Inanna's Descent- Mesopotamian EventEvent
Also known as: Descent of Inanna to the Underworld and Descent of Ishtar
Description
At each of the seven gates, one of Inanna's divine garments was torn away until she stood naked before Ereshkigal, who struck her dead and hung her corpse on a hook. Rescued by Enki's cunning, Inanna returned to the living only by condemning her husband Dumuzi to take her place.
Mythology & Lore
The Preparation
Inanna, queen of heaven and earth, set her mind on Kur, the Great Below, ruled by her older sister Ereshkigal. Before she went, she instructed her vizier Ninshubur: if I do not return in three days, go to the gods and beg them to save me. Try Enlil, then Nanna. If they refuse, go to Enki.
Then Inanna dressed for the underworld. She put on the shugurra crown and hung lapis lazuli at her throat, then gathered the rest of her divine garments. Seven pieces in all. Each one carried her power.
The Seven Gates
Neti, the chief gatekeeper, reported Inanna's arrival to Ereshkigal. The queen of the dead gave her orders: bolt the seven gates, then open them one at a time. At each gate, take something from her.
At the first gate, they removed her crown. At the second, her lapis beads. Gate by gate, ornament by ornament, her authority was stripped away. By the seventh gate, when they took her royal dress, she stood naked before Ereshkigal's throne. She had nothing left.
The Anunnaki, judges of the underworld, pronounced the word of wrath against her. Ereshkigal struck her dead. Her corpse was hung on a hook on the wall.
The Rescue
Three days passed. Ninshubur went to Enlil, who refused to help. Then to Nanna, who also refused. Then to Enki. Enki listened.
From the dirt under his fingernails, Enki shaped two beings, the kurgarra and the galatur, small enough to slip into the underworld unnoticed. He sent them to Ereshkigal with one instruction: mirror her suffering. They found the queen of the dead moaning in anguish. The kurgarra and galatur echoed her cries back to her, and the compassion startled Ereshkigal. She offered them anything. They asked for the corpse on the wall. She gave it. They poured the food and water of life over Inanna's body, and she rose.
Dumuzi
The underworld demanded a substitute. No one leaves without a replacement. The Gallu demons followed Inanna to the surface to collect. She passed several loyal attendants and refused to condemn any of them.
Then she found Dumuzi. Her husband was seated on a magnificent throne, dressed in splendid garments. He had not mourned her. Inanna fixed the eye of death on him and gave him to the demons.
Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna volunteered to share his sentence. A compromise held: each would spend half the year in the underworld, one rising as the other descended.