June 24, 2004

Down to Gehenna

Posted by John Quiggin
I can remember discovering, with something of a shock, that Armageddon was a real place (modern Megiddo). So, I shouldn't have been too surprised to find out today that Gehenna is the name of a valley near Jerusalem, bearing no obvious marks of being on the road to eternal damnation. I also got to see Golgotha and Mount Zion - I don't think my reading of Biblical allusions will be quite the same after this.
Posted on June 24, 2004 12:33 PM UTC
Comments

IIRC, Gehenna was a place where people threw their waste (spoiled food, detritus, and anything unclean). There were fires to cremate some of the waste, to reduce nauseating smells, and worms feeding on organic detritus.

DSW

Posted by Antoni Jaume · June 24, 2004 04:02 PM

Here’s a page describing the history of Gehenna and its significance:

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=115&letter=G

An excerpt:

“The place where children were sacrificed to the god Moloch was originally in the “valley of the son of Hinnom,” to the south of Jerusalem (Josh. xv. 8, passim; II Kings xxiii. 10; Jer. ii. 23; vii. 31-32; xix. 6, 13-14). For this reason the valley was deemed to be accursed, and “Gehenna” therefore soon became a figurative equivalent for “hell.” “

Posted by David · June 24, 2004 04:08 PM

To misquote Heinlein (i think):

I don’t know about you, but if this goes on Armageddon outta here.

cheers

Francis

Posted by fdl · June 24, 2004 06:29 PM

Two points of Australian significance:
1) Adam Lindsay Gordon,
“Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne,
He travels the fastest who travels alone…”
Are you accompanied?
2) have you ever been to Mount Buggery? In the same range as Buller, up beyond Mansfield. So if anyone tells you to go to buggery, you can say you’ve already been.

Posted by chris borthwick · June 25, 2004 05:42 AM

Gehenna was a place where people threw their waste (spoiled food, detritus, and anything unclean). There were fires to cremate some of the waste, to reduce nauseating smells, and worms feeding on organic detritus.

Still sounds better than Passaic, New Jersey.

Posted by Aelfric · June 25, 2004 07:19 AM

Chris, I think the phrase is from Kipling, I remember reading the couplet in one of Orwell’s essays.

To answer your questions, I am alone, and I have indeed been to buggery (or close to it), spent time in Purgatory, flogged the dead horse and generally enjoyed many of the wonderful places of the Australian bush.

Posted by John Quiggin · June 25, 2004 08:56 AM

Don’t forget the little town of Hell in Norway…

Posted by James Russell · June 25, 2004 09:26 AM

New Zealand has Mt Sodom and Mt Gomorrah; a Wee Free legacy, no doubt… They have plenty of other entertaining mountain names too; my favourite had to be Philosophers’ Knob.

Posted by Duncan · June 25, 2004 12:24 PM

Did you know you can e-mail Gehenna?

See:

http://gehenna666.cjb.net/

Posted by David · June 25, 2004 04:35 PM

“Gei ben Hinom”—literally, “the valley of the son of Hinom”. I wonder who Hinom was. Gehenna had, I think, smelly garbage fires, like any garbage dump. The idea of the garbage tip of the universe considerably amused me.

Posted by Randolph Fritz · June 27, 2004 09:08 PM
Followups

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.