later dates are more certain than earlier dates. In Zoroastrian eschatology , the world to come is the frashokereti , where the saoshyant will bring about a resurrection of the dead in the bodies they had before they died. This is followed by a last judgment . The yazatas Airyaman and Atar will melt the metal in

3060-748: The clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity . It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit ." While the concept of Heaven ( malkuth hashamaim מלכות השמים, the Kingdom of Heaven ) is much discussed in Christian thought, the Jewish concept of the afterlife , sometimes known as olam haba , the World-to-come,

3128-809: The company of their parents, spouses, and children. In Islam if one's good deeds outweigh one's sins then one may gain entrance to paradise only through God's mercy . Conversely, if one's sins outweigh their good deeds they are sent to hell. The more good deeds one has performed the higher the level of Jannah one is directed to. Quran verses which describe paradise include: 13:15, 18:31, 38:49–54, 35:33–35 and 52:17. The Quran refers to Jannah with different names: Al-Firdaws , Jannātu-′Adn ("Garden of Eden" or "Everlasting Gardens"), Jannatu-n-Na'īm ("Garden of Delight"), Jannatu-l-Ma'wa ("Garden of Refuge"), Dāru-s-Salām ("Abode of Peace"), Dāru-l-Muqāma ("Abode of Permanent Stay"), al-Muqāmu-l-Amin ("The Secure Station") and Jannātu-l-Khuld ("Garden of Immortality"). In

3196-463: The divine realm. Heaven and Earth were separated by their very nature; humans could see and be affected by elements of the lower heaven, such as stars and storms, but ordinary mortals could not go to Heaven because it was the abode of the gods alone. In the Epic of Gilgamesh , Gilgamesh says to Enkidu , "Who can go up to heaven, my friend? Only the gods dwell with Shamash forever." Instead, after

3264-637: The earlier ( Middle English ) heven (attested 1159); this in turn was developed from the previous Old English form heofon . By about 1000, heofon was being used in reference to the Christianized "place where God dwells", but originally, it had signified "sky, firmament" (e.g. in Beowulf , c. 725). The English term has cognates in the other Germanic languages : Old Saxon heƀan "sky, heaven" (hence also Middle Low German heven "sky"), Old Icelandic himinn , Gothic himins ; and those with

3332-487: The fulness of times and possibly also eternal life . In Hindu eschatology the current age is the Kali Yuga , a period of decline. Kalki will appear to purge all evil, beginning a golden age of Satya Yuga . There have been a range of dates predicted, purportedly from different methods of calculation. Pothuluru Veerabrahmendra , for example, wrote 400 years ago in his Divya Maha Kala Gnana, or Divine Knowledge of

3400-533: The gospels record Jesus as having explained exactly what the phrase "Kingdom of God" means. The most likely explanation for this apparent omission is that the Kingdom of God was a commonly understood concept that required no explanation. According to Sanders and Casey, Jews in Judea during the early first century believed that God reigns eternally in Heaven, but many also believed that God would eventually establish his kingdom on earth as well. Because God's Kingdom

3468-421: The hills and mountains, and the molten metal will then flow across the earth like a river. All humankind—both the living and the resurrected dead—will be required to wade through that river, but for the righteous ( ashavan ) it will seem to be a river of warm milk, while the wicked will be burned. The river will then flow down to hell , where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu and the last vestiges of wickedness in

SECTION 50

#1732780957142

3536-483: The idea of the resurrection of the dead is thought to be derived from Persian cosmology, although the later claim has been recently questioned. By the early first century AD, these two seemingly incompatible ideas were often conflated by Hebrew thinkers. The Hebrews also inherited from the Persians, Greeks, and Romans the idea that the human soul originates in the divine realm and seeks to return there. The idea that

3604-458: The names of the seven heavens as below: Still an afterlife destination of the righteous is conceived in Islam as Jannah ( Arabic : جنة "Garden [of Eden]" translated as "paradise"). Regarding Eden or paradise the Quran says, "The description of the Paradise promised to the righteous is that under it rivers flow; eternal is its fruit as well as its shade. That is the ˹ultimate˺ outcome for

3672-487: The next life has the potential to bring great joy. Bahá'u'lláh likened death to the process of birth. He explains: "The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother." The analogy to the womb in many ways summarizes the Baháʼí view of earthly existence: just as the womb constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development,

3740-400: The physical world provides for the development of the individual soul . Accordingly, Baháʼís view life as a preparatory stage, where one can develop and perfect those qualities which will be needed in the next life. The key to spiritual progress is to follow the path outlined by the current Manifestation of God , which Baháʼís believe is currently Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh wrote, "Know thou, of

