Inanna

[smokingboot]

I'm writing this because I never know when to stop.

Yesterday's entry focused on the Eleusinian mysteries, a magnificent example of Earth mother/daughter worship at its most powerful. The lost daughter could also be a son (Attis/Jesus)or a lover/husband (Osiris/Tammuz). The odd one out is Jesus, because his story does not become a calendar myth, i.e, his return is not a metaphor for seasonal change. And yet, the celebration of his resurrection was placed at the time of Eostre, a germanic/saxon fertility/growth goddess (hence the eggs).

The best Descent into the Underworld I have ever come across is that of Inanna, Star of Sumer. It's a marvellous change from Woman as Earth Mother, an archetype which has power, but sometimes is emphasised to the detriment of so many other aspects of personality and intellect. Creation is not just about what lies between one's hips, wonderful though that can be.

The legend I am about to recount is known to be at least 4000 years old, and evidence begins to suggest it may be a lot older. I love this story, though I do it no favours by telling it in brief.



Of Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Morning and Evening Star.

Inanna hears the call of the underworld and abandons her temples to go. She gathers all her powers, she even makes herself up to look beautiful (Inanna is a love goddess) and instructs her friend and servant Queen Ninshubur to raise a ruckus if she doesn't come back. Then, she sets off.

The gatekeeper of the Underworld tells his mistress, the dark Goddess Ereshkigal, that Inanna is coming. Ereshkigal says that her servants are to let Inanna in, but she must enter with nothing. So at each of the seven doors down into the depths, Inanna must shed something; her crown, her sceptre, her breastplate, her clothes...and she is as naked as a bean when she enters the presence of Ereshkigal:


Naked and bowed low, Inanna entered the throne room.
Ereshkigal rose from her throne.
Inanna started toward the throne.
The Anunna, judges of the underworld, surrounded her.
They passed judgement against her.

Then Ereshkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death.
She spoke against her the word of wrath.
She uttered against her the cry of guilt.

She struck her.

Inanna was turned into a corpse,
A piece of rotting meat,
And was hung from a hook in the wall.


Three days and nights pass, and Ninshubur does indeed make loud lament. She starts trolling the gods, asking them to help, and they all back off, because after all, it's Inanna's own fault. Who made her go anyway? And no-one wants to tangle with the Queen of the Underworld. But the god Enki, lord of wisdom and the waters, is very kind. For Ninshubur, he scrapes dirt from under his fingernails and forms two demonic/cthonic/otherworldly servants, a galatur and a kurgarra. He gives them the food of life and the water of life and tells them what to do.

Following Enki's instructions, the two servants descend into the underworld, where the Queen of Death is giving birth. The labour is very difficult, and they cry out with her, sharing her pain. She is grateful for their kindness and offers them many gifts, but they will accept only one, the rotting corpse of Inanna. When it is given to them, they sprinkle it with the food and water of life, and Inanna rises, renewed...

But the demons of the underworld are not so easily placated. Someone must take Inanna's place in the great below.

As she rises back into the world, the first person she sees is Ninshubur. The demons say they will take her, Inanna protests. They meet both her sons, and the demons say they will take the children, but Inanna won't let them do that either. Doubtless frustrated by now, they all approach the palace, where Dumuzi, the royal shepherd, whose kingship was gained by marrying Inanna, is sitting in state. Dumuzi has done nothing for his wife during her descent, and does not approach her now. Bitter and furious, she tells the demons to take him in her place.

Not surprisingly, Dumuzi runs. He tells his hiding place to his sister, the scribe Geshtinanna, and his best friend. The demons catch up with Geshtinanna, try to bribe her, and torture her. She tells them nothing. They find his best friend, who accepts the bribes and tells them. After a great pursuit, they take Dumuzi.

Inanna relents on hears the mourning of Geshtinanna and Dumuzi's mother, Sirtur. She is ready to help if she can, but she does not know where Dumuzi is. Then, a fly appears, and Inanna offers it the right to hang around in bars listening to all the gossip, if it will reveal Dumuzi's resting place. The fly agrees, and Dumuzi is found. Inanna makes this judgement upon him:


'You will go to the underworld
half the year.
Your sister, since she has asked,
Will go the other half.
On the day that you are called,
That day you will be taken.
On the day Geshtinanna is called,
That day you will be set free.'


The story ends with praise of Ereshkigal the holy.



Strange and sad to think that this story originated (approximately) from the land now called Iraq. So much has been lost...