Do you think that the concept of hell came out of iron age technology

The idea that fire purifies things like pure iron

 

In order to reach the realm of the gods, the Egyptians believed a person must first travel through the Underworld, where their heart is weighed on a scale by Anubis (son of Osiris and Nepthys) and Thoth (Kinnaer 2). All of a person's good and bad deeds would be considered. If a person had committed an excess amount of bad deeds, a monster known as "Eater of the Dead," or Ammit, with the head of a crocodile, would eat the hearts weighed down with sin.


The ancient Egyptian's concept of Duat was that it was beset with all sorts of carnivorous animals and evils that only a well-instructed individual could master through spells which would prevent him or her from suffering things such things as walking upside down or eating excrement (Shand 1-5). The word Tuat literally means "Other World" and it was believed to be a realm of darkness, filled with lakes of fire. It would be easy for a person to be discouraged here and only through masterful and honest preparation would one avoid death of the Ka and Ba and subsequent reincarnation on earth. In this manner people would be tested and worthy devotees proved themselves lovers of Ra.

The Book of the Dead

 

The date of the full Iron Age, in which this metal for the most part replaced bronze in implements and weapons, varied geographically, beginning in the Middle East and southeastern Europe about 1200 bce but in China not until about 600 bce.

In other regions of Europe, the Iron Age began in the 8th century BC in Central Europe and the 6th century BC in Northern Europe.

The word Hell, in the Old Testament, is always a translation of the Hebrew word Sheol, which occurs sixty-four times, and is rendered "hell" thirty-two times, "grave" twenty-nine times, and "pit" three times.

 

I doubt it.

 

No.
the gods are all /\ up there
and
hell is \/ down there.
What is down there ?
Well look into a volcano and you'll see.

quite simple really

(and anyway , re fire and brimstone , what is the difference between the copper age , the bronze age , and
the iron age ? , , yes , they used copper tools before bronze)

 

I think the idea of hell, and other religious ideas, emerged as a way to codify moral behavior resulting from specific genetic drives.

 

I'm working off of the notion that hell is supposedly a place of purification and obviously sinners can never be purified so the fires of hell need to burn forever unlike purifying iron .

These types of religious metaphors are often based on real world experience .

If you look at the old testament versions of God God appears to be very similar to the Kings that they had so perhaps God was built upon real world experience

 

The ancient Germanic name for the goddess of the dead is Hella. That is where the word Hell comes from.

The Iliad and the Odyssey were probably written down in their present form in the eighth century BC. By then the Greeks had the use of iron. Nevertheless, the warriors mentioned in the Trojan War used bronze weapons. That is an example of how the oral tradition can preserve traditions.