Inanna (mythology)

Inanna by Rama

Inanna, also known as Ishtar, was the Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility, as well as one of the most prominent deities in the mythology.

Overview

Family

The parentage of Inanna varies from time to time. Among her fathers are Anu, the primeval god of the sky and divinity, is her father, Enki, the god wisdom, magic and water, Enlil, the god of the wind, air, storms and kingship, or Nanna, the god of the Moon and healing.

As the daughter of Nanna she was also the sister of Utu, the god of the Sun and justice, and Ishkur, the god of storms and divination, and Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld. She is also paired with Dumuzid, the god of cattle.

Domains

Inanna's two main domains were sexuality and love.

Inanna was neither a marriage nor mother goddess, and was instead associated with sex outside of marriage as well as prostitution. She often had affairs with various male lovers, which often ended in tragedy for them. Gilgamesh, the legendary demigod of Uruk, declined a relationship with the goddess due to this within the narrative of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Inanna was also a goddess of war, being an aggressive conquer, who often siding with the human kings she preferred. Some of her notable military campaigns were stealing of the me (the Sumerian divine decrees) from Enki, her descent into the underworld and her war against Mount Ebih. As Ishtar she was much more violent and passionate.

Descent into the Underworld

One of the most prominent myths of Inanna was her descent into the underworld.

Her descent into the underworld was usually caused by her desire for to visit it and possibly to take the realm over from her sister Ereshkigal. She descended through the seven gates of the underworld, but had to get rid of one piece of clothing or decoration at each gate, until she was naked in front of her sister and the judges of the underworld, who didn't approve of Inanna's expansive intentions. The goddess was sentenced to death, put on hooks and started to rot.

Ninshubur, the sukkal (or vizier) of the heavenly gods, was saddened by the lost goddess and started to lament, which saddened the other gods, including Enlil, though as they held no authority over the underworld, they could not do anything. Ninshubur conspired with Enki, who created two genderless beings equipped with water and weed of the living, that could go to the underworld and bargain with Ereshkigal for the release of Inanna. These two managed to do the said thing, but they Ereshkigal and the judges of the underworld demanded a substitute for Inanna's place in the netherworld.

Inanna returned to world of the living, but didn't want to sacrifice anyone to take her place in the underworld, until she returned to the city Uruk, where she saw her consort Dumuzid was living well of in her domain (and possibly had affairs with her handmaidens), without mourning her lost. Inanna chose him as her substitute, and Dumuzid was condemned to the underworld. In some versions of the myth Dumuzid would only half of the the year in the underworld, when Geshtinanna begged to show mercy for her brother, and agreed to spend the other half of the year.

Trivia

• Inanna, and her later form Ishtar, were often compared to the Phoenician goddess Ashtoreth.