Egyptian Afterlife
The Egyptians had a lot of beliefs about death and the afterlife. Egyptians believed that only the pharaoh could become one with the gods. When anyone else died they passed into a dark place that represented the opposite of life. The noble people, such as pharaohs, received tombs and anything that was believed they would need in the afterlife. The more things, or "gifts" as they were called, a pharaoh had going into the afterlife, the better chance he had of being accepted. In early times the deceased pharaoh was believed to go into the sky and live among the stars. After that different gods like Osiris and Ra were worshiped more and beliefs changed.
During the Old Kingdom the Egyptians started to believe that possession of a ba could bring you to the afterlife and everyone had one. But in the New Kingdom beliefs were different. The belief was that the soul had to avoid a many different supernatural dangers, before final judgment known as the "Weighing of the Heart". In this judgment, the gods compared the actions of the deceased while alive to Ma'at, to determine whether he or she had behaved like an Egyptian should. If the deceased was judged worthy, his or her ba were united into an akh. Several different beliefs existed about the akh's destination. Often the dead were said to live in the realm of Osiris, a pleasant land in the underworld. During the Middle and New Kingdoms, the belief that the akh could also travel in the world of the living, and possibly have magically affect events there, became more popular.
During the Old Kingdom the Egyptians started to believe that possession of a ba could bring you to the afterlife and everyone had one. But in the New Kingdom beliefs were different. The belief was that the soul had to avoid a many different supernatural dangers, before final judgment known as the "Weighing of the Heart". In this judgment, the gods compared the actions of the deceased while alive to Ma'at, to determine whether he or she had behaved like an Egyptian should. If the deceased was judged worthy, his or her ba were united into an akh. Several different beliefs existed about the akh's destination. Often the dead were said to live in the realm of Osiris, a pleasant land in the underworld. During the Middle and New Kingdoms, the belief that the akh could also travel in the world of the living, and possibly have magically affect events there, became more popular.
Mesopotamian Afterlife
The ancient Mesopotamia's believed that you would go somewhere underneath the living in afterlife. It was this land was known as Arallû, Ganzer or Irkallu. It was believed everyone went to the same place afterdeath, regardless of social status. Death was no cosiderd ot be as great as life on earth. The dead were considered to be weak and powerless ghosts. The myth of Ishtar's descent into the underworld relates that "dust is their food and clay their nourishment, they see no light, where they dwell in darkness." Stories such as the Adapa myth resignedly relate that, due to a mistake, all men must die and that true everlasting life is only something that gods can have.