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Nearly every global culture or religion depicts some version of an underworld or hell. These depictions often present unique methods of punishing sinners and defining sin itself. Despite their individuality, many share surprising similarities across different traditions.
10. Niflheim
In Norse and Germanic mythology, Niflheim stands out as an unconventional hell. Instead of flames, it’s a frozen wasteland, governed by Hel and situated near the Shore of Corpses, home to Nidhogg, a massive serpent that devours the deceased.
In Norse mythology, Niflheim is described as the coldest and most shadowy of the nine realms. Legend has it that the Earth formed when the icy Niflheim merged with the fiery Muspelheim. This realm houses the wicked and acts as a foundation for Yggdrasill, the World Tree that supports the cosmos. After being exiled from Asgard, Hel, Loki’s daughter, became the ruler of the dead. Souls delivered to Niflheim by Hermodr, Hel’s messenger, endure unceasing torment.
9. Tuonela
In pre-Christian Finnish belief, the dead arrived at the banks of the river Tuoni, where Tytti, the maid of Death, guided them into Tuonela. Unlike many underworlds, Tuonela mirrored a dreary extension of earthly life. Souls had to bring supplies to survive, and living visitors could journey there to meet deceased loved ones, though the trip was perilous and often fatal. The river Tuoni, teeming with venomous snakes, posed a significant threat. Tuonela imposed no explicit punishments, unless one views an eternity of mundane existence as a form of suffering.
8. The House of Lies (Zoroastrianism)
In Zoroastrian belief, after death, the soul first encounters the Chinavat Bridge, a boundary between the living and the dead. This bridge, finer than a strand of hair and sharper than a sword, is guarded by two dogs with four eyes. Souls are judged by their earthly actions. If their sins outweigh their virtues, the bridge tilts sideways, casting the soul into a pit teeming with demons. Some accounts describe the demon Vizaresh rising from the pit to drag the sinful soul into the House of Lies, Zoroastrianism’s depiction of hell.
The House of Lies is portrayed as a realm of repulsive filth, where inhabitants are fed rotten food and endlessly tormented for their misdeeds. Hundreds of demons inhabit this place, each symbolizing a particular sin. For instance, Apaosha embodies drought and thirst, while Zairika represents the creation of poisons. While interpretations of ancient Zoroastrian texts vary, these core elements remain consistent across descriptions.
7. Duat (Egypt)
The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts depict Duat, the afterlife realm governed by Osiris, the deity of death. The Book of Two Ways includes a map outlining the path souls must traverse through Duat. This realm resembles Earth but features fantastical elements such as a fiery lake and iron barriers. Souls entering Duat faced gates protected by hybrid creatures with striking names such as “Blood-Drinker Who Comes From The Slaughterhouse” and “One Who Eats The Excrement Of His Hindquarters.” Once past the gates, the deceased’s heart was weighed against a feather. If the heart proved heavier, it was devoured by the demon Ammut. The wicked were then subjected to justice in Duat, enduring punishments like walking upside down or being tormented by serpents and ravenous demons.
6. Gehenna
Originally, “Gehenna” denoted a valley near Jerusalem where Moloch’s followers burned children as sacrifices. Over time, it became synonymous with the Hebrew concept of hell, a place where sinners atoned for their misdeeds. Gehenna closely mirrors the Christian hell, depicted as a vast, barren pit with eternal flames that never cease and fall like rain. The inferno’s heat is sixty times more intense than earthly fires, accompanied by toxic sulfuric fumes and rivers of molten metal.
5. Tartaros
In Greek and Roman mythology, Tartaros is depicted as a dark, abyssal prison filled with torment and agony. While Hades is often mistaken for hell, it is merely the realm of the dead, whereas Tartaros lies far beneath Hades, reserved solely for the wicked. Souls are condemned to Tartaros after Rhadamanthus passes judgment and assigns their penalties.
Roman myths describe Tartaros as encircled by three walls and the blazing river Phlegethon. It is protected by a nine-headed hydra and Tisiphone, who oversees the realm while relentlessly lashing the damned. At its depths lie the Titans, the gods’ adversaries, who were vanquished and imprisoned there.
Greek mythology also portrays Tartaros as initially a prison for those who threatened the gods, later evolving into a hell for all sinners. Punishments are tailored to their crimes. For instance, Tantalus, who served his son as a meal to the gods, was condemned to Tartaros, where he endured eternal hunger and thirst, standing in water he couldn’t drink and beneath fruit he couldn’t eat.
