Along with the idea of good and evil, the concept of Heaven and Hell seems to predate Judaism as well. In fact the concept of both Heaven and Hell didn’t even exist in the first two thirds of the Bible. Zoroastrianism is known by religious historians as the first religion to have a concept of Heaven and Hell, so once again, Persian influence can be credited for a Judao-Christian concept. The prophet Daniel, who lived at that time the Hebrews were living in captivity of the Persians, was the first Biblical figure to refer to ideas of resurrection and judgement (Daniel 12:2). The word “paradise” comes directly from the Persian religion of Mithraism. The word “Hell” seems to derive from the Norse word Hel, most certainly a pre-Christian concept. There are a number of examples of Hell-like afterlives portrayed in ancient religions, such as the cult of Osiris during the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, where moral fitness became the dominant factor in determined a person’s fate in the afterlife. At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of 42 divine judges. If they had led a life in conformance with the 42 principles of Maat, the person was welcomed into the Two Fields. If found guilty the person was thrown to a “devourer” and would be condemned to the lake of fire. 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 Christian and Coptic texts.
