Nasca Geoglyphs and the origin of an afterlife.

13 August 2011

Last night, we watched a documentary about the massive Nasca images in the desert of Peru. They are called Geoglyphs – as in geography and as distinct from hieroglyphs like in Egypt. They had quite a bit of information about the people's agricultural way of life and the religious function of the lines. People placated their gods in ceremonies walking on the lines. Broken pieces of pottery from the ceremonies are found along the lines. The mummies, like the one in the photo, were carefully prepared so as to help the person into an afterlife. Fascinating stuff!

What struck me while watching the documentary was that the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) only had hints of the concept of an afterlife (eg Psalm 49:15) until late in the OT when Daniel 12:2-3 makes it explicit. Even by the New Testament, the Sadducees in Acts 23:8 are described as not believing in the general resurrection of all people. It was the Pharisees who believed in the general resurrection. The doctrine of hell arose between the OT and the NT so that Jesus doesn't introduce the idea but takes it as a given.

A number of ancient cultures have written history and ancient artifacts that are earlier than those of the Israelite people, such as in Egypt. In their histories and artifacts they show that people were being prepared for the afterlife thousands of years before the book of Daniel clarified to Israel that there was an afterlife. This is an interesting dimension to progressive revelation.