He placed the heavens on my head as a crown.
He put the earth at my feet as sandals.
He wrapped the holy bagarment around my body.
He put the holy sceptre in my hand.
(Inanna Hymn F 10 – 13 , ETCSL No. 4. 07. 6 )Consequently, one royal hymn praises the bestowal of powers by Enlil and his
spouse Ninlil on the goddess Inanna who is thereby relegated to a subordinate position,
though her powers still include the dominion over the four quarters of the earth.
Rather than choosing her spouse, Inanna is presented with her husband the king
Ishme-Dagan by Enlil and Ninlil. The symbolisation of the close union between the
divine goddess and the mortal king in the ‘sacred marriage’ ceremony continues for
the first centuries of the millennium as do the concomitant royal sobriquet ‘spouse
of Inanna’ and the love songs until the demise of Sumerian kingship. Yet, even in
Babylonian tradition, Ishtar’s love for her king remains a productive mythologeme
- the royal insignia remain hers to bestow on her favourite king. However, the second-
millennium paradigm found in the Akkadian royal hymns, is the petitioning of Ishtar
to persuade her spouse to bless the king.
The emphasis shifts away from the loving relationship between Ishtar and the king
to a protective one, to Ishtar ‘mistress of battle and warfare’ who stands at the sides
of kings and smashes their enemies. Her frenzy in battle is constantly mentioned in
hymns, both Sumerian and Akkadian: ‘Great fierce storm,... Inanna, emitting
fearsomeness and radiance in battle!’ (Inanna Hymn A 1 – 2 , ETCSL No. 4. 07. 1 )
and ‘Let me praise the greatest one, the warrior among the gods’ (Akkadian hymn,
AgusˇayaA i 1 – 2 , Groneberg 1997 : 75 ). Images of Ishtar were carried into battle at
the head of the armies.
Her fondness for violence also colours her relationship with the people. Seeking
the aid of the goddess Inanna to relieve the sufferings of her daughter, the wife of
the ruler of the city of Larsa dedicated a stone basin: ‘For the goddess Inanna, the
angry goddess’ (Frayne RIME 4. 2. 14. 23 : 1 – 2 ). In an Akkadian prayer to Ishtar,
the petitioner describes his anguish: ‘Who can approach me because of the anger of
your heart?’ (‘Ishtar Baghdad’ 22 , Groneberg 1997 : 110 ), and misery: ‘you scattered
my nest in your anger’ (‘Ishtar Baghdad’ 38 , Groneberg 1997 : 110 ). Ishtar thus
becomes the address for persons suffering various ills, one of which is later called the
‘touch of Ishtar’. A narrative hymn to Ishtar tells how a substitute being is created
to protect humankind against the more capricious and destructive of Ishtar’s tendencies - to control her violence.
Her anger can be pacified and she can be merciful and compassionate. ‘Merciful is
the daughter of Nanna, she hears my speech’ (‘Ishtar Baghdad’ 6 , Groneberg 1997 :
110 ). Appealing to her for clemency, the petitioner addresses her as ‘mother’: ‘mother,
look on my troubles’ (‘Ishtar Baghdad’ 76 , Groneberg 1997 : 112 ). Personal names
reflecting this pious wish also employ the epithet ummi‘my mother’ Isˇtar-ummi‘Ishtar-
is-my-mother’ and Isˇtar-ummi-enisˇtim‘Ishtar-is-a-mother-of-the-weak (female)’.^7
Ishtar first appears as mater dolerosain liturgical compositions of this period, in
particular, the lamentations over destroyed cities. In these lamentations which are
mainly outpourings of grief and despair, the goddess weeps over her destroyed temple
and city, while in others she is overcome with grief over the death of Dumuzi.
— Joan Goodnick Westenholz —