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Hi there, Did the Hyksos believe in the afterlife? If yes, what did they believe about it? Thanks, H.M
rahotep101 Member # 18764
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Given that the Hyksos were probably one and the same as the Hebrews, they probably didn't have specific belief in an afterlife before their contact with an Egyptian. There's precious little mention of an afterlife in the OT. Divinely favoured individuals seem rather to be rewarded with long successful lives in this world, hence the nonsese about the patriarchs living for hundreds of years. Semites probably derived the idea of an afterlife from the Egyptians.
Djehuti Member # 6698
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^ There is no evidence to indicate whether or not the Hyksos were Hebrews. What we do know is that they were Canaanites and what little we know about Canaanite beliefs is that when a person dies his or her nepesh (spirit) leaves the body to dwell in the realm of the dead known as Sheol. The bodies were often buried with offerings and it is believed on certain occasions a persons spirit may return to the land of the living to either help or harm people which is why Canaanites had a cult of ancestor veneration to placate the spirits of their deceased ancestors. Since the Hebrews or Israelites are a subset of Canaanites it's not surprising that Israelite or Biblical beliefs are derived from Canaanite ones except that the spirits of the dead stayed in Sheol never returning or interacting with the living. There is evidence especially in later 'Messianic' times of a belief in a resurrection of the dead though exactly how or in what form varied from sect to sect.
Here is an excellent source of Canaanite religious beliefs:
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To my knowledge, there are NO people on earth, anywhere and at anytime, who don't "believe" in an afterlife; this knowledge is based upon the immutable evidence of the permanence of energy which never vanishes but is merely transferred...
there is probably no person on earth today who has not had an empirical interaction with this paranormal phenomena, though many out of fear of being labeled as being "mentally off" will deny their own personal experience(s) with this natural law of reality...
Philosophers in human society are the ones entrusted to 'explain' what they themselves do not know to the 'people' - the ancient Africans were the most advanced in doing so...
until European greats, such as Albert Einstein, would advance the science of energy...
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