Final answer:
The first clear views of an afterworld in the ancient world were from various ancient civilizations, ranging from the pessimistic underworld of the Mesopotamians to the more complex afterlife system of the Egyptians, and through the literary descriptions from Greek and Roman sources.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first clear view of an afterworld in the ancient world came largely from the religious beliefs and texts of ancient civilizations, each depicting their afterlife conceptions uniquely. For example, the Mesopotamians, who are known for their pessimistic view of the afterlife, believed in a shadowy underworld called 'the land of no return.' In contrast, ancient Egyptians developed a more elaborate and optimistic view, symbolized by extensive cemeteries and tombs with various iconography, indicating a belief in interacting with deities such as Osiris in the afterlife.
Furthermore, Roman poets like Virgil, when describing the underworld in literary texts such as the Aeneid, drew inspiration from a confluence of sources, including Greek epics and possibly ancient Jewish traditions. In Greece, Orphic poems, such as descriptions of katabasis or 'descent into the underworld', contributed to the collective imagination of the afterlife. These texts shed light on ancient perspectives on the notion of an afterworld, with varying degrees of clarity and detail.