Ereshkigal

Queen of the Great Below

Ereshkigal is the absolute ruler of the underworld (Kur or Irkalla), a vast realm beneath the earth where the dead dwell in eternal twilight. Unlike later concepts of hell, the Mesopotamian underworld was not a place of punishment but simply the inevitable destination of all mortals. Ereshkigal reigns there with cold, implacable authority.

Sister and Rival of Inanna

Ereshkigal is the elder sister of Inanna, and the two represent complementary opposites: life and death, sky and earth, fertility and sterility. When Inanna descended to the underworld, Ereshkigal stripped her of power at each of the seven gates and killed her, hanging her corpse on a hook. Only through divine intervention was Inanna revived, and even then Ereshkigal demanded a substitute.

The Seven Gates

To reach Ereshkigal's throne room, one must pass through seven gates, at each of which an article of clothing or jewelry is removed. This stripping symbolizes the loss of earthly status and power in death. Even the Queen of Heaven entered naked before her sister's throne.

The Lonely Queen

Ereshkigal's existence is one of profound isolation. She is cut off from the upper world, unable to enjoy the pleasures of the living gods. Her lament at the death of her husband Gugalanna (the Bull of Heaven) reveals a capacity for grief and loss that humanizes this fearsome deity.

Consort of Nergal

In one myth, the war god Nergal offends Ereshkigal and is summoned to the underworld. There, after a violent confrontation, they become lovers and he becomes her co-ruler, bringing the violence of plague and war into death's domain.