Harrowing of Hell refers not merely to the idea that Christ descended into Hell, as in the Creed, but to the rich tradition that developed later, asserting that he triumphed over "inferos", releasing Hell's captives, particularly Adam and Eve, and the righteous men and women of the Old Testament period. In Classical mythology Hades is the underworld inhabited by departed souls and the god Pluto is its ruler. The New Testament uses the term "Hades" to refer to the abode or state of the dead. In some places it seems to represent a neutral place where the dead awaited the death, burial, and
Gate deities of the underworld Gate deities of the underworld The Gate deities of the underworld were ancient Egyptian minor deities charged with guarding the gates of the Egyptian underworld. The Egyptians believed that in the netherworld, the Duat, there were various gates, doors and pylons crossed every night by the solar boat (Atet) of the sun-god Ra and by the souls directed to the world of the dead. Ancient funerary texts provide many different descriptions of the afterlife gates. Sometimes more than 1,000 guardian deities are listed. According to a more general view, every gate was guarded by a minor god who allowed access