3808-491: The possibility of a heaven on Earth in a world to come . Another belief is in an axis mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world, and the underworld. In Indian religions , heaven is considered as Svargaloka , and the soul is again subjected to rebirth in different living forms according to its karma . This cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana . Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, outside

3876-751: The righteous. But the outcome for the disbelievers is the Fire!" Islam rejects the concept of original sin , and Muslims believe that all human beings are born pure. Children automatically go to paradise when they die, regardless of the religion of their parents. Paradise is described primarily in physical terms as a place where every wish is immediately fulfilled when asked. Islamic texts describe immortal life in Jannah as happy, without negative emotions . Those who dwell in Jannah are said to wear costly apparel, partake in exquisite banquets, and recline on couches inlaid with gold or precious stones. Inhabitants will rejoice in

3944-659: The rule of first the Persian Achaemenid Empire , then the Greek kingdoms of the Diadochi , and finally the Roman Empire . Their culture was profoundly influenced by those of the peoples who ruled them. Consequently, their views on existence after death were profoundly shaped by the ideas of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. The idea of the immortality of the soul is derived from Greek philosophy and

4012-475: The same meaning, but the author of the Gospel of Matthew changed the name "Kingdom of God" to "Kingdom of Heaven" in most instances because it was the more acceptable phrase in his own cultural and religious context in the late first century. Modern scholars agree that the Kingdom of God was an essential part of the teachings of the historical Jesus but there is no agreement on what this kingdom was. None of

4080-511: The subsequent resurrection. Around 1 CE, the Pharisees believed in an afterlife but the Sadducees did not. The Mishnah has many sayings about the World to Come , for example, "Rabbi Yaakov said: This world is like a lobby before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall." Judaism holds that the righteous of all nations have a share in

4148-413: The tangible world (Heaven, Hell, or other) is referred to as the otherworld . At least in the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity , Islam , and some schools of Judaism , as well as Zoroastrianism , heaven is the realm of afterlife where good actions in the previous life are rewarded for eternity ( hell being the place where bad behavior is punished). The modern English word heaven is derived from

SECTION 60

#1732780957142

4216-580: The universe. The saoshyant is first mentioned as a savior in the Yashts written around 625 and 225 BCE, according to some interpretations. HaOlam haBa ( Hebrew : העולם הבא , lit.   'the world to come') is an important part of the afterlife in Jewish eschatology, which also encompasses Gan Eden (the Heavenly Garden of Eden), Gehinom and Sheol . According to

4284-406: The will of God, his or her tastes become attuned to enjoying spiritual pleasures as opposed to carnal desires. With this, an "embryonic soul" begins to take shape. Different tastes are said to be born in which a person given to carnal passions finds no enjoyment. For example, sacrifice of one's own rights over that of other's becomes enjoyable, or that forgiveness becomes second nature. In such a state

4352-498: The work of inaugurating the Kingdom of God and that his followers who wrote everything down expressed their belief he had done so, using first-century Jewish idioms, and that such events "did with evil and launch the project of new creation". In the teachings of the historical Jesus, people are expected to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God by living moral lives. Jesus's commands for his followers to adopt lifestyles of moral perfectionism are found in many passages throughout

4420-555: Was believed to be superior to any human kingdom, this meant that God would necessarily drive out the Romans, who ruled Judea, and establish his own direct rule over the Jewish people. This belief is referenced in the first petition of the Lord's Prayer , taught by Jesus to his disciples and recorded in Matthew and Luke 11:2: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Other scholars contend that Jesus' teaching of

4488-421: Was himself overthrown by his son, Kumarbi . Almost nothing is known of Bronze Age (pre-1200 BC) Canaanite views of heaven and the archaeological findings at Ugarit (destroyed c. 1200 BC) have not provided information. The first century Greek author Philo of Byblos may have preserved elements of Iron Age Phoenician religion in his Sanchuniathon . Zoroaster, the Zoroastrian prophet who introduced

4556-510: Was the abode of the Igigi . The highest and outermost dome of heaven was made of luludānītu stone and was personified as An , the god of the sky. The celestial bodies were equated with specific deities as well. The planet Venus was believed to be Inanna , the goddess of sex and war. The Sun was her brother Utu , the god of justice, and the Moon was their father Nanna . In ancient Near Eastern cultures in general and in Mesopotamia in particular, humans had little to no access to

4624-413: Was widely thought to have been built and established by Enlil himself. The ancient Hittites believed that some deities lived in Heaven while others lived in remote places on Earth, such as mountains, where humans had little access. In the Middle Hittite myths, Heaven is the abode of the gods. In the Song of Kumarbi , Alalu was king in Heaven for nine years before giving birth to his son, Anu . Anu

#141858