ried their dead. Their journey to the afterlife was not something to which one looked forward. Rather, silence dominated their underworld where all people--kings, queens, heroes, and servants--suffered equal torment. For the Babylonians heaven was only for the gods. In this underworld there also lived the Anunnaki, the nameless Great Ones who once, like Ereshkigal (Queen of the underworld), lived above with the host of heaven(28). These similarities to Judeo-Christian theology are striking. Lucifer, being Ereshkigal, and the Anunnaki, being demons, are all trapped in hell, cast down from the heavens for some misdeed. While that is all well and good, from where does the burning, hot, intolerable picture of hell come? Think about it! Imagine a walk through a dessert in the summertime with no water, the flames of heaven beating your sun- and wind-burned back, your tongue cracked from thirst. The Israelites inhabited such an arid, hot and crispy climate. Add the beliefs of the Babylonians who lived near the Euphrates, and one has a perfect depiction of the Judeo-Christian hell.Could it be that the people of Egypt and Babylon gave Christendom its pictures of Heaven and Hell? One must admit the possibility, which is interesting, nonetheless--even if the assumption is astray. And for anyone who thinks that it is blasphemous, open your minds! History--indeed nothing--can defeat truth....
