Study route

Inanna: Text and Temple

Read a Sumerian composition alongside a temple foundation object, and distinguish a literary narrative from evidence of worship.

Step 1
Meet Inanna in the atlas
Use the entry to orient yourself, then follow its references. Keep Sumerian compositions and later Akkadian accounts distinct when comparing names and episodes.
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Step 2
Read the translated composition
Oxford’s Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature presents Inana’s descent with line numbers and manuscript variations. Note what the text says at the seven gates and how the editors mark alternatives.
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Step 3
Examine a temple foundation figure
The Met identifies this figure as Ur-Namma carrying a basket. Its inscription associates it with a temple of Inanna. It documents a ruler’s building activity, not the events of the descent narrative.
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Step 4
Compare the editorial narrative
Read the atlas account with the translation beside it. Identify one detail supported by the literary text and one question the foundation figure cannot answer.
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Flagship deities