4. Dante’s Hell
Modern depictions of the Christian hell often stem from Dante Alighieri’s Renaissance masterpiece, *The Divine Comedy*. This epic poem narrates symbolic voyages through heaven, purgatory, and hell. Inferno starts with a zone for those who lived aimlessly, condemned to endlessly pursue their selfish desires while tormented by swarms of insects and maggots. The nine circles of hell are encircled by the river Acheron. The first circle, Limbo, is a relatively serene abode for virtuous non-Christians who led sinless lives.
The subsequent levels align with the seven deadly sins. In the second circle, the lustful are tossed ceaselessly by fierce winds. Gluttons and addicts inhabit the third circle, submerged in foul slime. The fourth circle punishes misers and spendthrifts, forcing them into eternal conflict. The fifth circle holds the wrathful, who engage in endless battles within the river Styx, forever deprived of joy. Heretics are confined to flaming sepulchers in the sixth circle.
The seventh circle is segmented for those guilty of violence against others, themselves, or nature and God. The eighth circle, reserved for fraudsters, features subdivisions where sinners endure twisted heads, demonic lashings, immersion in excrement, scorched feet, boiling lakes, snake bites, dismemberment, and disease. The ninth circle, the deepest, houses traitors frozen in ice. At hell’s core, Satan eternally devours Cassius, Brutus, and Judas.
3. Xibalba
Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, is believed to physically exist within a cave network near Belize. It was a realm of suffering, where the lords of the afterlife subjected souls to bizarre and excruciating torments. These deities collaborated to inflict punishments: Ahalpuh and Ahalgana made pus erupt from bodies, while Chamiabac and Chamiaholom reduced corpses to skeletons. Ahalmez and Ahaltocob orchestrated fatal household disasters, akin to the chaos in Allstate commercials. Xic and Patan brought death to travelers, either by making them vomit blood or crushing them until their throats filled with blood.
Reaching Xibalba required souls to endure a grueling and degrading journey. They first crossed rivers teeming with blood, scorpions, and pus. The path then diverged into four roads, designed to amuse the lords by confusing and humiliating travelers. Further trials awaited in six deadly houses: the Dark House, Jaguar House, Razor House, Hot House, Bat House, and the final Rattling or Cold House, a frigid chamber filled with hail.
2. Diyu
Diyu, the Chinese interpretation of hell, shares similarities with Naraka. It comprises multiple levels, ranging from four to 18, each overseen by a judge who ensures punishments are executed according to the sins committed in life. According to Chinese tradition, Yama Loki of Naraka was tasked with governing Diyu, where he streamlined 96,816 hells into 10 sections that souls must traverse before reincarnation. By the Tang Dynasty, this evolved into 134 hells, divided into 18 tiers of torment and suffering.
The most widely recognized depiction of these levels includes the Chamber of Tongue Ripping, the Chamber of Scissors, the Chamber of Iron Cycads, the Chamber of Mirrors, the Chamber of Steamers, the Forest of Copper Columns, the Mountain of Knives, the Hill of Ice, the Cauldron of Boiling Oil, the Chamber of Oxen, the Chamber of Rocks, the Chamber of Pounding, the Pool of Blood, the Town of Suicide, the Chamber of Dismemberment, the Mountain of Flames, the Yard of Stone Mills, and the Chamber of Saws. The most severe level, Avici, is reserved for the gravest sinners. Unlike other levels, souls in Avici are trapped forever, with no chance of rebirth.
1. Naraka
Naraka, or Niraya, represents the concept of hell in certain Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist traditions. While its depiction varies across religions, it serves as a realm of retribution based on a soul’s karma. Naraka is not eternal; once sinners have atoned for their karma, they are reincarnated.
Naraka is believed to be structured into multiple tiers, determined by the sins one committed in life. The number of levels ranges from four to over 1,000, depending on the tradition. For instance, Maharaurava is reserved for those who profit at others' expense. Here, sinners are devoured by Ruru, a serpent demon. Kumbhipaka, on the other hand, is for those who cook birds and animals. Their punishment involves being immersed in boiling oil for as long as the number of hairs on the creatures they harmed.
In Hindu and Jain traditions, Naraka is governed by Yama Loka, the God of Justice. After death, a person’s deeds are reviewed by Loka’s aide, who then assigns them to either Svarga (heaven) or Naraka. In contrast, Buddhists hold that all souls enter Naraka to purify their sins, with no divine overseer judging their actions. Despite these differences, it is universally accepted that souls may remain in Naraka for billions of years until their karma is balanced, allowing them to be reborn.
