Inanna's Descent to the Underworld

The Decision to Descend

Inanna, Queen of Heaven, Lady of the Morning and Evening Star, goddess of love and war, turned her attention to the Great Below. Her sister Ereshkigal ruled there as Queen of the Dead, and Inanna desired to witness the funeral rites of Ereshkigal's husband, the Bull of Heaven, whom Gilgamesh and Enkidu had slain.

But Inanna was the goddess of ambition. Perhaps she sought to extend her dominion even over death. Perhaps she wished to challenge her sister's power. Perhaps she simply could not bear any realm where she did not rule.

From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below. From the Great Above the goddess opened her ear to the Great Below. From the Great Above Inanna opened her ear to the Great Below.

She gathered the seven me, the divine powers of civilization, and wore them as jewelry and garments. She told her minister Ninshubur: "If I do not return in three days, go to the father gods and beg for my rescue."

The Seven Gates

Inanna approached the underworld and pounded on the gate, demanding entrance as her right. Neti, the gatekeeper, reported her arrival to Ereshkigal. The Queen of the Dead instructed him to admit her sister, but at each of the seven gates, one article of her divine regalia must be removed.

At the first gate, the crown was removed from her head. "What is this?" Inanna asked. "Be silent, Inanna. The ways of the underworld are perfect. They may not be questioned."

At the second gate, her lapis lazuli measuring rod and line were taken. At the third, the beads from her neck. At the fourth, the ornaments from her breast. At the fifth, her gold ring. At the sixth, her breastplate. At the seventh gate, the royal robe was removed from her body.

Naked, stripped of all power, Inanna entered her sister's throne room.

The Eyes of Death

When Inanna tried to ascend to Ereshkigal's throne, the Anunnaki, the seven judges of the underworld, fixed her with the eyes of death. They pronounced judgment against her. Ereshkigal struck her dead.

The corpse of the Queen of Heaven was hung on a hook, like a piece of rotting meat.

The Rescue

After three days, Ninshubur did as commanded. She went first to Enlil, who refused to help. Then to Nanna, who also refused. Finally to Enki, the wise, who took pity.

Enki created two beings from the dirt beneath his fingernails: the kurgarra and galatur, creatures neither male nor female, too small to be noticed. He gave them the food of life and the water of life and sent them to the underworld.

They slipped through the gates unseen and found Ereshkigal alone, groaning in the pains of labor (or grief). They echoed her groans, showing her sympathy. Touched by their compassion, she offered them any gift. They asked for the corpse on the hook.

Sixty times the food of life, sixty times the water of life, they sprinkled upon the corpse. Inanna arose.

The Substitute

But the laws of the underworld are absolute. No one leaves without providing a substitute. The demons of the underworld, the galla, accompanied Inanna back to the upper world, seeking her replacement.

First they came upon Ninshubur, dressed in mourning rags. The demons would take her, but Inanna refused. "She saved my life. She is loyal." They came upon Shara, then Lulal, Inanna's sons, also in mourning. "They grieve for me. They shall not go."

Then they came to Uruk, and there sat Dumuzi, Inanna's husband, dressed in magnificent robes, sitting on Inanna's own throne. He had not mourned. He had seized power.

Inanna fixed him with the eye of death. "Take him," she said.

The Eternal Cycle

Dumuzi fled, transformed into animals, hid with his sister Geshtinanna, but the demons always found him. In the end, his sister offered to take his place for half the year. So it was decreed: six months in the underworld for Dumuzi, six months for Geshtinanna, an eternal cycle.

This is why the land dies in summer, when Dumuzi is below, and revives in spring when he returns. This is why we mourn Tammuz in the sixth month, the wailing for the shepherd who went to the land of no return.

And Inanna returned to her throne, wiser now, having seen the realm that even she could not conquer, carrying within her the knowledge of death that makes love so precious.