The Mythology Book

186

the Underworld: the world above

lost its ability to be fertile. Animals

and humans would not reproduce,

and the land became barren. If the

world descended into chaos, so, too,

would the heavens. Mesopotamian

religions created a hierarchy and

structure of the heavens and Earth

in which the two must coexist.

Inanna’s fate

When Inanna reached Ereshkigal’s

throne, she sat on it in her sister’s

place. The Anuna, the seven judges

of the Underworld, appeared and

gave the goddess a “look of death,”

shouted at her, and proclaimed her

guilty of arrogance. Inanna was

transformed into a rotting corpse

and hung on a hook.

The repeated use of the number

seven is intentional, as the number

represented completion. The seven

divine powers, the seven gates of

the Underworld, and the seven

Underworld judges are thought to

symbolize fundamental aspects of

nature as ordained by the gods, and

possibly relate to life, death, and

the rule of divine law.

A soul for a soul

In the Sumerian version of the

narrative, Inanna’s loyal attendant,

Ninshubur, went to the gods to ask

for help freeing Inanna. Enlil, lord

of the gods, and Nanna, the moon

god, did not want to help her; only

Enki, the wisest of the gods and

god of water, agreed to help. He

created two figures, called the

gala-tura and the k u r-ja ra, who

could slip like phantoms into the

THE DESCENT OF INANNA

Underworld. There they recited the

ritual words that Enki taught them,

refusing the gifts of rivers of water

and fields of grain in exchange for

finding Inanna. They asked: “Give

us the corpse hanging on the hook.”

Gala-tura scattered a life-giving

plant over her body, and k u r-ja ra

sprinkled it with life-giving water,

restoring Inanna to good health.

Just as Inanna was leaving the

Underworld, the Anuna appeared

again and declared, “If Inanna is to

ascend from the Underworld, let her

provide a substitute for herself.”

The goddess would not be allowed

to escape scot-free. The Underworld

demanded a soul for a soul.

ca. 5300–2335 bce:

The first records of

Inanna are depictions

of the goddess on vases

from the city of Uruk.

ca. 2285–2250 bce:

The priestess

Enheduanna writes about

Inanna after Sumeria

became part of the

Akkadian Empire.

ca. 1300–1000 bce:

Inanna features in

“Gilgamesh, Enkidu,

and the Netherworld,”

an episode in The Epic

of Gilgamesh.

ca. 3500–1900 bce:

A 415-line poem called

“The Descent of Inanna”

is written in Sumeria.

ca. 2334–2218 bce:

The popularity of Inanna

influences the cult of the

Akkadian goddess Ishtar.

The two are merged.

ca. 700 bce:

A 145-line poem,

“Ishtar’s Descent into

the Underworld,” is

written in Akkadian.

The Mother Goddess Ishtar, by

Evelyn Paul (1916), portrays Inanna in

all her finery before her descent into the

Underworld. Ishtar is the Babylonian

name for the same goddess.

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187

Cylinder seals provide important

pictorial evidence of life and lore in

Mesopotamia. This example from

ca. 2250 bce depicts the god Enki with

life-giving water flowing from his body.

Returning to earth, Inanna was

accompanied by a band of demons

anxious to seize someone to take

her place. Inanna met members

of her family and faithful servants,

including Ninshubur, and did not

want to let any of them go. Instead,

she told the demons to follow her to

a great apple tree on a plain.

Humanity and mortality

Under the apple tree sat Inanna’s

husband, Dumuzid—a mortal king

who had been deified and had

become the god of fertility and

shepherding. Dumuzid was

“clothed in a magnificent garment

and seated magnificently on a

throne.” Furious that her husband

had not mourned her, Inanna

handed him over to the demons.

Dumuzid prayed to the sun god,

his brother-in-law Utu, to turn him

into a snake, but in spite of this

transformation he was captured

and taken to the Underworld.

Inanna, however, missed her

husband. His sister Geshtinanna

agreed to take his place for half the

year, so that Dumuzid could return

to Inanna in spring and the land

would become fertile again. When

the crops had been gathered,

Dumuzid returned to spend the

barren winter in the Underworld,

thus giving the world its seasons.

Humanity and mortality

The story of Inanna not only

explained the seasonal cycle, but

also gave an insight into what it

meant to be human and how life

was ordered. On Earth, humans

were the children of the gods;

when they died, they became

the children of Ereshkigal. This

determined how they lived their

lives. They believed it was good to

be clothed, to have good food, and

to be surrounded by loved ones. ■

ASIA

Priests of Inanna

Often identified as being

neither male nor female,

the role of the priests and

priestesses of Inanna was to

promote the fertility of the

land. If they did not have

sexual intercourse, it was

thought that the land would

no longer produce. They

served at her temple in Uruk,

the principal center of worship,

and at numerous other shrines

and temples to the goddess

throughout Mesopotamia.

As the goddess of fertility,

Inanna was sometimes

depicted as both male and

female, and was said to have

the ability to transform men

into women and women into

men. People who did not

conform to Mesopotamian

gender norms were often

made into priests of Inanna.

Such gender ambiguity also

made Inanna an accessible

deity, as both men and women

could identify with her.

In one ritual known as

“sacred marriage,” to ensure

prosperity, a king would take

the role of Dumuzid in an

elaborate ceremony. This

would include having

intercourse with the high

priestess of Inanna, herself

impersonating the goddess.

She does not return. She

who goes to the Dark City

stays there.

Inanna: Queen of

Heaven and Earth

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